Whether you’re buying your own home, moving to another rental, or even leaving for another country, you want to make sure that you’re thorough in leaving a rental the right way. After all, most rentals have a deposit tied up in them, money that you could do with getting back, so you don’t want to make any mistakes that could jeopardise that.

Here, we’re going to look at the mistakes that can cause you to lose your rental deposit, or otherwise make moving out more of a hassle than it should be, and what you can do to avoid them. 

Neglecting to clean it thoroughly

As a renter, it is your responsibility to ensure that you keep the property in a decent condition, which does include cleaning it. Cleaning it as a matter of course should be a normal part of your daily life, but when you’re leaving, you want to make sure that you are especially thorough in cleaning it.

You might even want to work with a team like Miss Maid to make sure that the home is cleaned as thoroughly as possible. If you fail to clean it, the landlord is likely to hire their own cleaning company and charge your deposit for it, and may even try to claim that some parts of the home were so dirty that they needed refurbishment, again, out of your deposit. The vast majority of deposit deductions come down to a failure to clean.

Tidy up the garden too

If your rental has a garden, then it is very likely that your tenancy agreement also accounts for ensuring the garden is kept in a presentable and tidy state. It’s easy to let the lawn grow too long and for weeds to spread if you’re not much of a garden, but you need to make sure that you do your part to get everything trimmed and to weed as best as you can before leaving the home. Of course, some issues can affect your garden regardless, such as tree sickness, that your landlord cannot reasonably blame you for, but you do at least need to ensure the garden is in a decent condition.

Make sure that you take everything with you

Whether you have to bring it with you to your new place, sell it, or dispose of it, you should make sure that any of your personal belongings are gone when you leave the home. Of course, any furniture or appliances originally in the rental, you can expect to leave without issue.

To make sure that you don’t have to leave anything behind, it can be a good idea to get help from teams like Denix Moving and Storage, so you have enough space and professional help with your removals. Otherwise, the landlord could end up charging you for the disposal of your own belongings, cutting into that deposit.

Keep an eye out for mould and condensation

In this part of the world, high humidity levels, plenty of rain, and cold temperatures can make condensation a common pain in any home. This can, in turn, lead to issues with mould and dampness that can begin to affect the health of the home.

It’s also something that landlords could take you to task for. Keeping the home warm, especially in the winter, can help avoid this to some degree, and good ventilation, such as opening the windows for a time every day, can help as well.

You need to keep a lookout for mould and be ready to get rid of it when it appears. Issues such as poor ventilation in the bathroom can cause mould to spread, but that can in part, be the landlord’s responsibility to repair if you’re doing everything you reasonably can to stop it.

Make a note of everything there

If you’re moving into a rental property with appliances and furniture already in it, then you should hopefully have an inventory list of everything that was in there.

Take the time to check the pad for everything in that inventory. If something is missing, broken, or has been thrown out, you might have the cost of replacing it taken from the deposit. If everything is there and accounted for, then be sure to take photos of them, as well as of the general state of the home, including doors, floors, walls, and other fixtures.

Some landlords will attempt to claim damage to get tenants to pay for updates to the house with their deposit, so having evidence that you left the home in good condition can be vital.

A little forward thinking and double-checking is usually all it takes to make sure that you can leave your rental with peace of mind and as full a deposit as possible. Keep these tips in mind.