Moving out this autumn? How to get your deposit back, and what landlords can and cannot deduct

October is the busiest month of the year for deposit disputes. The three government-approved schemes that hold tenants’ deposits in England and Wales handled around 36,000 formal disputes in the year to March and a third of those were lodged between September and November, as the tenancies that began the previous autumn come to an end and landlords and tenants argue over the state of the carpet.

The figures also show something that surprises most tenants: they usually win. In the latest year adjudicators awarded the full amount claimed by the landlord in only 15% of cases. Tenants received all or most of their deposit back in 55% of disputes and the remainder were split. The lesson, say advisers, is that a landlord’s deduction is an opening position, not a verdict, and that the tenant who challenges it with evidence usually does well.

“The single most common mistake is not taking photographs at the start,” said Dominic Hale, a housing adviser at a Citizens Advice office in Nottingham. “The second is not taking them at the end. A landlord has to prove the deduction is justified and if there is an inventory with photos from move-in and photos from move-out showing the same wall, the same oven, the same carpet, there is nothing to argue about.” He advises tenants to photograph every room, including inside cupboards and the oven, on the day they get the keys and the day they hand them back, and to email the pictures to themselves so they are dated.

What can a landlord deduct? Unpaid rent, damage beyond fair wear and tear, missing items and cleaning where the property is returned dirtier than it was let, allowing for the fact that nobody is expected to return a flat in showroom condition after a year. What they cannot deduct is the cost of making the property better than it was: a new carpet to replace one that was already five years old, a full repaint because of a few scuffs, or a professional clean when the tenant has cleaned it to a reasonable standard themselves. Adjudicators apportion the cost of replacing worn items by age; a carpet with an expected life of 10 years that was three years old when the tenant moved in is worth 70% of its replacement cost at most.

The process is simple and free. If the landlord proposes deductions the tenant disagrees with, they should say so in writing, with their evidence, and give the landlord a chance to reconsider. If no agreement is reached within a couple of weeks either side can refer the dispute to the scheme holding the deposit, which appoints an adjudicator who decides on the papers, usually within 28 days. The landlord must have protected the deposit in a scheme within 30 days of receiving it and given the tenant the scheme details; if they have not, the tenant can claim up to three times the deposit in compensation through the county court, which Hale says is the one point on which almost every tenant is unaware of their rights.

Samira Khan, 26, a nurse who moved out of a flat in Beeston in September, was told the landlord intended to keep £620 of her £1,100 deposit for cleaning and repainting. She sent her move-in and move-out photographs and a note pointing out that the walls had been marked when she arrived. The landlord dropped the claim to £90 for a cracked light fitting. “It took one email,” she said. “I nearly didn’t send it.”

The practical advice for anyone moving this month: clean thoroughly, including the oven and the inside of the fridge; replace any lightbulbs; return all keys and get a receipt; take the meter readings; and photograph everything. And then, if the deductions come, do not simply accept them. The figures say you should not.