UK Landlord Forum / Life

Hello, apologies this is a long one. I must say this forum has changed my opinion of landlords having been tainted somewhat by my previous landlord (the landlords on here seem very nice and helpful).

We moved out of a house we had rented for almost 6 years and the landlord is not only trying to claim the entire bond of a thousand pounds but is also seeking a total of £3000 for what they say were damages.

We had a room repainted that was damaged by an incorrectly installed mirror (it fell off, smashed and took the paint off with it, the landlord installed it). I paid to repaper a wall that had some small tears to it and again paid to have new flooring in the kitchen (with higher quality flooring than was already down), it was admittedly damaged when we moved the fridge. The house was left in a clean and tidy state, we even mowed the lawn before we left. The only thing we didn't get around to doing was replace a damaged carpet in the dining area (approx. 8x8 ft.) because they wanted us out by a specific date. We got a quote by the same flooring company that did the kitchen (quoted £150).

Can the landlord claim more than the bond? They aren't actually (for want of a better description) landlords the house renting was just while they moved to another city and it ended up a longer term thing.
The landlord has been a bit of a nightmare all along such as when the oven broke we were without it for about 2 weeks until we paid an electrician to have it fixed and when the shower broke we were left without it for about 6 months.

Since we advised them we were moving they have turned very aggressive and even harassing, culminating in them now wanting £3000 to redecorate and re-carpet the entire house.

Any advice is gratefully received.

Leanne.

Can the Landlord claim more than the deposit is your main question, I think.

The answer is "yes". Otherwise, Tenants could do thousands of Pounds worth of damage and get away scot-free, happily sacrificing their measly £500 deposit. Yet, to achieve this the Landlord must either do it via agreement or take you to Court and get a judgement against you.

Obviously you aren't going to agree.

All the rest of what you've written is, sadly, just noise and will detract from the issue at-hand, it doesn't matter if they've not been good Landlords - what matters is actually quite simple - has damage beyond the amount of the deposit been caused and can it be proven that it was done by you. If so - usually proven by a very good (comprehensive and clear) Inventory and Schedule of Condition (possibly even done by a third-party) - then you might be on the hook. If not - well you can probably just ignore it... you might get taken to Court, but before that happens you'd hope their legal advisor would advise them that they don't have the proof. It's easy for you to turn around and say - "it was like that when the tenancy started" - if that Inventory and Schedule of Condition cannot back up the Landlord's claims.

All that said... if you've caused damage then you should pay for it - the Landlord should not lose-out financially. And, finally, you should mow the lawns - you can't get brownie points for doing what you should do anyway.  That's like Tenants that say - "I always paid the rent on time" - as if that's some kind of special thing... no, it's the bare minimum that is expected of a Tenant. It's strange how many people think they're the model Tenant because they paid the rent on time - what do they think other Tenants are doing? Anyway... I realise I've "gone off on one" there, so I'll stop...

Thank you for replying it answers my main question, my comment on the grass cutting was more than that, when we moved in the lawn was noted as being a mess and we didn't leave it a mess. As with the condition of the house we fixed all the issues that were our fault as in the kitchen flooring etc. and I'm not trying to avoid the issue of the damaged carpet I will happily recompense them for it but £3000 for a carpet we were quoted £150 for is insane.

The point being made about the landlords character was for good reason, they have not submitted a check out document to the deposit protection scheme, have gone ahead and had the whole house decorated and re-carpeted and then made claims about damage which is simply not true. They have submitted photos as evidence taken before we moved out and claimed we moved out almost 2 weeks after we actually did. I don't know why I should have to pay for decorating services in a house that has been lived in for over 5.5 years, left in a condition (carpet aside) that was commented as having been left in a condition others would be more than happy with.

I understand you rant I do not wish to come across as someone claiming special privileges for doing what is required I just feel as though they are trying to rip me off.

Thank you again for replying so quickly.

Even with damage to assets, a Landlord must appreciate and pay attention to the concept of expected lifespan and depreciation. That means you don't expect, as a Landlord, to get 100% of the item's value back... unless it's brand new.

If a carpet has an expected lifespan of 10 years old and it's 5 years old at the beginning of a tenancy that last 1 year - and requires complete replacement at the end of that tenancy - then the Landlord is due 40% of its value - as the Landlord has benefited from 6 years of using it.

Use this to your advantage.