Wear and tear vs damage: what landlords can deduct

Wear and tear is the deterioration that happens through normal, careful use and the passing of time: faded paint, light scuffs, a carpet worn along the walkways, a worktop dulled by years of cooking. It is the landlord's cost. Damage goes beyond normal use and is caused by accidents, negligence or misuse: burns, large stains, holes in walls, broken fittings. It can usually be charged to the tenant, often from the deposit. Even for damage, you can generally claim only your actual loss, which for an ageing item is its remaining value, not the price of a new one.

Deposit rules differ widely between countries: how much you may take, where it must be held, how fast it must be returned and how disputes are resolved. This guide explains the principles and a method you can apply anywhere, but check your local rules and your tenancy agreement, and take advice before withholding large amounts. The examples use euros and hypothetical costs.

How to tell wear and tear from damage

Ask one question for each issue: would this have happened anyway with careful, normal use over this period? If yes, it is wear and tear. If no, it is damage.

Three facts help you answer it:

• Length of the tenancy. A carpet after six years of family life looks different from a carpet after six months.
• Number of occupants and the agreed use. A four-person household wears a flat faster than a single tenant, and that is normal use.
• Age and condition at move-in. An item that was already old cannot be expected to come back as new. The inventory is your record of the starting point.

Wear and tear vs damage, room by room

Item	Usually wear and tear	Usually damage
Walls and paint	Fading, light scuffs, a few small picture holes	Large holes, crayon or pen marks, unapproved colours, heavy staining
Carpet	Worn paths, flattened pile, light fading	Burns, large or permanent stains, tears, pet damage
Wood or laminate floors	Fine surface scratches, dulled finish	Deep gouges, water damage from spills left standing
Kitchen	Worn worktop edges, faded cupboard fronts	Burns or cuts in the worktop, broken doors or hinges
Bathroom	Dulled grout, minor wear of sealant	Cracked basin or tiles, broken fittings
Doors and windows	Loose handles after years of use, worn seals	Broken glass, damaged frames, broken or replaced locks
Appliances	Failure at the end of a normal life	Breakage from misuse
Keys	Normal wear of keys and locks	Lost keys or remote fobs
Cleanliness	Light dust from normal living	A property left dirty compared with its condition at move-in

The lines are not always sharp. A few picture holes may be accepted in one place and charged in another, and the lease may say what is allowed. Where the inventory, the lease and local rules agree, the answer is usually clear.

Charge the remaining value, not the price of a new item

When something is damaged, the tenant usually owes you the loss you have actually suffered. For an item that was already ageing, that loss is smaller than the cost of a replacement, because you would have had to replace it eventually anyway. Charging the full price of a new item would leave you better off than before.

A simple and widely used way to estimate the loss is a straight-line, pro-rata reduction:

Charge = replacement cost × remaining life ÷ expected life

If a repair is possible and cheaper, the charge is the repair cost (or its pro-rata share, if the repair also renews the item).

Worked example 1: a burned carpet

• Carpet fitted 6 years ago, expected life 10 years (an assumption for this example)
• Replacement cost today: €1,200
• The tenant burned a hole in the middle of the room; a patch repair is not possible

Remaining life = 10 − 6 = 4 years

Charge = €1,200 × 4 ÷ 10 = €480

The landlord pays the other €720, which is the part of the carpet's life that had already been used up.

Worked example 2: walls near the end of their life

• Living room last painted 5 years before move-out, expected life of the paintwork 6 years (an assumption)
• Tenant left large holes from shelving; filling and repainting costs €360

Remaining life = 6 − 5 = 1 year

Charge = €360 × 1 ÷ 6 = €60

If the paintwork had been one year old, the same damage would justify about €300. The age of the item matters as much as the damage itself.

Expected lifespans depend on quality and use. Base them on your own records, the manufacturer's information or a schedule agreed in the lease where that is customary. Our guide to the rental property maintenance budget shows how to keep a component list with ages and costs, which also makes these calculations quick.

A full deposit deduction, step by step

A tenancy ends after three years. The deposit is €2,000. At check-out, the landlord compares the property with the move-in inventory and finds:

Issue	Wear and tear or damage?	Basis	Deduction
Faded paint in bedrooms	Wear and tear	Normal ageing	€0
Worn carpet in hallway	Wear and tear	Normal use over three years	€0
Burn hole in living room carpet	Damage	Pro-rata, example 1	€480
Large holes in living room wall	Damage	Pro-rata, example 2	€60
Kitchen and bathroom left dirty	Damage (cleanliness)	Professional cleaning invoice	€180
One key and fob not returned	Damage (loss)	Replacement cylinder and keys	€95
Total deductions			€815

The landlord returns €2,000 − €815 = €1,185, with an itemised statement, photos and invoices or quotes for each deduction. If the tenant disputes an item, the undisputed part should still be returned within the deadline that applies.

Evidence: the inventory decides most disputes

Deductions stand or fall with your evidence.

• Move-in inventory. A room-by-room description of the condition of walls, floors, fixtures and appliances, with dated photos or video, the age of major items and meter readings. Both sides sign it.
• Check-out report. The same structure, the same rooms, the same angles for photos, ideally with the tenant present.
• Invoices and quotes for the work you charge, and evidence of when items were installed.
• Correspondence, including repair requests during the tenancy. Damage the tenant reported promptly, and that you did not fix, is harder to charge later.

The rental property maintenance checklist includes a tenant-change checklist you can use for both inspections.

Handling the end of a tenancy

1. Send a move-out reminder a few weeks before the end: cleaning standard, keys, meter readings, what to repair, what to remove.
2. Offer a pre-check-out visit so the tenant can fix small issues themselves, which is usually cheaper for everyone.
3. Inspect at check-out against the inventory and photograph every issue.
4. Classify each issue as wear and tear or damage, using the questions above.
5. Get prices for repairs or replacements.
6. Apply the pro-rata reduction to ageing items.
7. Send an itemised proposal with evidence, and return the undisputed balance within the deadline that applies where you are.
8. Resolve disagreements through discussion first, then through the dispute process available locally, such as a deposit scheme, mediation or court.

The wider routine for moving tenants in and out is part of our guide on how to manage a rental property.

Wear and tear is a cost to plan for

Because wear and tear is the landlord's cost, it belongs in your budget, not in the deposit. Paint, flooring, kitchen fronts and appliances all have a life, and tenant changes are the natural time to renew them. Plan these renewals in your maintenance reserve and treat each turnover as a chance to refresh what is near the end of its life.

Careful tenant selection also reduces disputes. The tenant screening checklist includes reference questions about how applicants left previous homes.

Common mistakes

• Charging for normal ageing, such as faded paint or worn walkways.
• Charging new for old, ignoring the age of the damaged item.
• No move-in inventory or photos, which makes most deductions hard to prove.
• Vague deductions without invoices, quotes or a breakdown.
• Keeping the whole deposit while a small item is disputed.
• Missing the legal deadline for returning the deposit or proposing deductions.
• Charging for repairs you never carry out where local rules require an actual loss.
• Ignoring the tenant's evidence, such as their own move-in photos.

Key takeaways

• Wear and tear comes from normal use and time; it is the landlord's cost.
• Damage goes beyond normal use; it can usually be charged to the tenant.
• Charge the remaining value of an ageing item: replacement cost × remaining life ÷ expected life.
• A detailed inventory at move-in and a matching check-out report are your best evidence.
• Return the undisputed part of the deposit on time and itemise every deduction.