This should really be the importance of the RIGHT photographs in Inventories. It is becoming widely acknowledged that photographs are required within inventories in order to provide evidence for deposit disputes. Often without any photographs then Deposit Protection Schemes can lean in favour of the tenant due to lack of evidence provided by the landlord and their agent. A tenant is only to say that the property was in such a condition prior to the tenancy and quite rightly – where is the proof otherwise? Detailed conditions in Inventories are beneficial but not foolproof, whereas the vague descriptions written in some can be completely useless. For instance ‘Several scratches on walls’ – this leads to further questions of – where? How many? What colour? How obvious? How bad? Etc. These can however all be answered with the correct photographs and correlating descriptions.
This article will discuss the need for not just photographs but the right photographs to be used in reports. Firstly however it is important to acknowledge the purpose of the inventory. The Inventory is primarily to protect the landlords interest. It provides evidence of the condition of the property prior to the tenancy. The deposit is then taken as an assurance by the tenant to protect against any damages. It is therefore within the landlords interest to ensure that the Inventory will provide accurate protection, and for the tenant to ensure that the property has not been mis-represented in the inventory.
The example that my colleague often uses is with taps. The inventory lists ‘Silver taps’ in the basin section of the bathroom. There is a photograph of the basin to show everything is in place. However these are actually designer taps that cost £1500 and during the tenancy, the tenants swap these out for silver taps in similar appearance that cost £50 and sell the original taps. What protection does the landlord have? The photograph is not close enough to be able to distinguish between the two makes of taps. Even if the brand were to be listed in the description – the tenant could argue that they did not know the make of the tap and approved the inventory unknowingly. This could then still be disputed. However; if a clear photograph is taken of the taps close up – then it can be discerned that the brand is visible and the taps present at the Check Out are clearly not the same taps. It is likely in this case that the landlord would win the dispute.
Alternatively this protection can also cover the tenants. Sticking with the basin theme – the inventory lists the condition of the basin as ‘Several long scratches’ and there is a photograph of the whole pedestal basin. At the end of the tenancy the Check Out photographs show that the basin has several large cracks across it. This surely shows that damage has been caused during the tenancy? However, the right photographs may have shown that the cracks are in the exact same places as the scratches were. Furthermore a diligent inventory clerk may also have found that marks were apparent underneath the basin during the inventory (also photographed) showing that these were not in fact scratches but hairline cracks. Therefore with normal wear and tear over the tenancy; that could have lasted several years, these cracks were a result of the original damage. Now of course the deteriorating cracks should have been reported to the Agent during the tenancy. Any subsequent damage to the floor from water damage would be shown with thorough photographs of the floor in the inventory and the landlord may be able to claim some costs.
When producing an inventory it is important to check that the photographs taken provide evidence for proof of damage – before that damage occurs. The only way to ensure that the right photographs are taken is to be thorough. There are areas that are commonly damaged but the right clerks will ensure that all areas are covered with clear pictures. Tom Derritts; a former tenancy deposit adjudicator and now principal of Deposit Claim explained to Property Hawk that; “too often landlords concentrate on cataloguing the damage rather than the parts of their buy-to-let properties that are in good condition [. . .] The whole purpose of the inventory is to show the property in its undamaged condition. Although you need to log any imperfections, you won’t be claiming on the deposit for pre-existing damage so there is no point spending all your time documenting it”. It is important to remember that the report will need to be used in comparison with a Check Out report. Therefore, the photographs in each report will need to work together to show proof of damage to a previously undamaged area.
The photographs need to be as clear as possible to provide the level of detail required to see damage or establish that there is no damage to an area. In order to contain a large amount of photographs within a PDF report – these photographs will have to be small. The AIIC has found that often photographs no larger than thumbnails are being submitted as evidence. These will not be clear enough to establish damage, or lack of. However by using digital software to create reports the original larger images will be stored – still in their date/time stamped form. These can then be used as more accurate evidence within disputes. My Deposits notes that the use of such software has helped to “substantially reduce the number of disputes”. This is partially due to the use of photographs to support the written descriptions/conditions and the depth that the electronic photographs provide.
Within this digital age it is unavoidable that photograph evidence will be required in Inventories. However it is important to consider the photographs taken and that they are not provided at the expense of written description. Photographs should be clear, thorough and available in their original size. In order to provide this it is therefore important to consider the software used to create the report. It may also be worth considering how this software enables a smooth Check Out with comparable descriptions and photographs. This will reduce the amount of disputes and provide better protection for both the landlord and the tenant.