Inventories cost landlords millions each year

News Category: Legal

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Poorly-prepared inventories could be costing landlords millions of pounds each year, according to new research.

The Video Inventory Agency claims that the number of disputes between landlords and tenants is growing each year - with 23,500 occurring in 2009 in the UK, reports Property Wire.

Three years ago, the introduction of the Tenancy Deposit Protection Scheme meant that landlords are forced to prove their case when there is a dispute with a tenant.

Founder of the Video Inventory Agency Frazer Fearnhead stated that badly-managed inventories are partly to blame for increasing numbers of disputes, explaining that the balance of power now lies with the tenant.

"Many would-be cowboys have been pushed out of the market," he said. "It also means that law-abiding landlords are losing money unnecessarily."

He added that the total cost of poorly-prepared inventories to UK landlords could be as high as £12 million a year.

Timothy Lambert, head of consulting at Ducalian, recently said changes to capital gains tax means some landlords will not pay as much as they may have expected.

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