What can a landlord legally deduct from your deposit?

Deposit deductions are where the end of a tenancy gets ugly. Tenants are rarely sure where the line is between “legitimate charge” and “chancing it”. Landlords aren't always sure either. Here's how the scheme adjudicators actually look at it.

The basic test

A deduction has to pass three tests:

1. It's caused by something the tenant did or failed to do. Damage you caused, dirt you left, items missing. Not fair wear and tear. Not pre-existing issues.
2. The tenancy agreement allows it. The landlord can't deduct for things that aren't in the contract (and even some things that are in the contract aren't enforceable).
3. The amount is reasonable. Costs have to reflect actual loss to the landlord, not retail-replacement of items that were old at the start.

If any of those three tests fails, the deduction usually fails at adjudication.

What's usually fair game

Adjudicators routinely accept deductions for:

• Unpaid rent. This is straightforward. If you owe £X at the end of the tenancy, the landlord can deduct £X.
• Specific damage beyond fair wear and tear. A broken cupboard door. Burns on the worktop. A hole in a wall larger than a picture hook. Backed up by photos and matched against the check-in inventory.
• Missing items. If the inventory recorded six dining chairs and you left four, the missing two are deductible at a reasonable replacement cost — not the highest-end equivalent.
• Cleaning beyond the standard you received it in. If the property was professionally cleaned at the start and you've left it dirty, a reasonable cleaning charge is recoverable. The cleaning cost has to be evidenced (an invoice from an actual cleaner, not a guess).
• Specific unpaid bills that you were responsible for under the tenancy agreement (council tax during your tenancy, utilities owed at move-out, etc.).

Common grey areas

These are the items that go to adjudication most often:

• Carpet cleaning. Deductible if soiled materially beyond wear and tear. Not deductible just because the tenancy ended.
• Repainting. Adjudicators usually treat paint as having a lifespan of about 5 years. If the walls were painted at the start of your two-year tenancy, a charge for repainting at the end will normally only succeed at a fraction of the cost — and only for genuine damage, not normal scuffs.
• Carpet replacement. Almost never the full cost. Adjudicators apply a depreciation rule (carpets are typically treated as having a 10-year lifespan). A 5-year-old carpet with a stain doesn't justify a brand-new replacement.
• Garden maintenance. Only deductible if the agreement makes you responsible for garden upkeep and the garden is materially worse than at check-in.

What usually gets disallowed

• Generic “professional cleaning” clauses. Wide cleaning clauses requiring professional cleaning regardless of condition are typically treated as unenforceable.
• Betterment. The landlord ending up with something better than they started with. Replacing a 10-year-old carpet with a new one at the tenant's expense, for example.
• Admin fees and re-letting costs. Banned for most tenancies under the Tenant Fees Act 2019.
• Fair wear and tear. Faded paint, slight carpet wear in walkways, minor scuffs on skirting boards. See our guide to fair wear and tear for where the line sits.
• Costs not evidenced. “£300 for cleaning and repairs” without itemisation or receipts. Adjudicators can't award costs the file doesn't support.

How to push back

If you think a deduction is excessive or unfair:

1. Ask for itemised costs with supporting invoices for each line.
2. Compare against the check-in inventory. If it isn't a new issue, push back.
3. Where deductions exceed the depreciated value of the item, point that out.
4. Get your own quotes for any work the landlord has charged for — three quotes is the convention.
5. If you can't agree, raise a formal dispute through the protection scheme. See deposit disputes — the ADR process.

FAQ