It’s coming to the end of March. That means your final term is within sight and, of course, the end of the academic year. Wear & tear is inevitable. Yet there is a fine line between normal wear and tear, and damage for which your landlord may rightly keep back part or all your deposit.

A few key court cases in the last few years have gone students’ way as landlords and agents have attempted to claim for wear & tear.

What is Standard Wear and Tear?

Simply, anything that can be considered gradual and natural deterioration of the property and items within it. This includes:

•          Carpet wear and fraying
•          Paint scuffs and scrapes on walls and wooden flooring
•          Sun bleaching on curtains
•          Any other minor damage that is difficult or impossible to avoid

Such damage happens over the course of years, not usually the result of a single resident or group of residents. Landlords and their agencies are not legally permitted to charge student tenants for normal wear and replacements. It is part of the territory of day-to-day living in a rental property.

What is Not Standard Wear and Tear?

Any damage that results to a rental property from tenants’ activity that could be construed as an accident, carelessness, deliberate damage, or neglect. This is your responsibility to fix and to pay for. If it wasn’t broken at the time you moved in, property owners are legally permitted to ask you to pay for them or hold back part of your deposit to pay for it.

Examples include:

•          Large carpet stains (this is sometimes a grey area as carpets do need replacing – dropped wine glasses will definitely qualify as your responsibility)
•          Broken mirrors, windows, and glass panes
•          Broken fixtures and fittings (shelves, door handles)
•          Damaged cupboards and shelves
•          Dents and holes in walls or other structures and fixtures

To avoid any friction, and to ensure you get a good reference for the future, it is best to replace or repair items now. You can argue your case to your landlord or agent, but if it is in the area of those above, you are best not arguing.

What You Can Do

As stated above, wear and tear is normal – inevitable, even. Landlords are responsible for this although the agency may arrange the work and subsequently bill them.

Damage for which you, any other resident (and even visitor) is responsible is your responsibility to either correct or pay for although this will normally come out of the deposit.

If you followed our earlier advice about taking an inventory and plenty of photos, then you will have all the protection you need against your landlord attempting to claim for things that you did not do.