Carrying out a property inspection with your landlord

You should inspect the property inside and outside before you sign a tenancy agreement.

Go through the place with the landlord and write down the condition of things like the carpet, the stove or the walls. This helps sort out hassles when it’s time to move out.

The residential tenancy agreement includes a property inspection report that many landlords use. This report will help you both to know what to look out for and to check.

It’s important to do a property inspection at the start and at the end of the tenancy. When the tenancy finishes, you can use the completed form to check the property has not been damaged. If damage is written down on an inspection form when a tenancy starts, then a tenant cannot be blamed for it at the tenancy’s end, and any new damage is easily identified.

Both landlord and tenant should sign, date and keep a copy of this form.  

A note about P labs

Unfortunately, in a few cases, the property may have been used for illegal drug manufacture by previous tenants. Download our information sheet Rental properties used in the manufacture of methamphetamine (P), which explains what action landlords and tenants should take if they suspect a property has been used as a P lab.