The move-out inspection is only as good as the move-in report it is compared against, and the two are usually done by different people, months or years apart, using different forms. This free move-in / move-out inspection checklist gives landlords, letting agents, property managers and inventory clerks one template for both ends of a tenancy. One question at the start decides which inspection you are running. Both share the room-by-room condition report with dated photos. A move-in adds meter readings, the key log and the tenant’s sign-off. A move-out adds the line-by-line comparison, the wear-and-tear calls, costed deductions with an approval step, and the deposit return.
A condition report records the state, cleanliness and contents of a let property on a given day. Done at move-in, it becomes the baseline. Done at move-out, it shows what changed. The only thing that makes the second one useful is that it can be read against the first, room by room and in the same order, with photos taken from the same angles. So this template uses one room list for both.
It is narrower than the start-of-tenancy paperwork. Referencing, the tenancy agreement, deposit registration and the documents you must hand over are covered by the Tenant Onboarding Checklist. This template is the inspection itself: what the property looked like when the tenant took the keys, what it looked like when they gave them back, and what, if anything, comes out of the deposit as a result.
On both sides of the Atlantic the burden sits with the landlord. In England the deposit protection schemes treat the deposit as the tenant’s money until the landlord proves a loss, and in the US most states require an itemised statement of deductions within a fixed number of days. Neither works without a baseline.
Six phases take the inspection from preparation to a closed file. Phase 3 appears only for a move-in, and Phases 4 and 5 only for a move-out. In Phase 5, the deposit-return tasks follow where the deposit is held.
Answer the two scope questions first. They decide which phases and deposit tasks this inspection shows.
Shown only when the scope answer is Move-in.
Shown only when the scope answer is Move-out.
Shown only when the scope answer is Move-out. The two deposit-return tasks follow the second scope question.
Deposit law in the US is set state by state, and some cities add their own rules on top. England has one national system. The table shows how the condition report and the deposit return fit together in England and in six states that are often asked about. Check the rules for every state you let in and add the deadlines to the template as due dates.
| Where | Condition record at the start | Return deadline and paperwork |
|---|---|---|
| England | No statutory inventory, but deposit schemes say a claim without one is hard to win. On a new tenancy, alarms must be checked on the day it begins, and signing the inventory is one way to record it | Deposit protected within 30 days, with prescribed information (Housing Act 2004). Balance returned within 10 days of agreeing the amount; disagreements can go to the scheme’s free dispute service |
| California | Photos of the unit at move-in for tenancies starting on or after 1 July 2025 | 21 days after move-out, with an itemised statement; receipts for deductions over $125; photos before and after repairs or cleaning that is charged for |
| New York | The landlord must offer an inspection before the tenant moves in | 14 days after move-out, with an itemised statement; miss it and the whole deposit must be returned. Tenants can ask for an inspection before they leave |
| Texas | Not required by statute | 30 days after the tenant surrenders the property, but only once the tenant has given a forwarding address in writing |
| Washington | No deposit may be taken without a written checklist of condition, signed and dated by both parties, with a copy to the tenant | 30 days after the tenancy ends and the tenant leaves, with a full and specific statement and copies of estimates or invoices |
| Georgia | Written list of existing damage before a deposit is taken; the tenant may inspect to check it. Some individual landlords with ten or fewer units are exempt | Within one month of the tenant leaving, with an itemised list of deductions |
| Kentucky | Where a city or county has adopted the state’s uniform landlord-tenant act: a signed list of existing damage before a deposit is taken | Without the initial and final damage listings, the landlord cannot keep any part of the deposit |
Wear and tear or damage? England and each of these states rule out deductions for ordinary wear and tear, and none of them defines it precisely enough to settle every case. The practical test is whether the deterioration comes from normal use, given the length of the tenancy and the number of people living there. Light scuffs, faded curtains and carpet flattened along a walkway are wear. Burns, large stains, holes beyond picture hooks, broken fittings and anything left dirty are not. When something is damaged, the scheme adjudicators in England will not award a full replacement cost if the item was already part-way through its life: a five-year-old carpet with a ten-year life is worth roughly half a new one. Charging the full price puts the landlord in a better position than before the tenancy, which adjudicators call betterment and refuse.
What the Renters’ Rights Act changes. From 1 May 2026, private tenancies in England became assured periodic tenancies, and tenants now give two months’ notice to leave. The deposit protection rules carry on, and the schemes advise that prescribed information correctly served at the start does not need to be served again because the tenancy has become periodic.
The inspector takes photos with the phone camera in the mobile browser and attaches them to the room task they belong to. Every completed task records who did it and when, so the date of each photo is never in question at a dispute.
A single dropdown answer shows the move-in handover or the move-out comparison and deposit phases, so the room list never drifts between the two forms. A second answer shows the deposit tasks for a scheme in England or a landlord-held deposit in the US.
Proposed deductions stop at an approval step until the named approver answers. The statement that reaches the tenant has been checked against the evidence, and the approval is in the history.
The inspection is one step in the tenancy lifecycle. The Tenant Onboarding Checklist covers the start, the Annual Property Inspection Checklist checks condition and safety while the tenant is in, and the Lease Renewal Checklist picks up when the tenancy is reviewed. Our property management checklist guide shows how they fit together.
Running inspections across a portfolio? CheckFlow for property management puts every inspection, turnover and compliance check in one place, with dashboards showing which reports are overdue. Short-let hosts doing changeovers between guests should use the Short-Term Rental Turnover Checklist instead.
The same rooms and items as the move-in report, in the same order, so each entry can be compared directly. For each room: walls, ceilings, floors, doors, windows, fixtures, appliances and contents, with photos. Then the keys returned, final meter readings, the tenant’s forwarding address, a classification of every change as wear and tear or damage, and costed deductions with evidence attached.
It is not usually required, but it helps. A tenant who walks the property with you at move-in and signs the report is in a weak position to dispute it later. Some states go further: in California and New York a departing tenant can ask for an inspection before they leave and be told what to fix or clean to avoid deductions. Invite the tenant in writing and record whether they came.
In the US it depends on the state: for example 14 days in New York, 21 days in California and 30 days in Texas and Washington, each with an itemised statement of any deductions. In England the deposit sits in a protection scheme, and the agreed amount must be returned within 10 days of the landlord and tenant agreeing it. If they cannot agree, the scheme’s free dispute service can decide.
Deterioration from normal everyday use over the length of the tenancy, such as light scuffs, faded paint or worn carpet in walkways. Damage comes from accident, misuse or neglect: burns, stains, broken fittings, holes and anything left dirty. The longer the tenancy and the more occupants, the more wear an adjudicator will accept.
Not the core rules. Deposits must still be protected within 30 days with prescribed information, and the Tenant Fees Act cap of five weeks’ rent (six where annual rent is £50,000 or more) still applies. The Act’s main changes, in force from 1 May 2026, are periodic tenancies, the end of section 21, rent increases only by section 13 notice and a limit of one month’s rent in advance.
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