Fair Wear and Tear vs Damage: NSW Bond Deductions Landlords Can Actually Claim

The Line Every Landlord Needs to Draw

Bond deductions in NSW hinge on a single distinction: is the damage the result of normal everyday living over the length of the tenancy, or did the tenant cause it through negligence or misuse? Fair wear and tear — the gradual deterioration from ordinary use and age — is the landlord's cost. Damage beyond fair wear and tear is the tenant's.

Getting this distinction wrong is the most common reason bond claims fail at NCAT. Tribunal Members see landlords trying to claim for worn carpet and faded paint on a weekly basis, and those claims get dismissed quickly.

What Counts as Fair Wear and Tear

These are examples of deterioration that comes with time and normal use. They're not claimable:

• Walls and paint: Minor scuffs, faded paintwork, small picture hook holes.
• Carpet and flooring: Traffic lane wear, minor indentations from furniture legs, colour fading from age and sunlight.
• Doors and locks: Loose handles from regular use, worn lock barrels.
• Blinds and curtains: Sun-faded fabric, cords worn from normal operation.
• Kitchen surfaces: Minor benchtop scratches after years of daily use, worn washer seals.

The key variable is the age and condition of the item at the start of the tenancy. A five-year-old carpet that shows traffic wear is deteriorating normally. Brand-new carpet with the same wear after six months might point to something else.

What Counts as Claimable Damage

Damage beyond fair wear and tear — caused by the tenant's conduct, negligence, or their guests — can be claimed against the bond:

• Walls: Large holes in plasterboard, deep gouges, unauthorised painting.
• Carpet: Burns, permanent stains, pet urine that has soaked into the underlay, torn sections.
• Doors: Broken panels, kicked-in sections, missing keys requiring rekeying.
• Blinds: Torn slats, broken mechanisms caused by rough handling, missing drapes.
• Kitchen: Burned or chipped laminate, cracked basins, heavy grease buildup from neglect.

The Depreciation Problem

Even when damage is clearly the tenant's fault, landlords can't claim the full replacement cost of an aged item. NCAT applies depreciation based on the item's expected useful life.

The classic example is carpet. If carpet has an expected useful life of ten years and the tenant damages it when it is seven years old, its age and condition matter when assessing compensation. A simple three-tenths calculation is only an illustration, not an automatic entitlement; NCAT assesses the evidence and will not award a new replacement cost that gives the landlord betterment.

The same principle applies to paint (typical repaint cycle: seven to ten years), appliances, blinds, and fixtures. The condition report you completed at the start of the tenancy establishes the baseline age and condition, which is why it matters so much. Without it, you have no way to establish what the item looked like when the tenant moved in.

Building a Defensible Deduction Claim

If you're claiming damage beyond fair wear and tear, your evidence needs to cover four things:

1. Ingoing condition — the relevant sections of your entry condition report, plus dated photographs from move-in.
2. Outgoing condition — the exit condition report and photographs from the final inspection.
3. The cost to repair — itemised quotes or invoices from tradespeople. Multiple quotes strengthen your position.
4. Depreciation calculation — showing the age of the item at the start of the tenancy and its expected useful life, to demonstrate you're claiming the remaining value rather than full replacement.

When you lodge a unilateral bond claim through RBO, you must deliver a copy of the final condition report plus your itemised evidence to the tenant within seven days. If the claim goes to NCAT, this is the file the Tribunal Member reviews.

Professional Cleaning Claims

A common dispute area. Under Section 19(2) of the Residential Tenancies Act 2010, a professional carpet-cleaning condition can be imposed as a reasonable condition of consent to a pet only if it is stated in the response to the pet application, the pet lives indoors, and cleaning is appropriate for the animal and premises. Without an applicable condition, the tenant must leave the carpet reasonably clean relative to its condition at the start of the tenancy — not professionally cleaned.

General cleaning claims (beyond carpet) follow the same principle. You can claim cleaning costs if the property was left materially dirtier than the condition report shows it was at move-in. You can't claim for a professional clean if the property was returned in comparable condition.

For the full deduction framework — including how to lodge claims, the 14-day dispute window, and NCAT preparation — see our NSW Rental Bond guide.

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