The Deposit Protection Service says cleaning caused 29.37 percent of tenancy deposit disputes in 2025, keeping it top for a fifth straight year.
The latest breakdown put cleaning ahead of property damage at 18.42 percent and rent arrears at 16.45 percent, while redecoration claims continued to edge higher. The new figures point to a checkout weak spot that is still costing landlords and agents time and money.
For landlords, the figures matter now because the Renters’ Rights Act has increased the value of clean paperwork, clear communication and well-evidenced disputes. Deposit deductions are still one of the few areas where a weak checkout process can turn a reasonable claim into a lost argument very quickly.
DPS says long-term dispute patterns are not shifting much
The DPS said cleaning claims rose from 24.57% of disputes in 2021 to 29.38% in 2025. Damage disputes also moved higher over that period, while rent arrears cases fell slightly and the catch-all “other” category dropped sharply.
Matt Trevett, managing director at The Deposit Protection Service, said the steady pattern suggested recurring communication problems at tenancy end rather than new legal confusion.
Less than 5% of protected deposits end up in dispute, according to the scheme, but the persistence of cleaning claims suggests a large share of avoidable rows still comes down to evidence and expectations.
That is especially relevant for self-managing landlords, who can be tempted to rely on informal handovers, vague tenancy wording or photo records that do not clearly show condition at check-in and checkout.
This follows Residential Landlord’s earlier reporting on deposit risks linked to tenant swaps after the Renters’ Rights Act, which showed how paperwork gaps can weaken a landlord’s position. It also builds on recent coverage of landlords renting informally to friends and family, another area where loose documentation can cause preventable disputes.
Checkout evidence is becoming more important for landlords
The practical lesson from the latest DPS figures is not simply “clean more”. It is that landlords need a process that stands up when a tenant disagrees. That means detailed inventories, dated photographs, clear clauses on end-of-tenancy standards and records showing the property was returned in worse condition than at move-in.
There is also a warning hidden in the redecoration trend. Landlords who try to roll ordinary wear and tear into larger claims are more likely to face challenge, while tenants who leave a property noticeably dirtier than they found it are still creating easy deduction cases if the evidence is solid.
With rent growth cooling in some markets, fewer landlords can afford to write off avoidable turnaround costs. The better route is to reduce disputes before checkout day with blunt, specific communication rather than generic move-out reminders.
Landlords can review the source figures in The Deposit Protection Service guidance on the main causes of disputes.
Opinion
Five years at the top means cleaning is no longer a small admin issue. It is a stubborn process failure. Landlords who still treat inventories and checkout standards as paperwork for later are giving away money they do not need to lose.
