Deposit deductions are not decided by the contract
Fair wear or damage? No clause can settle that. Photographs with dates can.
Every deposit argument ends in the same sentence: "it was already like that". From there, whoever has evidence wins. The phrase "fair wear and tear" in the agreement helps nobody, because what counts as fair is precisely what is in dispute.
Wear versus damage
Wear is what two years of living produces on its own: paint fading, a worn patch on the floor, a hinge that has loosened. Damage comes from a specific event: a burnt worktop, a snapped handle, mould on a wall that was never ventilated.
The line is not sharp, which is exactly why you should not be having a memory contest about it. With ten photos from move-in and ten from move-out, the difference is visible, and most arguments never start.
A condition report that actually works
It does not need to be professional. It needs three things: a date, photos, and written acknowledgement from both sides. An email in which the tenant writes "received, I agree" is worth more than a beautiful template nobody signed.
- One wide shot of every room, plus two close-ups of anything already imperfect.
- Separate photos of the kitchen worktop, the bathroom sealant and how the windows close — most disputes live on those three.
- Meter readings with the date, photographed legibly.
- How many keys were handed over, and whether the lock was changed.
What people try to deduct, and what survives
The most common attempt is redecoration. That stands up when it covers actual damage — a wall ruined by smoke or mould. "I repaint every five years" is not the tenant’s cost, it is the running cost of the property.
Cleaning can be deducted when the place is visibly worse than at handover — and again, the two sets of photos are what show it. For missing items, the move-in inventory decides; with no inventory, there is nothing to show.
The invoice that ends the argument
If you deduct, deduct actual cost with an invoice, not an estimate. "It will be about two hundred to fix" is the sentence that produces a complaint. "Here is the invoice, it was one hundred and eighty" is the sentence that does not.
That also means getting the work done, or at least getting a written quote, before you settle. It is slower, and it is the only version that holds up.
The long game
A landlord who spends those twenty minutes at every tenant change ends up with something else after a few years: the full condition history of the property. That is just as useful when selling — except then it is the buyer who finds it reassuring that everything was photographed and recorded.
What is deductible depends on your tenancy agreement and local law. In an actual dispute, get proper advice — this article is about having something to argue with.