Tenancy deposit scheme ADR adjudication: tenant evidence pack walkthrough 2026
When you dispute deposit deductions, the scheme's free adjudication decides it on documents alone. The adjudicator never sees the property, so the case turns entirely on how you present your evidence. This walkthrough is the tenant-side guide to the ADR process: what the adjudicator looks for, where deductions get reduced, and a labelled evidence-index plus a fair-wear-and-tear depreciation schedule you can adapt.
If your landlord wants to keep part of your deposit and you disagree, you do not have to go to court. Each of the three deposit protection schemes in England offers a free adjudication service, and for most disputes it is the right route. But it has one feature that catches tenants out: the adjudicator never visits the property and never meets either side. The entire decision is made on the documents you and the landlord submit. That means the case is won or lost on how clearly you present your evidence, not on how strongly you feel.
This walkthrough is the tenant-side guide to deposit scheme ADR adjudication. It explains how the process works, what the adjudicator actually looks for, the fair-wear-and-tear and betterment principles that reduce deductions, and how to assemble a bundle that does the adjudicator's work for them, with a labelled evidence-index and a depreciation schedule you can adapt. It complements our other deposit walkthroughs, which cover what to do when a deposit was never protected, the penalties for protection failures, and the rent repayment order route. This one is about the everyday situation: the deposit was protected, the tenancy has ended, and the landlord is claiming deductions you think are too high.
How adjudication works
When a tenancy ends and you and the landlord cannot agree on the deposit, either side can raise a dispute with the scheme that holds it. The scheme freezes the disputed amount, asks both sides for evidence, and passes the file to an independent adjudicator. The adjudicator reads everything, applies the law and the scheme's guidance, and decides how the disputed amount should be split. The decision is binding, and the money is released according to it.
There is no fee, no hearing, and no need for a lawyer. The trade-off is that the decision is usually final, so you should treat the evidence submission as your one chance to put the whole case.
The single most important principle: the deposit is your money
The starting point in every adjudication is that the deposit belongs to you. The landlord is not entitled to keep any of it unless they can justify a deduction. That puts the burden on the landlord, for each claimed deduction, to show:
- a clear basis for the charge, either in the tenancy agreement or in law;
- evidence of the property's condition at check-in and at check-out;
- that the claimed cost is reasonable; and
- that an allowance has been made for fair wear and tear.
A confidently asserted deduction with no supporting evidence usually fails. Your job is to make the gaps in the landlord's evidence visible, and to put forward your own evidence where the condition is genuinely in your favour.
What the adjudicator looks for
The tenancy agreement. This sets out what you were obliged to do (for example whether you had to have the property professionally cleaned). Without it, most condition claims struggle.
The check-in inventory. This is the baseline. It records the condition of the property and its contents at the start. A clear, dated, signed check-in is the landlord's most important document, and its absence hurts the landlord far more than the tenant.
The check-out report. This records the condition at the end. The adjudicator compares check-out against check-in. A deduction has to be supported by a real, evidenced change between the two, beyond fair wear and tear.
Dated photographs. High-quality, dated photographs that clearly show the condition are persuasive, on both sides. Label them by room and explain what each shows.
Correspondence and quotes. Emails, letters and messages about the property's condition or about repairs during the tenancy can support your case. If the landlord is charging large sums for cleaning or gardening, your own quotes from local firms at lower prices can bring the figure down.
Fair wear and tear and betterment: where deductions shrink
This is the heart of most tenant wins. You are not responsible for fair wear and tear, the normal deterioration from reasonable use over time: minor scuffs on walls, lightly worn carpets, faded paint. A landlord cannot use your deposit to put the property into a better condition than it was at the start, allowing for age and use. That is the principle of betterment, and adjudicators apply it routinely.
For anything that wears out, the adjudicator works out how much useful life remained. If a carpet had a ten-year expected lifespan and was already seven years old when you moved in, only about three years of life remained. A full-replacement charge is then reduced to reflect what was actually lost. The same depreciation logic applies to redecoration, to white goods, and to many fixtures.
The practical move is to set this out yourself, item by item, so the adjudicator does not have to.
Step 1: build a labelled evidence-index
The adjudicator decides on the documents, and they will not dig through an unsorted pile. An index that maps each piece of evidence to the specific deduction it answers makes your case easy to follow and easy to accept.
Evidence-index (adapt freely)
Landlord's claimed deduction Amount claimed (GBP) My evidence What it shows [e.g. carpet replacement, living room] [amount] [Photo LR-1, LR-2; check-in p.4] [carpet already worn at check-in; age 7 yrs] [e.g. cleaning] [amount] [check-out p.2; my quote A] [property left clean; cheaper quote available] [e.g. redecoration] [amount] [Photo HALL-1; check-in p.6] [scuffs are fair wear and tear] Each photo is labelled by room and number. Each entry says which deduction it rebuts and why.
Step 2: prepare a fair-wear depreciation schedule
For each item the landlord wants to charge as a replacement, show the age, the expected lifespan, and the apportioned figure. This puts a defensible number in front of the adjudicator instead of leaving them to guess.
Depreciation schedule (adapt freely)
Item Age at move-out Expected lifespan Useful life remaining Full-replacement claim (GBP) Apportioned fair figure (GBP) [carpet, living room] [7 yrs] [10 yrs] [3 yrs] [600] [180] [interior decoration] [5 yrs] [5 yrs] [0 - end of life] [400] [0] Expected lifespans are estimates; state your basis (for example a recognised industry guideline) and keep it reasonable.
Step 3: address each deduction head-on
Do not just say the deductions are unfair. Take each one and answer it: either there is no obligation in the tenancy agreement, or there is no evidence of a change from check-in to check-out, or the change is fair wear and tear, or the cost is unreasonable, or it should be depreciated for age. A deduction-by-deduction response is far stronger than a general protest.
Step 4: submit on time and in full
Schemes set a deadline for evidence. Submit everything by the deadline, because you usually cannot add to it later and the decision is final. Put your full case in: the index, the photographs, the check-in and check-out, the correspondence, the quotes, and the depreciation schedule. Keep copies of everything you send.
When adjudication is not the right route
Scheme ADR is for disputes about deductions where the deposit was properly protected. If your deposit was never protected, or was protected late or without the prescribed information, that is a separate matter with its own court remedy and potential penalties, and a possible rent repayment order route. Those are not decided by the scheme adjudicator, and we cover them in their own walkthroughs.
Where this fits
Deposit adjudication is one of the most winnable disputes a tenant has, because the law starts from the position that the money is yours and puts the burden on the landlord. The tenants who do best are not the ones with the strongest grievance but the ones with the clearest bundle: a labelled index, dated photographs, the check-in and check-out side by side, and a depreciation schedule that turns a full-replacement demand into a fair, apportioned figure.
If you are also dealing with a rent increase or a possession notice, those are separate questions: RentSOS can check the validity of a Section 13 rent increase notice for you, and our Section 8 walkthroughs cover possession ground by ground.
This walkthrough is general information about the law in England, not legal advice on your individual case. For tailored help with a deposit dispute, contact your deposit scheme, Citizens Advice, or Shelter.
Frequently Asked Questions
+What is deposit scheme ADR adjudication?
Alternative dispute resolution (ADR) is the free adjudication service offered by the three tenancy deposit protection schemes in England (the Deposit Protection Service, MyDeposits and the Tenancy Deposit Scheme). If you and your landlord disagree about deductions from your deposit, you can ask the scheme to adjudicate instead of going to court. An independent adjudicator reviews the evidence both sides submit and decides how much of the deposit each party should receive. The decision is binding, the disputed amount is held by the scheme until the decision is made, and there is no fee for using it.
+How does the adjudicator decide who gets the deposit?
The adjudicator never visits the property and never meets either party. They decide entirely on the documents submitted. The starting point is that the deposit is the tenant's money, so the burden is on the landlord to justify each deduction with evidence. For each claimed deduction the adjudicator asks: is there a clear obligation in the tenancy agreement or in law, is there evidence of the condition at check-in and at check-out, is the claimed cost reasonable, and has an allowance been made for fair wear and tear. A deduction with no supporting evidence usually fails, however confidently it is asserted.
+What evidence should I submit as a tenant?
At a minimum, the tenancy agreement, the check-in inventory, the check-out report, and dated photographs. Add any correspondence about the condition of the property or about repairs during the tenancy, and any quotes you have obtained for work the landlord wants to charge for. Label everything clearly and state exactly what each item shows and which deduction it answers. The adjudicator will not hunt through an unsorted bundle, so a short index that maps each piece of evidence to the deduction it rebuts does a great deal of the work for you.
+What is fair wear and tear and why does it matter?
Fair wear and tear is the normal deterioration that happens from reasonable use of a property over time: minor scuffs, lightly worn carpets, faded paint. A tenant is not responsible for it, and a landlord cannot charge you to put the property back into a better condition than it was, allowing for age and use. This is where many deductions get reduced. If a carpet was already several years old when you moved in, the landlord cannot charge you the full replacement cost: the adjudicator applies a depreciation allowance for the carpet's age and expected lifespan. Setting this out in a simple schedule is one of the strongest moves a tenant can make.
+Can the landlord charge me the full cost of a replacement?
Usually not. Adjudicators apply the principle of betterment: the landlord should not end up better off at your expense. For an item that wears out, like a carpet or a sofa, the adjudicator works out how much useful life was left and apportions the cost accordingly. If a carpet with a ten-year expected life was seven years old, only a fraction of its value remained, so a full-replacement charge is reduced. The same logic applies to redecoration and to many fixtures. Always ask what allowance has been made for age and use, and show your own figures.
+What happens if I have no check-in inventory?
A missing or unsigned check-in inventory weakens the landlord's case more than yours, because the landlord carries the burden of proving the property's condition deteriorated during your tenancy. Without a clear check-in record, the adjudicator has little to compare the check-out against, so deductions for condition are harder for the landlord to justify. If you have your own dated move-in photographs or any correspondence noting the condition at the start, submit them. The absence of the landlord's own baseline evidence is a point in your favour, not against you.
+Is adjudication better than going to court?
For most deposit disputes, yes. ADR is free, decided on paper, usually faster than court, and the disputed money is held safely by the scheme until the decision. You do not need a hearing or legal representation. The trade-off is that the decision is final and you cannot usually go to court afterwards on the same dispute, so you should put your full case in. If your claim is about the deposit never being protected, or about penalties for protection failures, that is a separate court route rather than scheme adjudication, and we cover those elsewhere.
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