Cleaning is still the number 1 tenancy deposit dispute in Northern Ireland at 47%. The other main issues are:

Damages 37%

Redecoration 26%

Rent arrears 20%

Gardening 12%

The more interesting figure is, however, how many of those disputes ended up in either the landlord or tenant's favour. Well, 72% of disputes went at least in part in the landlord's favour:

100% of disputed deposit paid to landlord: 32%

100% of disputed deposit paid to tenant: 28%

Split awards: 40%

So only 32% of landlords got their full claim, and in 28% of those cases they got nothing - why not? In the majority of cases where a landlord fails to obtain any of the deposit it is because they have not produced the right evidence to the adjudicator. This is usually down to not having one or more of the following:

• Accurate and comprehensive check in report and photos
• Accurate and comprehensive check out report and photos
• Comprehensive tenancy agreement detailing liabilities
• Evidence of loss such as an invoice 

At Key One Property, we provide all of the above in our letting and management service and what's more, we deal with depsout disputes completely free of charge as part of our management service. Not bad for 5% inc VAT! In fact, in dealing with a deposit dispute for you and obtaining an award in your favour, we often can negate out fees for an entire year. 

If you would like us to let and/or manage your property email or call us for a chat. 

Notes: data from TDSNI. 5% management fee subject to min fee.