Returning keys completes only part of a handover. Record condition, pre-existing defects, billing periods and remaining actions at both ends. Photographs need identifiable locations, and account closure requires its own confirmation.
What to have ready
Record condition and ownership with the inventory
List landlord-supplied furniture and appliances by room, noting visible make, model, remotes and accessories. Distinguish your belongings, items included for use and items awaiting removal. Safely check doors, drawers and operation and mark anything untested. Read the repair allocation in the lease alongside the inventory. An entry saying an appliance is provided does not prove an existing fault was resolved or determine every future repair obligation.
Take an overview and close-ups of scratches, cracks or missing parts, linking filenames to dated inventory entries. Record differing descriptions rather than signing a blanket perfect-condition statement. Report newly discovered defects promptly through the agreed arrangement. The inventory supplies evidence; it does not by itself decide ordinary deterioration, responsibility for damage or a deposit deduction. Keep original files and the version acknowledged by both parties.
Coordinate meter readings and account changes
WSD's change-of-consumership guidance asks outgoing and incoming users to verify the service address and meter identity and read it on the effective date. A validated joint-application reading can become the outgoing final and incoming initial reading. Photograph identity and display with the time rather than keeping an unexplained number. For an inaccessible meter, ask the supplier or management; do not dismantle equipment or disturb wiring.
Handle electricity, gas and other services through their own supplier procedures; key delivery does not automatically close accounts. Assign follow-up for final bills, deposit refunds and new activation and retain references. Shared or subsidiary meters need their own allocation records. The tenancy handover and supplier settlement dates may differ, so one estimated bill is not proof that every account was cleared or responsibility transferred.
Separate key delivery from unfinished actions
- Count entrance, room and mailbox keys, access cards and remotes separately, recording delivered, pending or reported missing items. Verify the recipient and their capacity. If parking or facility access is included, confirm its separate deactivation or transfer procedure.
- Where smart-home or network equipment is tied to your account, use its proper removal or transfer process and check personal information. Do not put your account password into the handover record or require another person's password as a handover condition.
- List unfinished repairs, removal, bills and deposit handling with the person to respond and intended date. Keep identical copies and record later photographs or amounts as additions rather than quietly replacing the original. Avoid leaving everything to an unspecified later calculation.
Example: an existing refrigerator crack at a North Point handover
Chi recorded a refrigerator drawer crack as kitchen item K3 at move-in, with dated photographs and matching copies. When replacement is raised at move-out, she produces that record and separates the original crack from any later damage for examination. She does more than assert that it was always broken. Her key record separately shows two entrance keys and one card delivered to the identified recipient.
The water-meter photograph records the handover reading, but the final bill is still pending, so she lists its reference and follow-up person. Condition, keys and accounts each have usable evidence. The record supports negotiation or a formal process without guaranteeing that a particular deduction must be cancelled or treating account closure as complete before the supplier confirms it.
Match rooms, equipment, meters and keys item by item, assign unfinished actions and preserve equivalent records at move-in and move-out.
Official information and enquiries
These are the reference and service entry points for this guide. Check current fees, eligibility, and schedules with the authority. The preparation date is not each source's official update date.