Free tool · Australia-wide method
Carpet depreciation calculator
Being charged for carpet at the end of a tenancy? Carpet loses value every year it is walked on. Work out what it actually had left — because that, not the price of a brand-new replacement, is normally the ceiling on what can be claimed.
Where the numbers come from. The effective life is the Australian Taxation Office's, from its Rental properties guide (Table 3: Assets – general, "Floor coverings (removable without damage): carpet"): 10 years for carpet acquired before 1 July 2019 and 8 years from 1 July 2019 onward. Value is then reduced in equal steps across that life — the same straight-line method Tenants Victoria uses in its published worked example, where a $1,000 carpet seven years into a 10-year life leaves $300.
One difference worth knowing. Almost every guide still applies a 10-year life to all carpet. That has been out of date since 1 July 2019, and it matters: on the ATO's 8-year life, carpet installed after that date loses its value faster, so a seven-year-old carpet today hasless left than the old rule of thumb suggests — not more. This calculator applies whichever life is correct for the install date you enter.
Before the maths: is it damage at all?
The calculator assumes something is genuinely chargeable. Often it is not. In Victoria a renter is not responsible for fair wear and tear — the ordinary deterioration that comes from living somewhere. Tenants Victoria names traffic marks on carpet as an example of exactly that, and says if the rental provider wants them cleaned, they pay for it.
Usually fair wear and tear
- Traffic marks down hallways and in front of couches
- Flattened pile in the walkways
- Gradual fading near windows
- General ageing of carpet that was already old
Usually damage
- Burns, cuts or tears
- Staining left untreated through neglect
- Pet urine that reached the underlay
- Marks from something that should not have been there
On cleaning specifically. In Victoria you must leave a rental reasonably clean — but you cannot be required to leave itcleaner than you found it, and a professional-cleaning term in a lease does not by itself make cleaning payable if the place is already reasonably clean. A claim also has to be proportionate: Tenants Victoria's example is that damage to one room's paintwork does not justify repainting the house.
This is general information, not legal advice. It is a plain-English summary of published rules and a widely used calculation method, and every source is linked below. Your circumstances, your lease and your state's law may change the answer. In Victoria, Consumer Affairs Victoria publishes the official guidance and Tenants Victoria offers free renter advice; other states and territories have their own tenancy authority. The depreciation method itself is the ATO's and is used Australia-wide.
Sources
- ATO — Residential rental property items (Table 3: Assets – general) — the effective life figures for carpet.
- Tenants Victoria — Disputing bond and compensation claims — the depreciation worked example and fair wear and tear.
- Consumer Affairs Victoria — Renting — the official Victorian rules, including cleanliness.
Good to know
Frequently asked questions
The ATO's effective life for carpet in a residential rental property is 8 years for carpet acquired from 1 July 2019, and 10 years for carpet acquired before that date. Most guides still quote 10 years for everything, which has been out of date for newer carpet since 2019.
Not normally. Compensation is generally worked out on what the carpet had left in it, not on what a brand-new replacement costs — otherwise the property would end up better than it was before the damage. That is what this calculator estimates.
In Victoria you must leave the property reasonably clean, but you are not responsible for fair wear and tear, and you cannot be required to leave it cleaner than it was when you moved in. A professional-cleaning term in a lease does not by itself make cleaning payable if the carpet is already reasonably clean. Consumer Affairs Victoria publishes the rules and Tenants Victoria gives free advice.
Deterioration from ordinary everyday use — traffic marks along the walkways, flattening, gradual fading. Damage is different: burns, tears, or staining caused by neglect or misuse. Fair wear and tear is not chargeable to a renter.
Moving out and the carpet needs doing properly?
We clean carpet and upholstery for end-of-lease handovers across Point Cook and Melbourne’s western suburbs — with the price agreed before we start. We do not do general house cleaning.
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