Tenant Left Your Property Damaged? What to Do Next

1. Don't start clearing or fixing yet

The natural reaction is to start bagging things up and getting the worst of it out of sight. Hold off until you've recorded everything, because once a wall is patched or a carpet is in a skip, the evidence has gone with it.

The exception is anything unsafe or causing more damage, like a running leak, a broken window or an outside door that won't lock. Make those safe first, photograph them before and after, and keep a note of what you did and when.

2. Record the damage properly

If the tenant paid a deposit, it should be protected in one of the government-backed schemes: the Deposit Protection Service, mydeposits or the Tenancy Deposit Scheme. If the tenant disputes your deductions, an independent adjudicator decides based on the evidence, and it's up to you as the landlord to show what changed.

Good evidence looks like this:

• Your check-in inventory, ideally signed, with photos showing the condition at the start
• A check-out report done as soon as possible after the tenant leaves
• Dated photos and video of every room, wide shots first and then close-ups of each problem
• Itemised quotes or invoices for each repair, rather than one lump sum
• Any messages with the tenant about damage or repairs during the tenancy

3. Separate damage from wear and tear

You can't charge a tenant for the property simply getting older. Scuffed paintwork after a few years, carpet worn on the walkways and loose door handles are normally treated as fair wear and tear. Holes in plaster, burns, broken units and stains that won't come out usually aren't.

Adjudicators also won't let you charge for betterment, which means leaving the property in a better state than it was at the start at the tenant's expense. If a carpet was already eight years old, you're unlikely to recover the full cost of a new one. Our guide to fair wear and tear goes into where that line usually falls.

4. Get an itemised quote

This is where we come in. We go through the property room by room and price each repair as its own line: patch and skim the bedroom wall, replace the kitchen door, rehang the bathroom door, lift and dispose of the lounge carpet, clear the back garden. Every item gets dated photos before we touch it.

An itemised quote does two jobs. It shows you exactly what the turnaround will cost, so you can decide what to do now and what can wait. It also gives the adjudicator a clear figure for each piece of damage, instead of one big number that's easy to challenge.

5. Do the work in the right order

Once you've got your evidence and your quote, the order matters if you want the property re-let quickly:

• Clear rubbish and anything left behind
• Carry out the repairs: plaster, doors, kitchen and bathroom fixes, flooring preparation
• Redecorate once the repairs are finished and dry
• Lay new flooring last, so it isn't damaged by the other work
• Deep clean, tidy the garden and wash down the outside so the listing photos look right

When one team handles all of that, there are no gaps waiting for the next trade to turn up, which is usually where the empty weeks come from.

6. Make the property tougher for next time

A bad tenancy is a good moment to make the property harder wearing. Paint that can be wiped down, flooring that stands up to wear, door stops behind every door and a low-maintenance garden all reduce the bill next time. We'll suggest changes like these when we quote, and you can take them or leave them.

Common questions