SaroxaiFair wear and tear: what landlords can and can't deduct
More deposit disputes turn on this one idea than on anything else. A tenant moves out, the place looks a bit tired, and the landlord wants to put it right before the next let. The problem is that "a bit tired" usually isn't something you can charge for. This guide explains where the line sits between fair wear and tear and genuine damage, what you can and can't take from a deposit, and how an adjudicator will look at it if it ever goes that far.
What's in this guide
What "fair wear and tear" actually means
There's no line in an Act of Parliament that defines it, which is part of why it causes so much friction. In practice, fair wear and tear is the slow decline you'd expect from a reasonable person living in the property normally, for however long the tenancy ran. Skirting boards scuff. Paint loses its freshness. Carpet flattens along the routes people actually walk. Taps drip, hinges drop, a bit of limescale builds up around the kitchen sink.
The key word is reasonable. A property used by a family of four for three years will show more of this than a one-bed used by a single professional for eight months, and that's expected. Wear and tear is the cost of a property being lived in, and it's the landlord's cost, not the tenant's.
Wear and tear vs damage: real examples
The clearest way to see the line is side by side. Damage is caused by a specific act, an accident, or neglect. Wear and tear just happens.
| Item | Fair wear and tear | Damage (chargeable) |
|---|---|---|
| Carpet | Thinning along a hallway; light flattening under furniture | Cigarette burn, iron mark, large wine stain, pet-torn edges |
| Walls | A few small scuffs; faint marks behind a sofa | Crayon murals, holes from unfilled fixings, deep gouges |
| Curtains & blinds | Fading from sunlight over time | Rips, missing slats, scorch marks |
| Kitchen worktop | Fine scratches from normal use | Burn marks, deep knife cuts, chips from dropped pans |
| Cleanliness | Light dust from move-out day | Grease-caked oven, mould from never opening a window |
Notice a pattern: time and ordinary use sit on the left, and a specific cause sits on the right. When you're writing up a check-out, that's the question to keep asking. Did this happen through living here, or did something cause it?
What you can't deduct for
These are the deductions that most often get thrown out:
- General redecoration because the paint is a few years old and looks it. Age is not the tenant's fault.
- Replacing worn items at the end of their life. A carpet with a ten-year lifespan that's nine years old owes you very little, even if the tenant marked it.
- Cleaning to a higher standard than the property was in at check-in. You can ask for it to come back as clean as it started, not cleaner.
- Betterment. This is the big one. You can't use a tenant's deposit to end up with a property in better condition, or with newer contents, than you handed over. If an old item needs replacing, the tenant pays for the wear they added, not for a brand-new replacement.
What you can deduct for
Equally, plenty of things are fair to claim, provided you can evidence them:
- Damage beyond reasonable use — the burns, tears, holes and stains in the table above.
- Cleaning back to the check-in standard, where the property is returned dirtier than it started.
- Missing items that were listed on the inventory and aren't there at check-out.
- Rubbish removal and belongings left behind.
- Unpaid rent or bills the tenant is contractually responsible for.
- Gardens left significantly worse than at check-in, if the tenancy made the tenant responsible for upkeep.
How adjudicators weigh it up
If you can't agree and the deposit is protected in a scheme, an independent adjudicator decides on the evidence. They don't start from "the tenant broke it." They look at each item and ask a series of practical questions:
- What condition was it in at the start? (This is where your check-in earns its keep.)
- How old was it, and what's its normal lifespan?
- How long did the tenancy run, and how many people lived there?
- Is the change beyond what reasonable use would produce?
Then they apportion. If a repair or replacement is fair, the award is usually scaled down to reflect the item's remaining life. This is why a claim for "£400 for a new carpet" so often becomes a much smaller figure, or nothing, once age and wear are taken into account.
Why the inventory decides it
Almost every wear-and-tear argument comes back to one document: the inventory and schedule of condition from the start of the tenancy, signed by the tenant, set beside the check-out at the end. Without that baseline, there's no fair way to prove a mark wasn't already there on day one, and the deduction usually fails. With clear, dated photographs at both ends, the picture speaks for itself and disputes get short.
Evidence that settles disputes, not starts them.
Saroxai keeps your inventories, photos and reports together and in your own iCloud — so when a deposit is questioned, the proof is already there.