Getting deposit back from the Landlord

Legacy_user

Hi

A friend of mine has just moved out of a 4 bedroom rental house. Someone else moved out as well and 2 have stayed. The landlord has gone through the whole house and taken there whole deposits off them both because the house is a mess in his words. It is going to cost him £1000 to fix everything and there deposits were £500 each. I was wondering if this was fair considering there are 4 people in the house so it seems unfair that the two who are leaving have to pay for all the costs that the 4 have met. I have also included the whole list if someone could look at it and see if its fair?

Windows, sills and glass dirty, inside and out. Cleaned by K SpriggsBlocked toilet and drain caused by Saniflow pump being turned off by tenants:Labour charge to unblock£50.00Living roomRug stained and dirty with cigarette burns (needs to be replaced)Replace: £35.00Stair carpet stained and dirty (to the point of having to be replaced)Stains to armchair and sofaCleaning£170.006 bulbs to be replaced£18.00Blinds dustyKitchen/conservatory9 bulbs to be replaced£27.00Oven dirty, bottom section not cleaned at all, knobs covered in greaseArea round oven greasyKick boards greasy/dirtyBulb blown in extractor£5.00Cupboards dirty inside2 knobs missing from kitchen doorsDecorative end of cabinets chipped badly - needs replacing(Cannot replace parts, only complete end). Cost:£282.92Labour£100.00Beech worktop badly stained - needs refurbishment£100.00Floor dirtyKitchen table dirtyChairs stained and dirtyIncuded in cleaning charge for upholsteryWet roomShower limescaled and dirtyTaps limescaled and dirtyShower spray holder brokenLabour to establish cause:£20.00Part£21.70Labour to fit£20.00Hari's bedroomBlind and surfaces dustyHeadboard brokenNo chargeBathroomShower head and rail not cleanTaps dirtyTim's roomLight shade dustyCleaning charges from Kevin Spriggs for all of above£140.00Total£989.62

gazfocus

I certainly don't think your LL can charge you for blown bulbs - that's just getting petty.

N79

gazfocus wrote: »

I certainly don't think your LL can charge you for blown bulbs - that's just getting petty.

Yes they can. It is about the only piece of maintainance (batteries in smoke alarms is another) which a LL can legally pass on the Ts.

zebulon

£1000 total cost
divided by 4 tenants...

£250 should be taken from the deposit of the ones who left.

that's how I see it and I think it's definately not right that 2 are staying and everything is taken from the 2 deposits - mind you he might just come back with £2000 of work to do... erghh... if they don't contest any of the items, the place does look dirty...!

N79

All the deductions look reasonable to me. Did your friends never clean the house / report the damage? It looks like a professional inventory as well. It is great to see a LL appearing to do the job properly. I assume that there is a correspondingly detailed check in inventory.

If they have one AST then they are jointly liable so the LL can deduct the damage from all of them or some of them as he chooses. This is what being jointly and severally liable means.

If they have sepeate ASTs then the LL can only claim for damages on the ending tenancies - same result.

N79

zebulon wrote: »

£1000 total cost
divided by 4 tenants...

£250 should be taken from the deposit of the ones who left.

that's how I see it and I think it's definately not right that 2 are staying and everything is taken from the 2 deposits - mind you he might just come back with £2000 of work to do... erghh... if they don't contest any of the items, the place does look dirty...!

It may not be right but it is legal for the LL to decide which Ts to deduct the damage from if they are jointly and severally liable.

Alex_LS

If they're jointly & severally liable, he can recover from any one of them that he can. It's then up to them to sort it out between themselves.

gazfocus

N79 wrote: »

Yes they can. It is about the only piece of maintainance (batteries in smoke alarms is another) which a LL can legally pass on the Ts.

but surely bulbs (especially being freely available from energy companies) are a consumable and therefore it should be put down to wear and teas :S

N79

Alex_LS wrote: »

It's then up to them to sort it out between themselves.

I forget to mention this bit. OP - your friend can sue his former housemates if he feels that they should pay for some of the damage.

Alex_LS

As a consumable, they're the responsibility of the tenant to replace. Assuming they were all working when the tenants moved in, they should all be working when they move out again.

N79

gazfocus wrote: »

but surely bulbs (especially being freely available from energy companies) are a consumable and therefore it should be put down to wear and teas :S

Fitting them is most certainly not free. Ts have an obligation to live in a property in a tenant like manner which includes things like replacing lightbulbs and cleaning etc. This is nothing to do with fair wear and tear.

For the avoidance of doubt it is best to include this as a specific obligation in the tenancy agreement.