There was no inventory: can the landlord still keep your deposit?
A missing check-in inventory is one of the strongest cards a tenant can hold in a deposit dispute. The deposit is your money, and if the landlord wants to keep any of it for damage, cleaning or missing items, the burden is on them to prove they are entitled to it, decided on the balance of probabilities. Without a check-in inventory there is nothing to compare against, and adjudicators frequently reject deductions on exactly this basis. Normal wear and tear is never deductible.
Written by the team behind Agent Rae, our tenant rights specialist. This guide is general information about UK law, reviewed for accuracy.The deposit is your money
A missing check-in inventory is one of the strongest cards a tenant can hold in a deposit dispute, and yet many tenants assume the landlord's word or after-the-fact photos will win. In England they usually will not.
The starting point is that the deposit is your money. If the landlord wants to keep any of it for damage, cleaning or missing items, the burden is on them to prove they are entitled to it, not on you to prove you left the place perfect. Deposit scheme adjudicators decide 'on the balance of probabilities', which is a lower bar than a criminal court, but it still requires actual evidence.
Why the missing inventory is decisive
That evidence normally means a signed check-in inventory recording the property's condition at the start, alongside a check-out report at the end, so an adjudicator can compare like with like. Without a check-in inventory there is nothing to compare against. The landlord's own move-out photos show the state you left it in, but not that you caused any deterioration, because there is no agreed record of how it looked when you arrived. Adjudicators frequently reject deductions on exactly this basis.
Normal wear and tear is never deductible either. The gradual, expected ageing of carpets, paint and fittings is the landlord's cost, not yours.
Practical steps
Raise the dispute through whichever scheme holds your deposit (TDS, DPS or mydeposits) using its free ADR. In every message to the scheme, state plainly that there was no check-in inventory, because that single fact is often decisive. Provide any of your own move-in and move-out photos, dated messages, and the tenancy agreement. The scheme holds the disputed sum until the adjudicator rules.
This reflects the position in England; Scotland and Wales operate separate schemes.
Lead your dispute with the missing inventoryRae drafts a dispute submission that leads with the missing inventory and frames the burden of proof correctly, putting the landlord on the back foot from the first line.£5 launch price (normally £14.99)Start my letterCommon questions
Can a landlord keep my deposit with no check-in inventory?
Usually not for alleged damage. The burden is on the landlord to prove they are entitled to keep any of it, decided on the balance of probabilities. Without a check-in inventory there is nothing to compare against, and adjudicators frequently reject deductions on exactly this basis.
Do the landlord's move-out photos count as proof?
Only partly. They show the state you left it in, but not that you caused any deterioration, because there is no agreed record of how it looked when you arrived. Without a baseline, they rarely establish that the property got worse during your tenancy.
What standard of proof applies at ADR?
Deposit scheme adjudicators decide 'on the balance of probabilities', which is a lower bar than a criminal court, but it still requires actual evidence: normally a signed check-in inventory and a check-out report so the adjudicator can compare like with like.
What should I emphasise when I raise the dispute?
State plainly, in every message to the scheme, that there was no check-in inventory. That single fact is often decisive. Provide your own move-in and move-out photos, dated messages, and the tenancy agreement.