DepositSeal

Move-in photos for a deposit dispute

In England and Wales your deposit sits in a government-approved scheme: DPS, mydeposits or TDS. If you and your landlord disagree at the end, the scheme’s free dispute service decides on the evidence you both send. Your photos only help if it can tell when they were taken.

Seal your move-in photos, freePrintable checklist

What the schemes say about photos

gov.uk says you will both be asked for evidence, and the decision about your deposit is final.

mydeposits warns that if a photo is not date stamped, an adjudicator cannot verify when it was taken.

Its advice to landlords is to have the tenant sign and date each photograph.

Source: mydeposits, “Using photos and videos as evidence”

The tenant’s side of “sign and date”

Landlords are told to get your signature on their photos. You can ask for the same thing the other way round: send your landlord or agent your own move-in photos on day one and ask them to confirm. That is what DepositSeal does, with a link, so the answer (or the silence) has a date.

Ways to date your move-in photos, compared

  1. The check-in inventory, if you got oneWho vouches for the date: The inventory clerk, working for the landlordIt is the landlord’s document. Read it the day you get it and send your comments in writing; your own photos back those comments up.
  2. Photos on your phoneWho vouches for the date: Your phone’s clockAnyone can change the clock, and the date in the file changes with it.
  3. A timestamp or GPS camera appWho vouches for the date: Your phone, printed on the pictureEasier to see, but it is still your phone’s word, and your landlord has not seen the photos.
  4. Emailing the photos to your agent the same dayWho vouches for the date: The email servers, and the agent if they replyGood and free. Attachments get compressed, threads get lost, and an unanswered email is easy to say you never got.
  5. A sealed record (DepositSeal)Who vouches for the date: Our server, and your landlord if they confirmIt does not prove what a photo shows or where it was taken. Your landlord may not answer; the record shows that it was sent.

Why camera dates are not enough

How it works

  1. Photograph each room on move-in day.In the browser, with a short note per photo. The full photos stay on your phone.
    Kitchen
    Damp stain above the window
    Bathroom
  2. We seal the time.Our server writes its own clock time and the fingerprint of every photo, and signs it so it cannot be edited later.
    Sealed · 3 photos
    22 October 2026, 10:42
    Fingerprint: ce01432efcd46059abe9547fde85d172099b7bb3319ebf1c6e4623c9d0c80033
  3. Your landlord or agent gets a link.They answer “I confirm” or leave observations, once. If they never answer, the record shows the date it was sent.
    The landlord confirmed the condition
    22 October 2026, 18:05

What it proves, and what it does not

It shows that these exact photos existed at the time shown, that they were sent to your landlord and what they answered. Anyone can check a photo is the original: change a single pixel and the fingerprint no longer matches.

ce01432efcd46059abe9547fde85d172099b7bb3319ebf1c6e4623c9d0c80033
It matches: photo 2 (Kitchen).
ce01432efcd46059abe9547fde85d172099b7bb3719ebf1c6e4623c9d0c80033
It does not match any photo in this record.

It does not prove what a photo shows or where it was taken. It is supporting evidence, not legal advice.

If it comes to a dispute

Raise it in time.gov.uk says there may be a time limit to raise a dispute, so contact your scheme as soon as you disagree.
Send the record.The record link, or its printable PDF (US$3, only if you want one), shows each photo’s fingerprint, the sealed time and your landlord’s answer.
Keep the originals.Keep the full photos on your phone until the deposit is back: anyone can check them against the fingerprints.

Seal your move-in photos, free

Advice centre or students’ union?

A paragraph ready to paste into your deposit guide. The links carry a short code for your centre, so we can tell you how many students used it. No personal data is counted.

Deposit schemes decide disputes on the evidence, and undated photos are hard to use. On move-in day, walk through every room with the free printable checklist, then take your photos with DepositSeal: it records the time on its server and a fingerprint of each photo, and sends your landlord or agent a link to confirm or note objections. It is free and needs no account. Keep the originals until your deposit is returned.

This page is general information, not legal advice, and we do not know how any adjudicator weighs a given piece of evidence. Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own schemes; the same advice on photos applies. Questions: hello@depositseal.com.