Moving in

DB and I just moved into an apartment.  We used an agency, and were given a week to go through the inventory and make whatever changes we thought necessary.

The agency was pretty thorough with their descriptions or the apartment, so I'm wondering if it will look bad if I make amendments to their version of the inventory.  Just to note, I'm a verrry detail oriented person, and am not sure if it will come off as being persnickity or something if I end up adding things like :

''Toilet paper holder does not stay on wall, when you rip off the desired length of tp''
''Minor mould(?) growth on bedroom window'' (Not sure if it was mold or what, but I cleaned it, and will see if that solves the problem)
''Lightbulb holder in bedroom does not hold lightbulb in''
''Some scratches/indentations on flooring in the bedroom''
''The 'permanent stain' on the oven door was not permanent'' (I've seen/heard that when letting a new place, England is notorious for the new place being dirty)

So do I make them aware of all these little things I've noticed? I've also taken pictures of every itty bitty thing...So do I forward the pictures as my evidence, so I have a record of it too? Or, is that just going too far?

Thanks in advance for any hints/tips you have

Absolutely not going too far, do it and add pictures. If any of those things get worse, you'll have a record of it

Well, after reading about other UKY members' issues upon moving out, I don't think it's possible to be too thorough!

You are absolutely not going too far!  Put notations in their paperwork under each room of the flat (assuming that's how the layout is ofc) and write on there as well that you have taken photos of what you are describing (assuming that's what you've done.)  I doubt they'll want to keep hard copies of the photos along with the forms but maybe they will, who knows?  You could offer to email copies to them as a compromise. *edited* to add- be sure to keep a copy of your notated form.

Your butt can never be too well-covered, imo.  

I 'think' larger agencies won't be unreasonable upon moving out, but that's just me generalising.  Owners who are letting privately tend to really cast a sharp eye around the place, whereas the estate agents often see things (such as maybe the carpet being a bit dingier) as normal, expected wear and tear.

Now that I've said that, though, someone will be along with a good estate agent horror story!  And I'll believe every word of it, as I know what we've been through with them on other issues.  sigh.

alright, thanks everyone for your opinions.  I'm glad I'm not the only person who is this particular.  I just don't want to have to worry at the end of my tenancy about not getting my deposit back. 

Cakewench, the inventory is laid out the way you suspected, so I will be detailed with my comments, save a copy for myself, and offer to send the photos via email if they require. 

And though I'm interested in the horror stories, I'm not sure I want to know! It would probably make me think twice about renting again in the future!  DB's last flat was a bit  horrific though--he found a cat's tail on the windowsill when he moved in, old moldy laundry in the washing machine, found out when he tried to get his deposit back that it wasn't placed into the correct scheme, so the owner was earning interest on it, and it took months to be returned, let alone the bailiff letters he was receiving from previous tenants.....and that's probably not even 10% of what a real horror story is like!

 DB's last flat was a bit  horrific though--he found a cat's tail on the windowsill when he moved in, old moldy laundry in the washing machine, found out when he tried to get his deposit back that it wasn't placed into the correct scheme, so the owner was earning interest on it, and it took months to be returned, let alone the bailiff letters he was receiving from previous tenants.....and that's probably not even 10% of what a real horror story is like!

please tell me he didn't find an actual feline body part?  


Definitely in your best interest to be thorough and keep copies, especially if there is a potential mold problem.

Note it all down. Take pictures. Cover Your Ass- I've had nothing but hell on earth moving out of places-  so I don't want the same for you. 

In our case, there was no inventory.  Is this cause for concern, or will it be to our advantage when it is time to move out?  In other words, if there is a dispute with the landlord over whether or not we caused damage, and there is no evidence/signed document attesting to the condition at move-in, who receives the benefit of the doubt?  I should add that at this stage we have no reason to doubt the landlord's honesty, he seems fine.  We did let through an agency and the deposit is being held appropriately in a tenancy deposit scheme.

Personally, if it were me, I'd create an inventory and condition of the place- asap- and give it to the landlord- lessons learned from my past!   

Pretty sure they wouldn't have much grounds to stand on without it, but better off to document it... 

Thanks for the advice.  You're right, I probably should have done that.  Now, we've already been here for nearly a year, in fact we just signed for a second year, so I wonder whether there's really any point in documenting every little fault of this (one hundred year old) house at this late stage.  I guess what I want to know is whether anyone else has experienced this situation, and how it turned out.  And also what our legal standing might be, sans documentation.

 I guess what I want to know is whether anyone else has experienced this situation, and how it turned out.

Badly for me, I'm afraid, which is why I was saying lessons learned. "He said, she said", when it came to moving out and back and forth and back and forth... luckily I did win that fight with that landlord. But it was a very painful 4 month process, which almost ended in court. 

My current letting agent. Ugggh. My constant fight. Turning into a court battle now. 

I HATE RENTING.

Maybe your landlord won't be a jerk.  Maybe contact him/her and see what their thoughts are now?  Better to do it when you're on friendly terms and not when you're fighting...

My new landlord, so far, so good.  We'll see at the end when I go to move. Not planning on doing that for a long while though, 6 moves in 3 years, had just about enough of that.   

That was my experience, however, your mileage may vary - I think I've just gotten unlucky!!

Here's some information from Shelter England:

http://england.shelter.org.uk/get_advice/paying_for_a_home/tenancy_deposits/deposit_protection_schemes

http://england.shelter.org.uk/get_advice/paying_for_a_home/tenancy_deposits/making_an_inventory

And from direct.gov
http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/HomeAndCommunity/Privaterenting/Tenancies/index.htm

I guess what I want to know is whether anyone else has experienced this situation, and how it turned out.  

The flat I just moved out of didn't have an inventory during move-in, nor did they check it when we moved out. I wasn't around when my BF moved in and he apparently didn't think about having an inventory. When we went to move out, we asked our lettings agent what the procedure was. Apparently, the landlord didn't require an inventory; the agent simply looked over the place when he was showing it to other people and that was it. I wouldn't say that's ideal, nor would I expect many other places to do that, but we received our deposit back in full, thankfully. The place was a bit of a dump, though. It could have used a few inventories!