Deposit adjudication is not a negotiation and it is not a hearing. An independent adjudicator reads what both sides submit and decides. Nobody is interviewed, nobody visits the property, and nothing is taken on trust. Whoever evidenced their position wins.
The inventory decides most cases
A deposit claim is a comparison between the condition at the start and the condition at the end. Without a check-in inventory, there is nothing to compare to, and the adjudicator has no basis to award a deduction however obvious the damage looks.
A useful inventory is dated, detailed, photographed, and signed by the tenant. "Kitchen: good condition" evidences nothing. "Worktop: laminate, no chips or burns" with a photograph evidences a great deal.
The single most common reason a landlord loses a deposit dispute is not unfairness. It is that they never documented the starting condition.
Fair wear and tear
Tenants are not required to return a property in the condition they found it. They are required to return it in that condition less fair wear and tear, judged against how long they lived there and how many people lived with them.
Carpet worn along a hallway after three years with two children is wear and tear. A cigarette burn in that carpet is damage. Paint that has dulled is wear and tear. A wall repainted purple without permission is damage.
Betterment
Even with clear damage, a landlord is not entitled to a brand new replacement at the tenant's expense. Adjudicators reduce awards for the life the item had already used.
If a carpet has a ten-year life and is damaged beyond repair in year eight, the tenant is responsible for roughly the two years of life that were lost, not the full replacement cost. The same logic applies to appliances, decoration and furniture.
What each side should keep
Landlords: a signed check-in inventory with dated photographs, a check-out report in the same format, receipts or written quotes for any work claimed, and a note of the age of anything being replaced.
Tenants: your own dated photographs on the day you move in and the day you leave, every message where you reported a problem, and the check-in inventory you signed. Report faults in writing at the time, not at the end.
Cleaning
Cleaning remains the most disputed deduction of all. A tenancy agreement cannot require professional cleaning as a blanket condition, and has not been able to since the Tenant Fees Act. The property must be returned as clean as it was at the start, which is why the check-in evidence matters here too.
Getting it right from the start
Every property we manage gets a photographic inventory at check-in and a matching report at check-out. It is not there to catch tenants out. It is there so that whichever way a dispute goes, it goes on facts.
If you are letting a property and are not confident your inventory would stand up, speak to us before the tenant moves in. It is far easier to fix then than at the end.
