What a landlord can deduct from a rental deposit
The Netherlands is the most specific: only proven repair costs and unpaid rent or service charges, with a written breakdown to the tenant. Norway lists rent owed, damage, moving-out costs and other lease claims, and Austria allows only justified claims from the tenancy. Ontario goes a different way: the landlord applies the deposit to the last rent period and must ask the Board for any damage or arrears. None of the ingested statutes defines normal wear and tear.
Scope of this guide
Canada: the Canada Labour Code (federal sector) and the Ontario statutes that LawAsked has loaded. Other provinces are not compared.
| Country | What the deposit can cover | Proof or process |
|---|---|---|
| Austria | Justified landlord claims arising from the tenancy | |
| Canada | Last rent period; damage and arrears go to the Board | Board order for reasonable repair costs of undue damage |
| Germany | The tenant's duties under the lease, in general terms | |
| Spain | Signed end-of-lease condition document; none means home presumed in good condition | |
| Netherlands | Proven repair costs for damage; unpaid rent and service charges | Written notice with a full cost breakdown |
| Norway | Rent owed, damage to the premises, moving-out costs and other lease claims | Landlord must document rent owed; tenant has 5 weeks to sue |
| United Kingdom | Performance of the tenant's obligations or discharge of his liabilities | Deductions as agreed between landlord and tenant; scheme helps resolve disputes |
Country by country
Austria
- Rule
- Mietrechtsgesetz § 16b
- The deposit secures claims that arise from the lease in the future.
- The amount the tenant can claim back is decided in the court procedure under §§ 37 to 41, even for premises outside the Act's main scope (§ 16b(4)).
soweit sie nicht zur Tilgung von berechtigten Forderungen des Vermieters aus dem Mietverhältnis herangezogen wird.Für die dem Vermieter aus dem Mietvertrag künftig entstehenden Ansprüche gegen den Mieter kann die Übergabe einer Kaution an den Vermieter vereinbart werden. Canada
- Rule
- Residential Tenancies Act, 2006 (Ontario) ss. 106(10), 89
- The landlord must apply the deposit to the last rent period.
- For damage the landlord applies to the Board; where it orders payment and ends the tenancy, it sets off the deposit and interest owed to the tenant.
- The damage must be caused wilfully or negligently and be undue.
A landlord shall apply a rent deposit that a tenant has paid to the landlord or to a former landlord in payment of the rent for the last rent period before the tenancy terminates. pay reasonable costs that the landlord has incurred or will incur for the repair of or, where repairing is not reasonable, the replacement of damaged propertythe Board shall set off against the amount required to be paid by the tenant the amount of any rent deposit or interest on a rent deposit that would be owing to the tenant on termination. Germany
- Rule
- Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch § 551(1)
- The section does not list particular items. It caps the security at three months' rent and says the deposit secures the tenant's performance of his duties.
Hat der Mieter dem Vermieter für die Erfüllung seiner Pflichten Sicherheit zu leisten Spain
- Rule
- Ley de Arrendamientos Urbanos, art. 36(7)
- The statute does not list deductions. It requires both parties to record the home's condition on handover in writing.
- Without that document, or if it shows no damage, the home is presumed returned in adequate condition unless proven otherwise.
A la finalización del contrato, las partes deberán dejar constancia por escrito del estado de la vivienda en el momento de entrega de la posesión mediante un documento de finalización del arrendamiento firmado por ambas partes.se presumirá, salvo prueba en contrario, que la vivienda fue entregada en estado adecuado de conservación. Netherlands
- Rule
- Burgerlijk Wetboek Boek 7, art. 261b(3)-(4)
- Art. 218 makes the tenant liable for damage caused by his failure to perform the lease, and presumes the tenant received the property undamaged.
na verrekening van aantoonbaar gemaakte kosten strekkende tot het herstel van de schadena verrekening met deze nog door de huurder verschuldigde kostenDe verhuurder stelt de huurder schriftelijk in kennis van een verrekening als bedoeld in het derde lid, waarbij een volledige kostenspecificatie aan huurder wordt verstrekt. wordt de huurder vermoed het gehuurde in onbeschadigde toestand te hebben ontvangen. Norway
- Rule
- Husleieloven § 3-5
- The bank pays the landlord from the account after the tenancy ends only if the parties agreed in writing that the deposit may be credited to another account at the same bank, the landlord documented the rent owed and the tenant did not sue within five weeks of the bank's notice.
til sikkerhet for skyldig leie, skader på husrommet, utgifter ved fraviking og for andre krav som reiser seg av leieavtalenutleieren har dokumentert skyldig leie, og United Kingdom
- Rule
- Housing Act 2004 ss. 212, 215
- The statute defines a tenancy deposit as security for the tenant's obligations; it does not list deductible items.
- Section 215 treats a deposit returned in full, or with agreed deductions, as complying.
- Schedule 10 (scheme rules) is not ingested.
means any money intended to be held (by the landlord or otherwise) as security forfacilitating the resolution of disputes arising in connection with such deposits the deposit has been returned to the tenant in full or with such deductions as are agreed between the landlord and tenant Countries not in this table yet
Sweden and Japan (no deposit rule in the ingested acts), the United States, Australia and France (no tenancy deposit statute ingested). No ingested statute defines normal wear and tear, so that question is not answered here.
How this table was built
Every row is taken from the official, consolidated text of the statute, which LawAsked loads from each government’s legislation service.
Each figure is tied to a passage quoted word for word from that text. When the page is served, it checks that every quoted passage is still in the current text of a law that is in force; if a law is amended and its wording changes, that row is hidden until a person reviews it again.
The table shows the statutory minimum only. Collective agreements, awards and individual contracts often give more than the statute, and some countries let a collective agreement set different terms.
Use this data
The table and the CSV are free to reuse under CC BY 4.0: credit LawAsked and link to this page. Quoted statute text stays under the terms of its official source.
How to cite this page
LawAsked, “What a landlord can deduct from a rental deposit”, https://lawasked.com/guides/deposit-deductions (reviewed October 25, 2026).
Important Legal Disclaimer
General legal information, not formal legal advice. The information provided on LawAsked does not constitute formal legal advice and creates no attorney-client relationship. If you require legal assistance, please consult a licensed attorney in your jurisdiction.