Carpets in a rented house - fair wear and tear?

Icey77

Rick62 wrote: »

Also the landlord gets 10% of the rent allowed for tax purposes for wear and tear of the property and contants, which would include carpets.

Only if the property is furnished - that means with beds, tables chairs etc white goods onyl does not constitute furnished.

Whilst on the subject of carpets and their replacement I was under the impression that the first lot of carpets I put down I could not claim as they were a capital item but replacement after that could be claimed as I would be replacing what was already there.

The "betterment" part (again to my understanding) was if tenants had damaged the carpets and I had to charge them for it I couldn't charge the full cost of a new carpet if the damaged one was 5 yrs old. I would have to charge them a portion of the cost of a new carpet.

Anyone?

Premier_2

Rick62 wrote: »

I thought i read that in assessing fair wear and tear the courts would reckon on a carpet life of 5 years?

Also the landlord gets 10% of the rent allowed for tax purposes for wear and tear of the property and contants, which would include carpets.

I don't think you'll find a court in this land that states how long a carpet lasts, other than a "reasonable" period of time. It depends on so many variables.

The 10% W&T tax allowance is only available to LL' s that let fully furnished properties. Even then they have the option of not taking it if they prefer to just offset actual expenditure as incurred against tax. If a LL earns say £6k per year in rent (based on £500pcm), 10% over 5 years would only represent £3k - hardly enough to re-carpet a typical 2 bed house with average quality carpets, let alone all the other W&T items in a fully furnished house that would need replacing.

Premier_2

Icey77 wrote: »

...
Anyone?

Correct on all counts

poppysarah

I would imagine a reasonable time for a bedroom carpet is a lot longer than that for a hallway.

sooz

poppysarah wrote: »

I would imagine a reasonable time for a bedroom carpet is a lot longer than that for a hallway.

depends on what you do in the bedroom
http://www.landlordzone.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=15304

olly300

poppysarah wrote: »

Poor quality carpet might suffer colour fade if exposed to sunlight...

Some poor quality carpet looks discoloured when the pile is basically worn out.

Silaqui

Oh my goodness! That link is crazy what on earth must they have been doing? haha.
Olly that may be the problem, I can't see it being particularly high quality carpet. It may well just be because it is flattened. I've been speaking to a lady at work and she mentioned some kind of brush attachment that you can get for those carpet cleaners to kind of pull the pile up a bit son't know if anyone else has heard of them.
I'm going to get a runner for the hallway too to protect it a bit more - better late then never eh! I must be sounding paranoid, it probably isn't that bad! My mum says it looks fine it's probably because I'm trying to put myself in the shoes of the landlord and what I would find acceptable.
Thanks again for everybodies advice
x

Gorgeous_George

Premier wrote: »

The 10% W&T tax allowance ...

... If a LL earns say £6k per year in rent (based on £500pcm), 10% over 5 years would only represent £3k - hardly enough to re-carpet a typical 2 bed house with average quality carpets, let alone all the other W&T items in a fully furnished house that would need replacing.

The actual tax saving for your example would be £600 (20% of the allowance) or £1,200 for a higher rate tax payer. That £600 should cover ALL wear and tear.

From HMRC website:

The 10% deduction is given to cover the sort of plant and machinery assets that a tenant or owner-occupier would normally provide in unfurnished accommodation. These are things like:

• movable furniture or furnishings, such as beds or suites,
• televisions,
• fridges and freezers,
• carpets and floor-coverings,
• curtains,
• linen,
• crockery or cutlery,
• plant and machinery chattels of a type which, in unfurnished accommodation, a tenant would normally provide for himself (for example, cookers, washing machines, dishwashers).

This list isn’t meant to be complete but gives an idea of the assets the wear and tear allowances covers.

GG

Geenie

If anyone lets a property with cream coloured carpets, I can't see how they can expect them to look perfect after 4 years wear and tear. What a daft colour in any home that people have to live in! No carpet will look pristine after that time, and the LL shouldn't be expecting them to be anything then what they are, as it sounds like you have looked after them well.

Premier_2

Gorgeous_George wrote: »

The actual tax saving for your example would be £600 (20% of the allowance) or £1,200 for a higher rate tax payer. That £600 should cover ALL wear and tear.

From HMRC website:



GG

I know what you mean GG, but I don't think it's the intention that the taxman pays for the expenditure.

The idea is that the LL gets tax relief on the expenditure wholly & necessarily incurred in running the business.

Hence you are right, based on 20% tax rate, the LL is only £600 up, but that represents tax relief on expenditure of £3k