Do not agree to the deduction and do not ignore it. Reply in writing asking for three things: an itemised breakdown of the proposed charge, a copy of the check-in inventory, and dated photographs of the specific items being claimed for.
Most cleaning deductions are reduced or dropped at that point, because a round number with no evidence rarely survives a polite request for detail.
You have time and you have leverage. Your deposit sits with a government-approved scheme, and the landlord cannot simply take money from it. If you do not agree, the scheme's free dispute resolution decides, and the burden of proof sits with the landlord.
Step one: ask for the evidence
Send a short, unemotional email. Something like:
Thank you for the proposed deduction. Before I can agree, please could you send me an itemised breakdown of the cleaning charge, a copy of the check-in inventory, and dated photographs of the specific items you are claiming for. Once I have reviewed those I will respond.
That is all. No argument yet, just a request.
Three things tend to happen. Sometimes the claim is withdrawn entirely. Often it is reduced to the items that can actually be evidenced. Occasionally you receive a well-documented claim, in which case you now know exactly where you stand and can decide accordingly.
Keep everything in writing from this point. Phone calls cannot be submitted to an adjudicator.
Step two: check the claim against the inventory
The standard is not "clean". The standard is as clean as it was at check-in, allowing for fair wear and tear over the length of your tenancy. So the check-in inventory decides the case.
Read the claim against it and ask:
Was the item recorded as clean at check-in? If the inventory says nothing about the oven, or records it as already marked, a claim for cleaning it is weak.
Are there check-in photographs? Without them, a landlord struggles to prove the property was ever cleaner than you left it. This is the single most common reason cleaning claims fail.
Is the length of your tenancy accounted for? Four years of normal use attracts far more wear and tear allowance than six months.
Is the charge proportionate? A £400 cleaning claim on a one bedroom flat sits well outside the market rate of roughly £150 to £250 and invites scrutiny.
Did you query the inventory when you moved in? If you emailed the agent in week one saying the oven was already dirty, dig that out. It is often decisive.
Step three: separate wear and tear from cleaning
Adjudicators distinguish these carefully, and landlords sometimes do not.
| Claimed as cleaning | Often actually |
|---|---|
| Carpet flattened along the hallway | Wear and tear |
| Grout greyed after several years | Wear and tear |
| Scuffs at handle height on a wall | Wear and tear |
| Curtains faded by sunlight | Wear and tear |
| Worn vinyl in a kitchen doorway | Wear and tear |
| Limescale in a hard water area over a long tenancy | Arguable |
| Baked-on grease in an oven | Genuinely cleaning |
| Mould in a shower seal | Genuinely cleaning |
| Stains on a carpet | Cleaning, or damage |
| Grease film on kitchen cupboard doors | Genuinely cleaning |
If part of the claim is wear and tear, say so specifically, item by item, rather than rejecting the whole thing. Partial agreement is credible and tends to get the rest looked at properly. Blanket rejection makes you look unreasonable and hardens the position.
Step four: check it is a deduction, not a fee
Check what you are actually being charged for.
If a landlord or agent in England is asking you to pay for professional cleaning because the tenancy agreement requires it, that is a prohibited payment under the Tenant Fees Act 2019 and has been since June 2019. A clause requiring you to hire a professional cleaner and produce a receipt is not enforceable, and attempting to enforce it can expose the landlord or agent to a penalty from the local authority.
A deposit deduction for a property left dirtier than at check-in is different and is allowed. The two get conflated constantly, so be clear which one you are dealing with, because the response differs entirely.
Step five: negotiate
Most cases settle here. A reasonable counter-offer that concedes the genuine items and rejects the rest is often accepted, because the landlord also wants to avoid adjudication.
Some approaches that work:
Offer to fix rather than pay. "I would rather have the oven professionally cleaned at my own cost than accept a £150 deduction" is often accepted, and a single oven clean costs £45 to £80.
Propose a specific figure with reasoning. "I accept the oven at £60 and the bathroom limescale at £40. I do not accept the carpet claim, as the marks appear in my check-in photographs. I propose £100 total."
Point to the market rate. If the claim exceeds what a full end of tenancy clean would cost, say so. A whole-property clean runs £180 to £420.
Set a deadline. "If we cannot agree by [date] I will raise a dispute with the scheme." Reasonable and it moves things along.
Step six: raise a dispute
If you cannot agree, raise it with the scheme holding your deposit: the Deposit Protection Service, MyDeposits or the Tenancy Deposit Scheme.
It is free for tenants. Decided on documents rather than a hearing. The disputed amount is held by the scheme while it is considered, and the undisputed portion should be released to you in the meantime, so ask for that explicitly.
Time limits apply, commonly three months from the end of the tenancy. Do not let it drift.
The landlord carries the burden of proof. The deposit is your money until they demonstrate a valid claim against it.
For context on how rare this stage is, only around 1% of protected deposits reach formal adjudication in a year. The vast majority are resolved between the parties, which is why the evidence you gather in step one matters more than the process itself.
What actually wins disputes
From how these cases are decided, the pattern is consistent.
For tenants: dated check-in photographs, a copy of any inventory query you raised at the time, your own after-cleaning photographs, and an itemised invoice if you paid a company. A one-line receipt saying "cleaning £250" proves you spent money, not what was done.
For landlords: a photographed check-in inventory, a matching check-out report covering the same items, close-up images of the specific items, and a proportionate itemised invoice for the remedial work.
Cleaning is the biggest single cause of deposit claims in the UK, at 29.38% of them according to DPS data reported in 2026. The volume is high precisely because the standard is subjective, which means evidence, not argument, is what settles it.
Practical notes
- Keep everything in writing, and keep proof of sending
- Stay civil. Adjudicators read the correspondence, and tone affects how a claim reads
- Do not accept a partial payment described as full and final unless you genuinely accept it
- Do not remove your claim to the undisputed portion by arguing about everything
- Photograph anything you go back and clean
- Check your deposit was protected at all. If it was not protected within 30 days, or prescribed information was not served, you may have a separate claim, and a landlord in that position is usually far more willing to settle
If you accept the property was not clean enough
That happens, and it is not a disaster. Offering to have it professionally cleaned at your own cost is often cheaper than the deduction being proposed, and landlords usually accept because they get the outcome they wanted without an argument.
A standard end of tenancy clean runs £180 to £420 depending on property size, and a single problem area such as an oven or one bathroom will be far less. If the proposed deduction is higher than the cost of simply fixing it, say so and offer the alternative.
Frequently asked questions
Can the landlord keep my deposit while we argue? The scheme holds it. The undisputed portion should be returned to you promptly.
How long does adjudication take? Typically a few weeks from submission, depending on the scheme and the complexity.
Do I need a solicitor? No. The process is designed to be used without one, and it is free to tenants.
What if the landlord did not protect my deposit? That is a serious breach. Deposits must be protected within 30 days with prescribed information served. Seek advice, because there may be a separate claim.
Can they claim for their own time cleaning? They can claim reasonable evidenced costs. Claims for a landlord's own labour are scrutinised closely and are often reduced.
What if I already moved abroad? The process is entirely by document and email. You do not need to be in the country.
