Moving in inventory checklist
Do this before a single box goes in. Once furniture is inside, there's no way to prove what the walls and fittings looked like underneath it.
22 items
Makes your own editable copy. No account needed.
The items
- Every room photographed before a single box goes inOnce furniture's inside, you can't prove what the walls looked like underneath it.
- Meter readings for gas, electricity and water photographed with the serial numbers
- Existing damage photographed close up, room by room
- Marks on walls and carpets
- Chips and scratches on worktops and doors
- Condition of any appliances left behind
- Inventory document checked line by line against what's actually thereOne written in twenty minutes by someone else protects nobody but them if you sign it unread.
- Discrepancies noted in writing and sent the same dayA timestamped email settles an argument later; a conversation on the doorstep doesn't.
- Every key tested and counted
- Front and back doors
- Any windows that lock separately
- Post box, garage, communal areas
- Smoke and carbon monoxide alarms tested
- Boiler and heating system tested, not just looked at
- Every appliance switched on and checkedA fridge left off for a week can hide a fault nobody mentioned.
- Taps run and checked for pressure and leaks
- Windows and doors checked for damage and that they actually lock
- Fixtures and fittings checked against what was promisedCurtains and light fittings included in a sale or tenancy have a habit of disappearing before completion.
- Instruction manuals and warranty documents collected
- Alarm codes, wifi details and any smart home logins handed over
- Meter readings sent to the outgoing supplier the same day
- Photographs and notes saved somewhere that isn't only your phoneA phone lost or replaced before a dispute is how this evidence usually disappears.
Makes your own editable copy. No account needed.
Questions people ask
- Why does the inventory matter if I own the property?
- Buildings insurance, warranty claims and any dispute with a previous owner all rest on being able to show the condition on day one, not just remember it.
- What if the seller or landlord won't agree the inventory with me?
- Send your own version by email or letter the same day, with photographs attached and timestamped. A record they never replied to is still a record.
- How long should I keep the photographs?
- For the whole time you own or rent the property, and ideally beyond. A dispute can surface years later, and a lost photo is a lost argument.