Schedule of Condition
Quick answer
The room-by-room photographed report of the property’s condition at check-in (and updated at check-out). Distinct from the Inventory (which lists items and their condition); Schedule of Condition focuses on the fabric of the property: walls, floors, fittings, decoration. Together they form the deposit deduction evidence base. Required to win a fair-wear-and-tear contested deduction at the DPS, TDS or mydeposits adjudication; absence usually means the deposit is returned in full to the tenant.
At a glance
- Records
- The fabric of the property: walls, floors, windows, fittings
- Distinct from
- The inventory, which lists contents
- Essential feature
- Dated photographs, signed by the tenant at check-in
- Used at
- Check-out comparison and deposit adjudication
Full guide
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Open full guideWhy Schedule of Condition matters for landlords
Deposit adjudication is decided on documents, and the schedule of condition is the document that decides it. Without a dated, tenant-signed record of how the property looked at check-in, an adjudicator has your assertion against the tenant’s and the scheme’s default is to return the money. It also settles the argument that generates most disputes — fair wear and tear — because the comparison is against the recorded starting condition rather than against an ideal. Photograph everything at check-in including the things that look fine, since the item you did not record is the one that will be contested.
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Official sources
LetCompliance editorial reviews this entry every quarter against the sources above. Always confirm specific duties with a qualified solicitor or your local council.
Related terms
Inventory (Inventory Clerk)
The detailed, photographed schedule of the property’s condition and contents at the start of a tenancy, used as the comparison baseline at check-out for deposit deductions. A professionally prepared inventory by an APIP / AIIC-accredited inventory clerk costs typically £80–£200 depending on property size and is the strongest evidence base for the DPS, TDS or mydeposits adjudication process. The Renters Rights Act 2025 strengthens tenant rights to challenge unfair deductions, raising the evidentiary bar for landlords.
Schedule 2 (Housing Act 1988 Possession Grounds)
The schedule of statutory grounds a landlord uses to seek possession of an assured / assured shorthold tenancy under Section 8. Grounds 1–8 are mandatory (court must grant possession if proven): includes ground 1 (landlord-occupier intent), ground 1A (landlord sale, post-RRA 2025), ground 8 (3+ months rent arrears post-RRA 2025), ground 14 (anti-social behaviour). Grounds 9–17 are discretionary (court considers reasonableness): includes ground 11 (persistent late payment) and ground 12 (breach of tenancy). Choice of ground sets the notice period and the burden of proof.
Arrears (Rent Arrears)
Unpaid rent that is past its due date. Ground 8 of Schedule 2 to the Housing Act 1988 (mandatory) requires at least 3 months of rent arrears under the Renters Rights Act 2025 (previously 2 months). Grounds 10 and 11 remain as discretionary grounds.
Banning Order
A court order under Part 2 of the Housing and Planning Act 2016 banning a person convicted of certain housing offences from letting property, engaging in lettings agency work or holding an HMO licence. Triggered by a banning-order offence (Schedule 1 of the Act): includes serious housing-condition offences, illegal eviction and unlawful HMO operation. A banned landlord is added to the national database of rogue landlords and breach of the order is itself a criminal offence with up to 51 weeks’ imprisonment.
Form 3A (Notice of Seeking Possession, Section 8)
The prescribed form a private landlord uses to start a Section 8 possession claim under the Housing Act 1988. GOV.UK publishes two versions: Form 3A for the private rented sector and Form 3 for social housing, so a private landlord who serves Form 3 has used the wrong form. It identifies the tenancy, the grounds being relied on (from Schedule 2 to the Housing Act 1988) and the date by which the tenant must give up possession. Notice periods vary by ground: no minimum notice for grounds 7A and 14 (anti-social behaviour), 4 weeks for ground 8 (rent arrears), 4 months for ground 1A (landlord sale) post-RRA 2025. A defective notice — wrong form, wrong ground, wrong notice period, missing prescribed wording — is the most common reason possession claims fail at first hearing.
Ground 8 (Serious Rent Arrears)
The mandatory possession ground for serious rent arrears under Schedule 2 of the Housing Act 1988. Since the Renters’ Rights Act 2025 the threshold is at least three months’ rent unpaid (13 weeks’ for weekly tenancies), up from two months, and the Section 8 notice period is four weeks. The arrears must be at or above the threshold both when the notice is served and again at the hearing, so a tenant who pays below it before the hearing defeats the ground.