Fair Wear and Tear
The gradual deterioration of a property through normal everyday use, which a landlord cannot charge the tenant for at the end of a tenancy.
Fair wear and tear is the deterioration you would expect from a tenant living normally in a property for the length of their tenancy. Faded carpets, scuffed skirting, worn kitchen handles, and small marks on walls after three years of occupation are wear and tear. A burn in the worktop, a broken door, or a garden used as a tip are damage.
Why it decides deposit disputes
Deposit scheme adjudicators only allow deductions for deterioration beyond fair wear and tear, judged against the check-in inventory. Two principles do most of the work:
- Apportionment: you claim the remaining value of the damaged item, not replacement as new. If a carpet had five years of expected life left out of ten when damaged, the claim is roughly half its replacement cost.
- No betterment: a deduction cannot leave you better off than if the tenancy had run its course without damage.
What actually protects you
A detailed, dated, photographed inventory at check-in, mid-tenancy inspection records, and the same rigour at check-out. Adjudicators put little weight on assertions and a lot on documents. Longer tenancies and more occupants both raise the wear that counts as fair.