Watch Out for Tenants Taking your Items
Posted : 09/01/2017 | By Amanda Hosking
If you provide a home for rent that is furnished/part-furnished you may find some items missing when a tenant leaves. Revealing news from Direct Line for Business Insurers found that 30% of people who have rented in the past five years believe it’s okay to take items that are not theirs when moving out. This means that almost 1 in 3 people would take items that do not belong to them.
Renters had a few different explanations as to why they took the items. They are:
• Thinking the landlord would not notice the items were missing
• Failing to remember the item was not theirs
• Accidentally taking the item
However, the most popular reason was that they purely wanted to take the items. This response was given by over one fifth of participants. Some of the most common items tenants take include televisions, fridges, freezers, light fittings, and sinks. And more unusual items include a beehive, rolling pin and coconuts.
Tenants calculated that the value of the items they take is around £500 meaning landlords must pay a high price to replace the belongings.
Nick Breton, Chief Executive of Direct Line for Business said “It’s amazing the range of items tenants feel they can take when vacating a property. It’s not even just small items going missing and our research reveals that tenants are also taking sofas, beds, and cupboards when the tenancy comes to an end.”
This shows that some tenants have no qualms in taking large, expensive items. Nick said “These are expensive items to replace and could have an effect on future tenants and the tenant may also find they lose their deposit”.
The study also discovered that 1 in 5 participants who had stolen items said they did not complete an inventory when they started renting the property. Although, 23% of respondents did admit that the items they took were on the inventory but this did not discourage them from stealing the items.
So, what can landlords do to avoid tenants stealing their items?
The most important thing to do is take an inventory before the tenant moves in and then perform another inventory just before the tenant leaves. The tenant is then aware that you have done an inventory and it will make you aware of anything that is missing at the end of the tenancy. You can then confront the tenant about any missing items.
In addition, if your property comes furnished/part furnished ensure you have insurance so you are covered if anything goes missing.
Make sure your inventory and insurance are complete to avoid such a situation.