Mobile app to help tenants get their deposits back

McRachmans beware

A mobile app which aims to reduce disputes over rent deposits due at the end of a tenancy has been launched in Scotland, UK. Developed by the local branch of the charity Shelter, the ‘Housemate’ app is said to generate a full digital inventory of a property’s contents and condition and which can then be emailed by the landlord or his agent to the tenant. At the end of the tenancy, so the idea goes, landlords and tenants alike can resolve any differences by reference to the app.So far, there’s no indication of the cost of the ‘Housemate’ app, undergoing trials with nationwide letting agent Orchard and Shipman.

What isn’t explained either is what the app does that can’t already be done with a mobile camera and a print-out of a rented property’s condition, for free.

But Angela McLachlan, a director of the letting agency remains upbeat, waxing lyrical over how the app, “Demystifies the entire inventory process.”

In the same way, no doubt, that others might say this website demystifies Orchard and Shipman..