Cleaning tops tenancy deposit claims for fifth year running

Cleaning was the biggest reason for tenancy deposit claims in 2025, accounting for 29.38% of claims handled by The Deposit Protection Service (The DPS).

It says this is the fifth consecutive year the issue has topped of their list.

However, the proportion has risen each year since 2021, when cleaning was cited in 24.57% of claims.

It increased to 26.72% in 2022, 27.70% in 2023 and 28.66% in 2024.

Tenants understand obligations

The managing director of The DPS, Matt Trevett, said: “It’s interesting to see that the reasons behind deductions have remained fairly consistent during the last five years.

“We encourage tenants to make sure they understand their obligations whenever they leave a property – and landlords to communicate clearly around expectations at the end of a tenancy.”

He added: “Less than 5% of all deposits protected by The DPS end in a dispute.

“And, if a tenant and landlord cannot agree on deductions, our impartial free-to-use dispute resolution service makes sure tenancies are settled fairly.”

Making reasonable deductions

Landlords can seek reasonable deductions from a tenant’s deposit to cover costs arising during the tenancy.

Damage was the second most common reason for a claim last year, accounting for 18.42%.

That figure has also climbed steadily, from 14.60% in 2021 to 16.68% in 2022, 17.70% in 2023 and 18.16% in 2024.

Rent arrears followed at 16.45% of claims.

Arrears deductions fall

Unlike cleaning and damage, the proportion attributed to arrears has fallen since reaching 19.74% in 2022.

Arrears accounted for 17.71% of claims in 2021, 18.74% in 2023 and 17.31% in 2024 before dropping again last year.

Redecoration was cited in 10.88% of claims in 2025, up from 7.48% five years earlier.

The DPS said redecoration-related claims had increased by 3.40 percentage points between 2021 and 2025.

Claims classified under ‘other reasons’ fell sharply across the same period, from 26.30% in 2021 to 13.31% last year.