Q. I HAVE always been advised to go and see my tenants out of my rental property when they leave, but I am never really sure what I should be doing, can you give me a guideline?

Mrs T, Thrupp

A. 1 Ask the tenant if there is anything which needs attention. Your tenants have been living there and therefore know the property better than you, there are bound to be things which they are aware of that they may not have reported to you.

2 Is the property clean throughout and is there any damage? The majority of deductions are actually made for a lack of cleanliness rather than damage. Look for stains, burns, holes, remember you cannot charge for wear and tear.

3 Get any deductions agreed in writing. To avoid any misunderstandings or disputes through your deposit registration body, it is always worthwhile putting any agreement about deductions in writing and getting it signed by your tenants, as long as they are in agreement of course.

4 Who is the deposit to be paid back to? If there is more than one tenant and they do not have a joint account you will need the written consent of the other tenants in order to return the deposit to one individual.

5 Check all the cupboards. When I check tenants out of properties there is almost always something left or one cupboard not emptied.

6 Switch off heating and isolation switches. If things are left on it can run up high energy bills which you, the landlord, will be responsible for, so unless the weather is extremely cold I would advise that you switch it all off, but switch the boiler off on the heating and hot water controls rather than at the wall, boilers do not like to be switched off altogether.

7 Take meter readings. Your tenants should contact the utility suppliers with their closing readings, but it is a good idea to take the readings together so they match up as you will need to contact the utility supplier to take on responsibility or register the new tenants.

8 Who is the utility supplier? Your tenant may have changed the supplier since they moved in, so asking them who it is currently will save you the time and effort of ringing the wrong one.

9 Tenants’ forwarding address. This is important information, you will need to be able to contact them and an e-mail address is not always sufficient.

10 Have you got all the keys back? Check through and make sure you have all the keys including any letter box or padlock keys and that you have all, or any, spare sets which your tenants may have had cut.