State of decor when leaving rented property

TamTam72

I am due to move out of my privately rented house at the end of Feb after almost 2 years here with a family of 5 (3 kids). All the walls are magnolia and, as you'd expect, showing some signs of marks and scuffing from general day-to-day use of the property, nothing more than that.

My questions is, are we expected to leave the decor in really good condition when we leave, i.e. re-paint where necessary to get rid of the marks, or is the landlord responsible for that as the marks are part of the general wear and tear? My contract states that we are responsible for keeping the place looking nice while we live here which we have, but some marks can't be helped with 3 kids! I don't want to go to the bother of re-painting if I don't have to, but equally I don't want to spoil my chances of getting my deposit back!

Thanks in advance for any help.
Tammy

97trophy

Hi. I am a LL.

When a tenant moves out I don't mind minor marks and scratches. As a LL I consider all normal wear and tear is down to me.

Obviously, there is a limit but I don't get the impression you have caused significant damage. So I would say you should be OK.

If you can post some photos and I will give you a more detailed commentary.

dannymccann

Dont forget some landlords are tighter than others. trophy sounds pretty good to me, some agents / LL's are tight badgers and willl run you dry if they can

tbs624

Why not get your LL to call at a mutually convenient time and clarify together what the two of you view as reasonable for both parties? The terms "fair wear & tear" seem to cover different things for different people but just communicate in advance of your move.

PasturesNew

If you're lucky and can get an exact match on the paint, you might find it's only necessary to wash down and paint over where there are marks, not every whole wall.

But what tbs624 said in #4 is the best way to be sure.

The fact you have 3 kids isn't relevant to the question though. Because you have 3 kids doesn't give you any extra rights to leave it more marked thann somebody who didn't have 3 kids. The property should be left in the same condition irrespective of how many people/pets were living there.

The question is how much of your wall is fair wear and tear and how much of it isn't. And we've no idea how good/bad they are, nor do we know your LL's opinion.

poppysarah

Normal wear and tear with kids is much more than a single person. I would expect a family house let to a family to be in need of a lick of paint in some rooms. If it was all rooms I might be a bit cheesed off, but lounge and kids bedrooms are bound to be more used.