What counts as fair wear and tear?

Deterioration arising from ordinary use over the period lived there: carpet flattening on walked routes, paint dulling, hinges loosening, curtains fading. The test is use rather than appearance, and the comparison is against what ordinary use by that household over that time would produce.

Can a landlord charge me for repainting?

Not for repainting on a cycle they would have carried out anyway, which is an ownership cost. Marks and scuffs from ordinary living are wear. Damage beyond that, such as holes or staining that requires making good, is a different matter and should be evidenced by a quote against a specific area.

How is betterment calculated on a deposit deduction?

By apportioning the replacement cost across the item's remaining life. A carpet costing 60,000 with a ten-year life, damaged after eight years, has two years of life left, so the tenant's share is around a fifth of the cost. The landlord gets a new carpet, which is why the rest is not the tenant's to pay.

Who proves whether something is wear or damage?

In practice, whoever has the dated evidence. A move-in schedule of condition with photographs, matched by the same photographs at move-out, settles almost every one of these. Without it, the argument is between two recollections and tends to go against whoever had the duty to make the record.

Fair wear and tear

Also called: wear and tear · normal wear · reasonable wear and tear

The deterioration a property suffers from ordinary use over time, which a tenant is not liable to make good and which cannot properly be deducted from a deposit.

This is the single most argued-about phrase at the end of a tenancy, and it is almost never defined in the agreement that uses it.

The test

The test is use, not appearance. Did the condition arise from living in the property normally, over the length of time lived there? If so it is wear, and putting it right is the cost of owning a property that is let.

Wear is what ordinary use does over time: carpet flattening, paint dulling, a hinge loosening. Damage is what use outside the ordinary does: a burn, a break, a hole, a stain that is not going to come out.

Worked examples

Usually wear:

Carpet flattened on the route between two doors after three years.
Paint faded and marked around light switches.
A worn tap washer.
Curtains faded by sunlight.
Hinges and catches loosening.
Grout discolouring in a shower.

Usually damage:

A cigarette burn in that same carpet.
Holes from shelves put up without permission.
A cracked basin.
Curtains torn.
A door panel kicked through.
Mould from a window never opened, where ventilation was available and working.

The two adjustments that decide the money

Age, or betterment. A landlord cannot charge the full cost of a new carpet to replace one that was already eight years old. The tenant pays for the life they consumed, not for an upgrade.

Worked: a carpet costing KES 60,000 with a ten-year life, damaged after eight years of its life had already passed. Two years of life remained, so the tenant's share of the replacement is around KES 12,000 and not KES 60,000. The landlord ends up with a new carpet, which is exactly why the rest is not the tenant's to pay.

Occupancy and duration. A family of five will wear a property faster than one person, and a four-year tenancy wears it more than a one-year tenancy. That is still wear. The comparison is against what ordinary use by that household over that period would produce, not against the condition on day one.

How the argument is actually won

Not by rhetoric, and not by who is more insistent. By a dated schedule of condition with photographs at move-in, and the same photographs at move-out.

Where that exists, the conversation is about two images and takes four minutes. Where it does not, the conversation is about two memories and can take months.

What to ask for when a deduction is proposed

What is the item, described specifically, with its location.
What was the condition at move-in, with reference to the schedule.
What is the remedy, and a quote or invoice for it.
What is the age of the item, and how betterment has been accounted for.

A deduction that survives all four questions is probably a fair one. Most do not get past the third.

Common questions

What counts as fair wear and tear?: Deterioration arising from ordinary use over the period lived there: carpet flattening on walked routes, paint dulling, hinges loosening, curtains fading. The test is use rather than appearance, and the comparison is against what ordinary use by that household over that time would produce.
Can a landlord charge me for repainting?: Not for repainting on a cycle they would have carried out anyway, which is an ownership cost. Marks and scuffs from ordinary living are wear. Damage beyond that, such as holes or staining that requires making good, is a different matter and should be evidenced by a quote against a specific area.
How is betterment calculated on a deposit deduction?: By apportioning the replacement cost across the item's remaining life. A carpet costing 60,000 with a ten-year life, damaged after eight years, has two years of life left, so the tenant's share is around a fifth of the cost. The landlord gets a new carpet, which is why the rest is not the tenant's to pay.
Who proves whether something is wear or damage?: In practice, whoever has the dated evidence. A move-in schedule of condition with photographs, matched by the same photographs at move-out, settles almost every one of these. Without it, the argument is between two recollections and tends to go against whoever had the duty to make the record.