What paperwork should I keep as a tenant?

Renting disputes are evidence contests, and the evidence is almost always created in the first week. Deposit adjudicators compare the state at the start against the state at the end; a landlord's ability to serve certain notices depends on documents having been given to you at the right time; and a claim about repairs depends on there being a written record of the report. All of it is paperwork, and all of it is easy to keep and impossible to reconstruct.

Step by step

1. Keep the tenancy agreement and every renewal.Signed and dated, including any addendum, permission letter or variation. If the tenancy rolled onto a periodic term, keep the original agreement, because its terms usually continue to apply.
2. Keep the deposit protection paperwork.In England and Wales a deposit must be protected in an authorised scheme within a set period, and the prescribed information must be given to you. Keep the certificate, the scheme name, the reference, and the prescribed information itself — this documentation affects both the deposit and a landlord's ability to serve certain notices.
3. Annotate the inventory and return it within the stated period.Go through it in detail, add every existing mark, missing item and defect, and send it back in writing within the period stated. An inventory returned unchallenged is treated as accepted, and it becomes the baseline for every later deduction.
4. Photograph everything on the day you move in.Every room, every existing mark, inside every appliance, every meter reading, with the date visible in the file metadata. This is the single most valuable thing you will do as a tenant, and it takes twenty minutes.
5. Keep the safety documents the landlord must provide.A current gas safety record where there is a gas appliance, an Energy Performance Certificate, and an electrical installation condition report. Keep the dates — these have renewal cycles and a missing one is a compliance failure as well as a safety concern.
6. Keep every rent payment record.Bank statements or a rent book showing each payment with its date. Rent arrears disputes are decided on payment evidence, and a full record also builds a rental history for future applications.
7. Put every repair report in writing and keep it.Even after a phone call, follow up by email or message summarising what was reported and when. A verbal report that a landlord denies receiving is worth nothing, and the written trail is what supports any later action.
8. Keep a copy of everything you are given at the start.The How to Rent guide where applicable in England, any right to rent documentation, permission letters for pets or decoration, and any inventory of furnishings. Some of these have legal effect on what notices can be served.
9. Repeat the photography on the day you leave.Same rooms, same angles, plus final meter readings and the cleaned oven. Compare against the inventory before handing back the keys, not afterwards.
10. Keep the whole file for several years after you leave.Not just until the deposit comes back. Claims, disputes about rent, references for the next tenancy and questions about who was liable for a bill all surface later, and the file is the answer.

Checklist

• Signed tenancy agreement and every renewal or variation
• Deposit protection certificate and prescribed information
• The inventory, annotated and returned in writing
• Dated photographs of every room and meter at move-in
• Current gas safety record
• Energy Performance Certificate
• Electrical installation condition report
• All rent payment records
• Written record of every repair report and the response
• Permission letters for pets, decoration or subletting
• Dated photographs and meter readings at move-out
• Final statement and deposit return correspondence

Questions people ask