UK LANDLORDS have been urged to sign a petition which asks the Government to tighten up rules around inventories for properties.

The Association of Independent Inventory Clerks (AIIC), which has almost 1,000 members nationwide, believes that independent inventory reporting of private rental properties should be an industry standard.

The AIIC argues that with landlords and letting agents currently free to produce their own inventories, renters can be left unfairly out of pocket at the end of a tenancy.

Danny Zane, joint chair of the AIIC, said: “We are urging all property professionals, landlords and tenants to sign this petition in order to bring this issue to the government’s attention, which is long overdue.

“It’s clear the Government is keen to increase regulation and professionalism in the letting sector and we see no reason why mandatory inventory reporting should not be a part of this movement.

“Compulsory tenancy deposit protection was introduced in 2007. However, there has never been any additional legislation concerning the documentary evidence required to enable adjudicators to adequately arbitrate on disputes.”

Coming at a time when the Government is consulting on the future of the leasehold and property management sector, the petition’s aim is to encourage MPs to consider the benefits of mandatory inventory reporting as part of its plans to increase regulation of the Private Rented Sector (PRS).

At the recent Conservative party conference, Communities Secretary Sajid Javid announced plans for a number of new PRS initiatives, including industry-wide regulation of letting agents.