The end of tenancy move in London, and how the deposit is decided

The short version

Find the check-in report before you do anything else

The check-out is a comparison. If you cannot find what it is being compared against, you are negotiating blind.

Dig out the inventory and schedule of condition you signed at the start, and read it properly. It is the document that decides whether a mark on the wall was there when you arrived. If there was no inventory, or you never signed one, say so early — the burden of proving a deduction sits with the landlord, and a missing check-in makes that considerably harder for them.

While you are in the paperwork, check three things:

• Which scheme holds the deposit, and the reference. It must be in one of the government-approved schemes.
• The notice you owe, and whether you have given it in the form the tenancy requires.
• What the tenancy says about cleaning. A clause requiring professional cleaning is not automatically enforceable, but a clause requiring the property to be as clean as it was at check-in is the standard everyone is measured against.

Fair wear and tear is a real allowance

Adjudicators apply it, and it surprises people how much it covers. Carpet that has aged over three years is different from carpet with a burn in it. Paint that has dulled is different from a shelf pulled out of plasterboard. The test is roughly: is this the property ageing normally for the number of people who lived there and the length of time, or is this damage.

Deductions also account for the age and expected life of the item. A landlord replacing a seven-year-old carpet cannot usually charge for a new one at full price.

The order that saves money

Three to four weeks out. Give notice if you have not. Book the removal, and book the parking if the street needs it — boroughs differ enormously on notice and fee, and the comparison is in our parking suspensions guide. Book the cleaner for the day after the van leaves, not the same day.

Two weeks out. Decide what is not coming with you. Anything being disposed of should go before moving day, so the crew are not working around it and you are not paying to carry things to a tip. Start using up the freezer.

The last week. Repair the small things. Filled and touched-up picture holes cost a few pounds and are a routine deduction otherwise. Replace dead light bulbs — a surprising number of check-out reports list them. Descale the shower. Get the oven done properly. It is the item that comes up more than any other in the check-outs we see, and it is the one people leave until they have run out of time.

Moving day. Everything out first. Then the clean, into an empty property.

Handover day. Photograph every room empty, with the date. Photograph the meters and read them. Photograph inside the oven and the fridge. Then hand the keys over deliberately and get an acknowledgement in writing that you have.

Where deposits actually go

These are the deductions we see repeatedly on London tenancies. It is our own experience rather than published figures, but it is consistent enough to plan around:

• Cleaning, and by a wide margin. Usually the oven, the extractor, the inside of kitchen units and the bathroom sealant.
• Rubbish left behind. A garage, a loft or a shed full of things counts as clearance and is charged as such.
• Gardens, where there is one. An overgrown garden is a deduction; a garden that has grown a fortnight since you cut it is not.
• Damage beyond wear and tear, most often walls, and most often from fixings.
• Missing items from the inventory — a bin, a curtain pole, a set of keys.

Almost all of that is preventable in the last week, and much cheaper to prevent than to argue about.

Clearing is a separate job with its own rules

If there is furniture, a mattress or a garage of accumulated things to go, that is a clearance rather than a move. Two things worth knowing:

• The duty of care sits with you as the person whose waste it is. If it is fly-tipped after somebody takes it away, the trail leads back to you.
• Ask for the waste carrier registration number of whoever takes it, and keep a note of it and where it went. It takes a minute and it is the whole of your protection.

If the deposit is disputed

Do not accept a figure just because it arrives on letterhead. The scheme holding the deposit has a free adjudication service, and it decides on evidence: the check-in report, the check-out report, your photographs, and any receipts either side produces. Undated photographs are weak. Dated photographs of an empty, clean property are very strong.

Reply in writing, itemise what you agree and what you dispute, and ask for the invoice behind any charge. A landlord must return the undisputed part regardless.

Common questions

Do I have to pay for professional cleaning? Not automatically. The standard is to return the property as clean as it was at check-in. If it was professionally cleaned before you moved in and the inventory records that, expect to match it.

Should I clean before or after the move? After. Cleaning a furnished property and then dragging boxes back through it means paying twice and still failing the check-out.

How long does the deposit take to come back? The landlord or agent has ten days from agreeing the amount. If it is disputed, the scheme's adjudication takes longer, and the disputed portion stays with the scheme until it is decided.

What if I cannot be at the check-out? Ask to be, if you can. If not, your dated photographs from the handover become the evidence instead, so take more of them than feels necessary.

Does the landlord have to use the check-in inventory? They have to prove the deduction. Without a signed check-in report that is considerably harder, which is why finding it is the first thing to do.

Can the removal firm take the rubbish too? Ask, and ask on what licence. It is a different job from a move and it is worth having it quoted separately so you can see what you are paying for.