How to Get Your Full Deposit Back When You Move Out

Getting your full deposit back isn’t luck — it’s preparation. In London, deposits often run to well over £1,000. So knowing what your landlord and letting agent look for can be the difference between a full refund and an unexpected deduction. Here’s how to do it properly.

1. Understand what your deposit is judged against

By law, your deposit sits in one of the government-backed deposit protection schemes — TDS, DPS or MyDeposits. At the end of your tenancy, your agent runs a check-out inventory and compares it against the check-in inventory from when you moved in.

The principle is simple: you must return the property in the same condition as you found it, allowing for fair wear and tear. Anything worse than that — particularly for cleanliness — gives the landlord grounds for a deduction.

Therefore, before you do anything else, dig out your check-in inventory. It is the benchmark for everything that follows.

2. Know where deductions actually happen

Most deposit disputes are not about dramatic damage — they are about cleaning. In particular, they cluster in a few predictable places:

• The oven — the number one cause of cleaning deductions. Inventory clerks open the oven door and check the glass, racks and interior.
• Bathrooms — limescale on taps, shower screens and tiles; mould in grout and sealant.
• Kitchen — the hob, extractor, inside of cupboards, and behind or under appliances.
• Carpets — stains and odours, especially where carpets were clean at the start (check your agreement).
• The details — skirting boards, door tops, light fittings, window interiors and kitchen taps.

As a result, if you focus your effort anywhere, focus it on the kitchen and bathroom.

3. Clean to check-out standard

“Clean” to a tenant and “clean” to an inventory clerk are not always the same thing. Specifically, check-out standard means:

• A spotless oven, inside and out, with clean door glass and racks.
• Descaled, streak-free bathrooms with no mould in the grout or sealant.
• Clean carpets, free of stains and odours.
• Streak-free internal windows.
• No marks on walls, skirting boards or doors.
• Empty, clean cupboards and a defrosted fridge and freezer.

This is genuinely time-consuming. For example, a 1-bed flat can take 3–4 hours. A 3-bed house can take 6–8 hours, particularly when the oven needs work.

4. Document everything

Whether you clean yourself or hire a professional, take the same steps:

• Take photos of every room after cleaning, especially the oven and bathroom.
• Keep receipts. If you use a professional cleaner, the invoice is strong evidence.
• Report any pre-existing issues in writing before you leave.

If a deduction is later proposed and you disagree, the deposit scheme’s free adjudication service decides. Furthermore, it decides on evidence alone. Photos and a professional cleaning receipt are exactly what wins these cases.

5. Decide: DIY or professional?

You are not legally required to hire a professional cleaner — the Tenant Fees Act 2019 made sure of that. However, there are good reasons London tenants often choose to:

• The oven and bathroom limescale are hard to bring to check-out standard without professional equipment.
• You are usually cleaning during an already stressful move, often without much time.
• A professional clean comes with a receipt — and, with us, a 72-hour re-clean guarantee.

That guarantee matters most. If the inventory clerk flags anything within 72 hours, a professional end of tenancy clean from us means we return and re-clean it free. So there is nothing left for the landlord to deduct for.

6. Hand over and follow up

Return all keys on time, leave the property empty and clean, and give your forwarding address. Deposits must normally come back within 10 days of you and the landlord agreeing the amount. If you don’t hear back, chase it. In addition, if a deduction seems unfair, raise a dispute with the deposit scheme rather than accepting it.

The shortcut

If you would rather not spend your moving day scrubbing an oven, we clean properties across every London borough to the exact check-out standard. Furthermore, every job carries our re-clean guarantee. See our transparent prices or request a free quote and we will confirm a fixed price for your property.