Winning a deposit dispute starts on move-in day

Deposits

Winning a deposit dispute
starts on move-in day.

Deposit adjudication is decided on evidence, not on who sounds more reasonable. Almost every failed claim we have seen came down to something that was or was not done at the start of the tenancy.

The rules you have to get right first

The deposit must be protected in a government-approved scheme within 30 days of receipt, and the prescribed information must be served on the tenant within the same 30 days. Failure to do either means a tenant can ask the county court to order a penalty of between one and three times the deposit.

The burden of proof is on you

At the end of the tenancy the deposit belongs to the tenant unless you can demonstrate a loss. That is the sentence to remember. The adjudicator is not there to judge whether the property looks tired. They are there to compare a documented condition at the start with a documented condition at the end, and award the difference.

What a defensible inventory looks like

• Photographs with a date, and a written schedule the tenant has signed or been given a proper opportunity to comment on.
• “Kitchen, good condition” is worthless. “Worktop to left of hob, 4cm scorch mark” wins claims.
• Recorded at both ends.
• Photographed at check-in, because “returned dirty” only means something relative to how it was handed over.
• Same rooms, same angles, same level of detail.

Fair wear and tear, and betterment

You cannot charge a tenant for the property ageing. Carpet thinning in a hallway over three years is wear; a cigarette burn is damage. And you cannot end up better off than you started: if a six-year-old carpet with a nine-year expected life is ruined, you are entitled to the remaining value, not a brand new carpet. Adjudicators apply this consistently, and claims that ignore it get reduced.

Where landlords most often lose

No inventory, or one with no photographs. Cleaning charged without check-in evidence. Invoices produced for work that was never actually done. Claiming full replacement cost for an old item. And deductions that were never explained to the tenant before the dispute was raised. Adjudicators notice when a claim appears only after the tenant asked for their money back.

Every managed tenancy starts with a dated photographic inventory and schedule of condition, and ends with a matching check-out report. Deposits are protected with DPS Insured, the Deposit Protection Service’s insured scheme, inside the statutory window with the prescribed information served. If there is a deduction to claim, the evidence for it was gathered months before anyone needed it.