UK Landlord Forum / Life

Hi - wear and tear advice needed please! Our tenant is moving out/downsizing after relationship split. Moved in April 2022 after complete rewire, new replacement bathroom, new carpets in both bedrooms, window refurbishments/replacements and complete redec throughout. The pre-check-in inventory shows clear pictures of everything looking good and overall rating of "good". During the 2-yr tenancy we have also replaced the electric hot water tank which started leaking, and a storage heater which broke.

As a couple they looked after the place great, he clearly not so much so! Initial check of the flat (pre-check out inventory process etc) has highlighted a lot of concerns, but not sure how much can be claimed for against the deposit. It's a long list, so forgive me....

He didn't use the storage heaters much over winter (struggled with bills even with our well-below market rent) so condensation was an issue. Mould in various places, peeling paintwork to walls/ceilings, rust everywhere - on storage heaters themselves, heated towel rail in bathroom, venetian blinds, handles on all kitchen cabinets/draws, you name it. The bathroom extractor is now broken but he didn't tell us - apparently been broken "a couple of months" (was working fine on last inspection 6 months ago). Both the new carpets have small burn holes, one of which he has tried to patch repair with roughly the same colour carpet. The walls are covered in blue tack residue as well as loads of scuffs/scratches/marks. An external corner of the hall and the hall/lounge doorway opposite has clearly taken a battering and he has tried to repair it (very badly) with filler of some sort. The kitchen window lock doesn't work at all so window can't be closed (also wasn't reported). One of the kitchen units is falling apart from water ingress.

We were planning on a redec between tenants, and upgrading either storage rads or the kitchen - we now have no choice but to do it all! But what is reasonable to assume, and what of the above can be considered as damage and claimable from the deposit? (This has been properly protected, obvs). Will the inventory check out process highlight this for us? Or should we be considering an insurance claim, if the policy covers it? Most grateful for thoughts, please, and thanks in advance.

I would not expect to redecorate throughout after just 2 years. The outgoing inventory should indeed highlight these issues. I doubt if anything listed here would be covered by insurance, but I would say that most of the things you have mentioned  go beyond normal wear and tear, and could be claimed from the deposit. Would the deposit even cover it all ? 

It's a slightly different question that needs to be asked.

There's a series of things that have been damaged or not maintained properly. As a result, there has been a loss in value, which you need to somehow calculate. Then you evaluate how much of that loss would have happened as a result of someone living there looking after the place reasonably well (wear and tear), and you ask the tenant to compensate you for the difference.

Cosmetic damage is always difficult to quantify - burn holes are all damaged (there's no normal wear and tear in burns), but the whole carpet isn't worthless, even though you may choose to replace it because it's not something you want to introduce a new tenant to. That's always an issue for a landlord - you don't want to rent something that's not right, both for reasons of pride and also because it gives a message to the next tenant about what you're OK with.

Work through each element. Some you have to take a view on, the window locks not working, for example, have they just broken or have they been damaged (who locks and unlocks their windows enough to damage them?)/

Any Landlord contemplating harsh(er) approaches, i.e. Deposit Scheme's ADR process, or Insurance claim, before a Check-Out process appears to have happened (yet, you appear to be cognisant of all the issues anyway, and you do sometimes refer to the Tenants in the past tense, so have you been in and around the property or are they still there?) is thinking about this incorrectly (my view).

Do the Check-Out and assess damage vs. wear-and-tear using the Inventory made, and agreed, around two years ago. Then the aim is to amicably agree any Deposit deductions.

Maybe that is pie-in-the-sky when dealing with intransigent Tenants... but I can honestly say I've never failed to agree deductions on the same day, and get the money to the ex-Tenant, on the same day. Never.

Often there has to be some compromise, of course there has. And the Landlord might end up feeling a little hard-done-by. But getting the property set up for the next Tenant is the priority - and I always expect there'll be something for me to do. You bundling a kitchen rip-and-replace along with Blu-Tack residue on some walls makes me think you really are at a loss here. If you were planning on upgrading the kitchen anyway, but cite one issue as being "One of the kitchen units is falling apart from water ingress." then why does that bit matter? You were planning on addressing the kitchen anyway, do you seek the outcome where the outgoing Tenant might pay for that for you? Obviously not.

It also reads like the Check-Out process / report is being done by a third party, is that the case here? If you have consciously handed over that aspect of your property management to a third-party then you should, at least, have to assume it's going to be objective and fair and be ready to stand by it - not be immediately ready to challenge it. Heck, the Tenant doesn't have to stand by it (they could object to a third-party's output) and that's the first hurdle, surely?

Story time: I've just started a new tenancy, one [the smallest] room had been 'kiddified' by the outgoing Tenant, artful painting with stars and a rocket ship. I did not redecorate it. I told viewers I wouldn't, but I said that they would have my up-front agreement if they then wanted to redecorate it, if they were staying long enough and wanted to. I do not lie when I said no-one even raised their eyebrows at this position. For me, it was the avoidance of painting a whole room, for them, I appeared pragmatic and easygoing. Win-win.

It's not about the bricks and mortar, or the kitchen cupboards. It's about people. Aim for swift resolutions to Deposit related issues, then move on. Disputes can hang over you and leave a bad taste.