How to make an inventory for a furnished rental flat

Why a furnished flat needs a list

A furnished flat holds hundreds of things that belong to you, and someone else uses them every day. When a tenant moves out, the questions come fast. Were there six glasses or eight? Was that mark on the table already there? Did the flat have a second set of keys? Without a list made at check-in, every answer is your memory against theirs.

A good inventory makes the handover short and fair for both sides. It also helps you run the flat: you know what to replace, what spares you have, and what the flat is worth if something goes wrong.

Go room by room, in the same order every time

Walk the flat in a fixed route, for example from the front door clockwise, and use the same route for every flat you let. In each room, list what is there and what state it is in. A useful line names the thing, says how many, and notes the condition in a few words.

• Furniture. Beds, mattresses, sofas, tables, chairs, wardrobes. Note colour and any marks.
• Appliances. Fridge, washing machine, oven, kettle, iron, TV. Make and model help with repairs.
• Kitchenware. Count plates, glasses, cups, cutlery, pans. These go missing most often.
• Textiles. Curtains, bedding sets, towels, rugs. Count them and note stains.
• Fixtures. Walls, floors, windows, lamps, blinds. Photograph any damage you already know about.
• Keys and meters. How many keys and fobs, and the meter readings on the day.

Photograph the condition, not only the things

Photos are what make an inventory hard to argue with. Take a wide shot of each wall from the doorway, then close-ups of anything marked, scratched or worn. Open cupboards and photograph what's inside, so the count of plates has a picture behind it. Make sure each photo carries its date; most phones keep it with the file.

Do the same at check-out, from the same spots. Two photos of the same corner, months apart, answer the question better than any description.

Keep a separate list for each flat

If you let more than one flat, keep a list per flat, not one long list for everything. Each flat then has its own record for its own tenant, and nothing from one address turns up in the paperwork for another. Use the same structure in each: rooms in the same order, things named the same way. Then comparing flats, or ordering six new duvets for all of them, takes a minute.

Spares often live somewhere else: a storeroom in the building, a cellar, your own home. List them by where they are. When a tenant calls about a broken kettle, you see at once whether a spare is nearby.

Handover and the years between

At check-in, walk the flat with the tenant if you can, list in hand. Agree on anything that isn't right and add it to the list on the spot. Give them a copy. At check-out, walk the same route and compare.

Between tenants, update the list whenever something changes: a new washing machine, a replaced lamp, three glasses gone. If updating takes one photo and a few words, you do it when it happens instead of trying to remember at the next handover. Keep the codes for the door, the key safe or the building entrance with the flat's record, somewhere locked, and share them only with people who need them.

Doing it with Neatkept

In Neatkept each flat is its own property in Places, with rooms, cupboards and a storeroom under it. Photograph an open cupboard or a shelf and AI proposes what is in it; you keep or drop each thing, and each one keeps its photo. For a handover, open the flat and choose Insurance report: every thing with its photo, place, quantity and value, as an A4 PDF to print or share, or a CSV. If someone helps you run the flats, invite them to the household as an editor. Door and key-safe codes can sit on the flat as encrypted lock codes that open with Face ID or a fingerprint. The insurance report page shows the report step by step.