Chapter 6 of 10 · Ending it yourself · 6 of 6
What a landlord may deduct, and wear and tear
Arrears, unpaid bills, damage beyond wear and tear. Not cleaning to a higher standard, not the landlord's upgrades. Evidence that wins.
Checked 27 OCT 2026 · 3 sourcesWritten in plain English for the person paying the rent. This guide covers the Republic of Ireland only.
A landlord may take three things from your deposit and nothing else: rent arrears, unpaid bills that were yours under the agreement, and the cost of damage beyond normal wear and tear. Each has to be set out in writing with the figures. Four things are not lawful deductions under the Act. Wear and tear, cleaning to a higher standard than you found the home in, the landlord's own refurbishment, and any sum whose reason was never put in writing.
Most deposit arguments are about the third heading, and about where wear and tear ends and damage begins. The Act does not define the line, but the RTB draws it on one principle: ordinary use over time is the landlord's cost, carelessness and accidents are yours. The deposit tool takes a landlord's list and checks each line against the Act, then builds your reply.
This guide covers the Republic of Ireland. If the deposit has simply not come back at all, start with getting your deposit back.
The three lawful deductions
Rent arrears. Any rent unpaid at the termination date, including rent for a notice period you should have given and did not. Rent for days after the tenancy ended, when you had already left and handed back the keys, is not arrears unless you overheld.
Unpaid bills you owed under the agreement. Electricity, gas, broadband, bins or water charges where the agreement made them yours and the account was in your name or the landlord paid them on your behalf. The landlord needs the bill and the dates it covers. A bill for a period after you left is not yours.
Damage beyond normal wear and tear. The cost of putting right something you, your household or your visitors broke, stained, burned or removed, over and above the decline that use brings. The landlord needs to show what the item was like at the start, what it was like at the end, and what the repair cost or will cost.
Where the landlord is also claiming for leaving a fixed-term lease early, the rules in breaking a fixed-term lease apply: the rent until the home is re-let, not a penalty.
What is not a lawful deduction
Four things come up in nearly every disputed deposit, and none of them is a lawful deduction.
Normal wear and tear. The paint, the carpet, the sealant and the mattress age with use. A landlord who repaints every three years cannot charge the third-year tenant for it.
Cleaning to a higher standard than you found it. You leave the home as clean as it was handed to you, less wear and tear. A landlord who hands over a home with a grimy oven cannot charge for a professional oven clean at the end.
The landlord's own refurbishment or upgrades. A new kitchen, a new bathroom suite, replacement windows, a better boiler. Improvements the landlord wanted to make are not your cost, even where the old item was tired.
A reason not given in writing. A deduction has to be stated. "I'm keeping €500 for damages" with no list, no photographs and no receipt is a sum you can ask the RTB to order returned in full.
Wear and tear against damage: the line
| Normal wear and tear (not deductible) | Damage beyond it (deductible) |
|---|---|
| Scuffs and small marks on painted walls after a year or more | Crayon, large stains, holes beyond a picture hook, unapproved paint colours |
| A carpet worn along the hallway or by the door | A cigarette burn, a wine stain that will not lift, a tear |
| Loose hinges, a sticking drawer, a dulled worktop | A door off its hinges, a split drawer, a deep gouge in the worktop |
| A mattress that has sagged with use | A soiled or torn mattress |
| Limescale on taps and in a kettle in a hard-water area | A cracked basin or a shattered shower screen |
| Curtains and blinds faded by sunlight | Blinds snapped, curtains ripped or missing |
| A garden that has grown in a fortnight of rain | A garden left full of rubbish, or a lawn killed by a paddling pool |
The length of the tenancy moves the line. After five years a home needs decorating whoever lived in it; after five months it should look much as it did. The number of people in the household and whether children or pets were allowed under the agreement also count. A home let to a family of five with a dog wears faster than a home let to one person, and the landlord agreed to that when they let it.
New for old: the age of the thing
Where you did cause damage, the deduction is the cost of putting it right, not of making the home better than it was. A ten-year-old carpet that you stained has little value left; the deduction is for that remaining value, or for a patch repair, not for a new carpet throughout. A painted wall that needed a touch-up does not justify repainting the whole house.
Ask for the age of the item and the receipt from when it was bought. If the landlord cannot say, that gap counts against the deduction. Where the landlord has taken the chance to upgrade, the difference between repair and upgrade is theirs.
The evidence that decides it
A deposit case is a contest of records, and the tenant who kept them usually has the stronger hand. Gather these before you reply to any deduction.
The inventory signed at the start, if there was one, with each item's condition. The photographs from the day you moved in, dated, room by room. The photographs from the day you left, taken from the same spots. The meter readings in and out. Receipts for any repair or cleaning you paid for during the tenancy. Every email or message about the condition of the home, especially a repair you reported that the landlord did not do. The key receipt or the dated note that went with the keys.
Then ask the landlord for their side in writing: the itemised list, a photograph of each item claimed, the receipt or quote for each repair, and the age of each item replaced. A landlord who cannot produce those has a deduction that does not stand up. Keep all of it in your tenancy file.
If there was no inventory and you have no move-in photographs, you are not without a case. The landlord still has to show the damage was beyond wear and tear and was caused during your tenancy; the burden is on the person making the deduction. Advertising photographs from before you moved in, and the agent's own check-in report, are often available if you ask.
Replying to a deduction
Reply in writing, line by line. Accept what is fair; a tenant who concedes the broken shelf and disputes the repainting is more credible on the repainting. For each line you dispute, say why in one sentence and name the evidence: "the hallway carpet was worn when I moved in; see photograph 7 of 3 February 2025". Give a date for the balance to be paid and say you will refer it to the RTB after that date.
The deposit tool builds this reply from the landlord's list and your answers, with the figure you say is due. Keep the tone flat, and keep a copy.
If you cannot agree: Threshold, then the RTB
Ring Threshold on 1800 454 454, Monday to Friday 9am to 9pm, before anything else. The advisers read deduction lists every day and will tell you which lines are likely to hold and which are not. The call is free, and for a deposit a solicitor's fee is rarely in proportion to the sum.
Then apply to the RTB. Mediation is free and private. Adjudication costs €30 and, for applications made from 14 September 2026, the hearing is public and the report is published with both names and the address. Upload the photographs, the inventory, the messages and the landlord's list. The RTB can order the disputed sum returned and can add damages where the deduction had no lawful basis; the cap is €20,000 and the usual order is far smaller. RTB evidence: what to bring covers how to present a photograph set so the adjudicator can follow it.
Where this leaves you
The Act allows three deductions and no others: arrears, your unpaid bills, and damage beyond normal wear and tear, each itemised in writing. Wear and tear, cleaning past the standard you found, the landlord's upgrades and an unexplained sum are not deductions at all. The line between wear and damage is drawn by use, time and the household the landlord agreed to. Your evidence is the photographs in and out, the inventory and the messages, and the landlord's is the list with receipts. Reply line by line, concede what is fair, ring Threshold, and refer the rest to the RTB, where mediation is free. The deposit tool does the checking and the letter.
Questions people ask
What can a landlord deduct from a deposit in Ireland?
Three things. Rent arrears. Bills that were yours under the agreement and are unpaid. The cost of repairing damage beyond normal wear and tear. Each must be set out in writing with the figures. A landlord may not deduct for wear and tear, for cleaning the home to a higher standard than you found it, or for their own upgrades.
What counts as normal wear and tear?
The gradual decline that comes from living in a home and using it as intended: scuffed paint, worn carpet in a hallway, a mattress that has sagged, hinges that have loosened, grout that has dulled. The longer the tenancy, the more of it is normal. Damage is different: a burn, a stain that will not come out, a broken door, a hole in a wall, a cracked hob.
Can a landlord charge for cleaning?
Only to bring the home back to the standard it was in when you moved in, less wear and tear. If you found it clean and left it dirty, a reasonable cleaning cost can be deducted. If you found it in a poor state, you do not have to leave it better than that. A charge for a professional deep clean on a home you left clean is not a lawful deduction.
Can a landlord deduct for a new carpet when the old one was worn?
Not the full price of a new one. A landlord cannot be put in a better position than before you arrived. Where you did damage a carpet beyond wear and tear, the deduction should reflect its age and remaining life, not a new-for-old replacement. The RTB decides the figure where the two of you cannot agree.
Does the landlord have to give me a list of deductions?
Yes, in practice. A deduction with no reason given in writing is not a lawful deduction, and at the RTB the landlord carries the burden of showing what was taken and why. Ask for an itemised list with receipts or quotes before you accept or dispute any figure.