Tenants Damaged Work Surface!

jammy78

CHR15 wrote: »

Don't rent your Palace out then!!!

If I wanted I could be claiming for a lot more! It is damage like this I don't expect!

Anyway thanks for your help & comments! :beer:

Lavendyr

So in the space of a few posts and without any research (presumably) your claim has gone up from £300 to £550? That sounds dramatically unfair.

As I said, get a range of quotes, take the cheapest and withhold that amount. If you just pick a figure out of thin air to withhold, without being able to demonstrate that it is reasonable, your tenants can (and should!) take you to court to claim back their deposit.

Microstar_2

jammy78

If you have a strong personal attachment to the house then don't let it out. Damage happens and 'wear and tear' can be higher then if you were occupying it yourself.

Having said that, it does sound like it could be damage beyond what would be accepted as normal wear and tear (impossible for me to say without seeing it). Take a couple of photos of the damage and get a couple of estimates for repair/replacement. Don't pull figures out of thin air.

jammy78

Lavendyr wrote: »

So in the space of a few posts and without any research (presumably) your claim has gone up from £300 to £550? That sounds dramatically unfair.

As I said, get a range of quotes, take the cheapest and withhold that amount. If you just pick a figure out of thin air to withhold, without being able to demonstrate that it is reasonable, your tenants can (and should!) take you to court to claim back their deposit.

I say £550 because there has been other damage one is they never cut the grass for about 6 months - it's going to be hell trying to get it sorted in this weather (before I get flamed, I'm not charging £250 just for that). Ok, I'll get some quotes - do you think my LA agent will do this as it's about time they done something for the money I've given them?!

So this is how it works - I can tell my LA to withhold what I think is fair for the damages caused & if the tenants don't like it they can take me to court?

sooz

jammy78 wrote: »

It looks like they have burnt the surface & it's now cracked. There is 3 spots about a size of 20p dead center of the surface.



Yeah the deposit is in the protection scheme but I'm prepared to do whatever to keep for the damages caused. Can I tell my LA that I want to hold £550 for the damages and if they don't like it they can administer the dispute - is that how it works?

If they have managed to burn & crack the worktop, then it's not a quality one. Sounds like a laminate & it's certainly not expensive to buy. Fitting, as others have said, depends on shape, cutting & layout.

First, contact the housebuilders to find the worktop manufacturer's name & model. If you can find exactly the same, you only need to replace one bit.

Then get 3 quotes to have it replaced.

Ditto, get 3 quotes for work to the garden.

Then WRITE to the tenants, giving them the cheapest quotes, explaining what work needs doing, & asking if they agree for the return of their deposit minus x amount (the total of the two quotes). If they do, you both agree to release that much deposit to them & the rest gets returned to you. If not, then you go to arbitration

Imp

Laminate work top - £30 per metre
Fitting - £100
Getting the tenant and judge to agree - priceless.

Note, you have a cheap worktop which damages easily. A solid wood worktop you could sand damage out, a stone worktop, short of cracking it, it won't get damaged.

Debt_Free_Chick

Jammy

Please calm down - it may well have been a genuine accident or, as suggested, it might not have been the quality you thought. I managed to burn a halogen hob in a property I rented :eek: How? I made caramelised bananas - just bananas fried in butter and sugar. A blob of the caramel fell off the spoon onto the surface of the hob and set rock hard. Stupidly, I gave it a shove with a wooden spatula and the set sugar took a sliver off the surface of the hob :eek:

There was no malice, neglect or wilful ill-treatment on my part. I treated the whole situation as carefully as I would, if they had been my own possessions.

In my case, the LL accepted it as wear & tear (without any request from me). Perhaps I was lucky.

Grass cutting - was this in the agreement? Did you provide a lawnmower? Bear in mind that it's been wet for pretty much six weeks now, so they've had little opportunity to mow the lawn anyway.

Anyhow - don't be too harsh. you'll just wind yourself up into a frenzy. It is, unfortunately, one of the costs of letting your property.

Be calm - be fair. No more, and no less :beer:

ruggedtoast

jammy78 wrote: »

The house is a new build, so everything was as cheap as possible and poorly made when they moved in.

Fixed.,....,.,

squoog

ruggedtoast wrote: »

Fixed.,....,.,

but oh so:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:

BridgetJones_2

jammy78 wrote: »

Plus I didn't buy this house to let it out - it is for me & all the stuff in there is quality. I only moved out as I was having trouble with the ex (who I owned it with) & I plan to move back in. So when people say you have to expect this damage - I say no. Fair enough if the property is a sh#te hole, then it doesn't matter.

That's not really the tenants problem!

Sounds like usual wear & tear. What kind of kitchen work top is it if it can be burned like that??