What to Include in a Lease Agreement: A Landlord's 12-Point Checklist
For most landlords a lease is a “fill in the standard form, sign it, put it in a drawer” job. The problem is that the paper in that drawer only ever gets read when there’s a dispute — and on that day, everything it doesn’t say is arguable.
This isn’t legal advice. It’s a landlord’s list of the gaps that cause trouble later. Rules differ by country and change over time, so have your own lease checked by a lawyer where it matters.
1. Full identity and contact details for both parties
A name isn’t enough: ID number, phone, email and a service address for notices. Once a tenant has moved out, you can’t send a demand to someone you can’t reach. Recording an email address also opens the door to keeping things in writing — I covered which landlord-tenant conversations belong in writing separately.
2. A precise description of the property
Full address, unit number, floor, area. “The flat on the third floor” is useless when there are two of them.
3. Start and end dates
If the tenancy start and the handover date aren’t the same day, write both. If you hand keys over a week early, whether that week is free or part of the term will be asked about later.
4. Rent amount, due date and payment method
All three. The payment method matters: “by bank transfer to this account” leaves a record. Cash payments leave the “I paid / you didn’t” argument entirely unprovable.
5. The basis for rent increases
Write down how an increase will be calculated. Caps and permitted rates are set by local law and change over time, so define the basis in the lease rather than hard-coding a percentage, then check the current rules when you apply it. In the year you do raise the rent, record the new amount too — three years later you’ll be glad you know what this unit started at.
6. Deposit: amount, deduction rules and return window
Three things need stating: how much, what can be deducted, and how many days after move-out it is returned. When the return conditions are vague, the deposit becomes a dispute almost every time.
7. Inventory list and condition
As an annex: a move-in inventory. Boiler, air conditioning, built-in appliances, wardrobes, blinds — each with a “working / not working” note and a photo. This single annex kills most deposit arguments before they start. Here’s how to build one.
8. Meter readings
Electricity, water and gas readings on the day of handover, with photos. When a transfer bill turns up later, this number is the only thing that decides whose it is.
9. Who pays which bills
Service charges, whether heating is included, who covers major repairs. Leave these out and every single item becomes a separate conversation.
10. Permitted use and limits
Residential or commercial, subletting, pets, alterations. Discussing these later means discussing them once the tenant has already moved in — when your negotiating position is nil.
11. Guarantor terms, if there is one
Identity, type of liability, amount and duration. Guarantees are formally sensitive; get professional input on any lease with one.
12. Termination and exit conditions
Notice period, what happens on early exit, whether the lease auto-renews. When a tenant wants to leave three months early, the difference between having this clause and not having it is worth more than a month’s rent.
After signing: a lease lives in tracking, not in a folder
Even a well-drafted lease is useless if it’s forgotten in a drawer. If you don’t notice the end date arriving, if the increase window passed, if you can’t remember the deposit amount — the problem isn’t the document, it’s the tracking.
RentMind joins the two halves: you can generate a signature-ready lease inside the app and share it, and the lease dates, deposit, inventory and rent day then live on the same record. It reminds you weeks before the end date. I wrote about the record-keeping side in how to track rent payments.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is a standard template lease enough? Usually fine as a skeleton, but templates leave the dispute-generating items blank — inventory, meter readings, deposit return terms. The protection is in filling those in.
Does a lease need to be notarised? Generally not; a signed written agreement is valid in most places. For high-value, long-term or guaranteed leases, notarisation makes proof easier — check what applies where your property is.
Can I write a fixed increase percentage into the lease? Increase rates and caps are usually regulated and change periodically. Defining the basis and checking current rules at the time of application is the safer approach.
Fuat Çakır — management consultant and the developer of RentMind. He has been hands-on with real estate and rent management since 2014.