The problem
When a tenancy ends with a stained carpet or a broken oven door, the deposit scheme's free dispute service decides how much comes back, and a landlord with a few phone photos and no signed check-in report has little to show. If that costs one $399£300€357A$576C$564 deduction a year across 5 flats, it's $33£25€30A$48C$47 a month, before the 8 hours a year spent typing inventories for 2 changes of tenant.
What the AI does
Inventory Hive is an inventory app for landlords and agents. On a phone or desktop you build inventory, check-in, interim and check-out reports with photos, using its auto-complete library and prompts for areas of common dispute. Tenants can review the report by email and sign it remotely, and the check-out report sits side by side with the check-in for a before-and-after comparison. The property's details are remembered between tenants, so the next check-in is mostly new photos. Reports and storage are unlimited on every plan.
A worked example
A landlord in Stoke-on-Trent with 5 flats has about 2 changes of tenant a year and has relied on phone photos and a typed list. They move to Inventory Hive's 5-property plan ($126£95€113A$182C$179 a year excluding VAT, about $11£8€10A$15C$15 a month) and do a full report at each flat at the next change of tenant.
Before
No signed check-in reports, one $399£300€357A$576C$564 deduction a year given up, and 8 hours a year typing inventories
After
A signed, dated report for every tenancy, and about 4 hours a year on inventories
What it's worth
About $47£35€42A$67C$66 a month saved, against about $11£8€10A$15C$15 a month. That is $33£25€30A$48C$47 a month from one $399£300€357A$576C$564 deduction a year no longer given up ($399£300€357A$576C$564 ÷ 12), which pays for repairs and so counts in full, plus 4 hours a year saved at $40£30€36A$58C$56 an hour ($160£120€143A$230C$226 a year, $13£10€12A$19C$19 a month). The plan is $126£95€113A$182C$179 a year plus VAT, $152£114€136A$219C$214 with VAT.
How to set it up
- Start Inventory Hive's 30-day free trial and add your 5 flats.
- At the next change of tenant, photograph every room in good light, including meter readings, keys handed over and the smoke and carbon monoxide alarms, and build the inventory and check-in report on site.
- Send the report to the tenants to review and sign remotely, give them a set time to note anything you missed, and keep their comments with the report.
- At check-out, use the side-by-side report against the check-in and photograph anything that has changed.
- Agree any deductions with the tenant in writing and return the deposit within 10 days of agreeing; if you can't agree, send the reports to your deposit scheme's free dispute resolution service.
- Download a PDF of each report and keep it with the tenancy file, so the record doesn't depend on one subscription.
What goes wrong
- A report the tenant never saw is easier to argue with. Chase the signature or a written reply in the first week of the tenancy.
- The deposit scheme decides. A report shows what the flat was like; it doesn't make an old carpet getting older the tenant's fault, so be fair before you claim.
- Plans under 50 properties are billed yearly only: 5 properties is $126£95€113A$182C$179 a year plus VAT, and a sixth flat moves you to the 10-property plan at $200£150€179A$288C$282.
- Tenant signatures and photos of their belongings are personal data under UK GDPR. Photograph the property rather than the tenant's things, and delete old reports once you no longer need them.