What your deposit covers — and what it does not
Wear is not damage. The distinction decides how much comes back, and it is settled at check-in, not at checkout.
Almost every deposit dispute we see traces back to the same thing: nobody documented the state of the property when the tenant moved in.
The inventory report
At check-in we walk the property with you, photograph every room and record the condition of each item. You sign it, we sign it, and both of us hold a copy. At checkout we compare against that record — not against a memory or an assumption.
Wear versus damage
Faded paint after two years is wear. A hole in the wall is damage. A worn sofa cushion is wear. A burn in the same cushion is damage. Limescale on a tap is wear; a cracked basin is not.
When you get it back
Within fourteen days of checkout, less anything agreed in writing. If we propose a deduction you disagree with, say so — the inventory report exists precisely so that the question has an answer.
Still unsure how this applies to you? Ask us — we answer these questions every week and the answer is usually shorter than the article.
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