Renting & worried about carpets

Belisarius

Hi,

I have been renting my current home for nearly four years, and anticipate staying here for five in total.

When I moved in, the landlord had lain brand new cream carpets in the two living rooms (I have no idea why). While I've been living here, they've got a bit grubby / stained, especially in the front living room, which sees the most traffic. I have been very careful (e.g. no shoes in house), but accidents have happened. Even with a lot of carpet cleaner & elbow grease, stains never quite go away on a cream carpet.

I'm just very worried about losing my deposit (which I can't afford to!) Do you think, after five years, I can put the damage down to general wear & tear, particularly considering the carpets are cream? Sort of "what would you expect with cream carpets?" If it makes a difference, the house as a whole is not in particularly great decorative order.

Any advice or suggestions?

Thanks,

Bel

mynameisdave

Personally, I'd be chuffed you stayed for five years and there had been no void periods. I'd class a few hundred quid to get a new carpets in as one of those expenses you get from time to time whether its redecorating or an appliance packing in.

But, thats only what I would do, and I'm not your landlord so can't say this is what would happen. How obvious arethe stains? If you are very worried maybe you could rent one of those carpets shampoo machines and give it a good going over one weekend?

delain

yes, they're called rug doctors and you can get them from B&Q.

I need to get one as my carpets in rented house are fairly destroyed too. I don't understand my LL putting in a beige carpet in a room which has patio doors that lead straight into a north-facing muddy swamp of a back garden!

I'm thinking about offering to get laminate professionally fitted if he will help me a bit with the cost of buying it, or maybe 'if i buy this is it ok for whoever does this stuff for you to fit it'

roses

There is a big difference between "wear and tear" and "damage" which a lot of people don't seem to be able to see the difference between.

Stains = damage
Wear & tear = carpet worn away

If you've made the carpet dirty then that is damage. Can you hire a carpet cleaner for a week end? Or buy a Bissell for £100 which you can keep and use as many times as you like? They really can work wonders along with the carpet shampoo from Poundland.

It's not a matter of the landlord being gratful that you've fulfilled your contractual obligation of paying your rent. He would have the hassle of going out to a shop to buy new carpet, get it delivered, take time off work to stay at home whilst it is fitted, move all the furniture etc.

Most people change their carpets once every 10-15 years if it's a good quality weave. Whether it's rented or owned, it shouldn't make a difference.

abaxas

Is the condition of the carpets in the inventory.

If not, dont worry about it. The LL has nothing on you.

Ulfar

roses wrote: »

Most people change their carpets once every 10-15 years if it's a good quality weave. Whether it's rented or owned, it shouldn't make a difference.

Do you know many landlords that fit good quality carpets?

Should the landlord seek to claim for damage to the carpet the age, quality and original cost of the carpet should be factored in. A landlord cannot improve the flat at your expense.

I do have to ask what the obsession with beige carpets is in rented accommodation.

roses

Ulfar wrote: »

Do you know many landlords that fit good quality carpets?

Yes, all the landlords I have rented from.

Ulfar wrote: »

I do have to ask what the obsession with beige carpets is in rented accommodation.

1) It makes the room look bigger
2) They look more attractive and it is easier to get tenants to rent the place than somewhere with dark and dingy looking carpets.

delain

I have never known a carpet to last anything close to ten years. My previous letting agent tried to withold my deposit for damage to carpets, even though the new tenants were replacing them out of their own pocket, and said so in front of myself and the lettings agent!

I should add that the flat was damp, so damp my furniture went mouldy and fell to bits, hence the horrible smell and wet stains on the carpets.

In the end i said that they could not just keep my money for themselves for the sake of it, and that if they persisted i would go to the echo and no one would rent from them, and that i would tell them not only about the carpet fiasco but also that they'd asked me to bleach all the mould off the walls to hide the extent of the problem from the new tenants.

They then refunded the deposit in full

Belisarius

Oh - I didn't mean to start a heated debate with my first ever post.

It's more general grubbiness on the carpet in the front living room, compared to the back, with a few darker stain spots. The carpet cleaner is a good suggestion, though not something I can afford right now (literally watching every penny, which is why I joined the forum!) I also don't have a car to transport one from B&Q. I will look into prices and find a way to save up.

I get the point about wear & tear, but feel like there should be some leeway for fair use. Short of putting down a sheet of plastic, and so not using the carpet at all, I don't see how I could have prevented it getting grubby given the colour. I was just hoping that if I made my best attempt to repair the damage, it would be okay. It is an unfurnished house so the landlord would not have any furniture moved. The carpet fitter is also a family friend, so I don't think he'd have to wait in for him either. I hope it doesn't come to that, though!

Oh well - I'll aim for the carpet cleaner & keep my fingers crossed. Thanks for all the feedback!

Jowo_2

Belisarius wrote: »

I get the point about wear & tear, but feel like there should be some leeway for fair use

The landlord should take into account the age and the original condition of the item when calculating deductions but doesn't have to accept any form of grubbiness or stains that were not there at the outset of the tenancy, even when done accidentally by the tenant.

As far as I'm aware, there is no agreed legal definition of 'fair wear and tear' but a rule of thumb one is natural deterioration under ordinary usage so does tend to cover things like furnishings fading through sunlight or thinning of carpets around doorways, for example.

DawnW

Dirt is not wear and tear, and can be sorted. Having said that, I would (as a LL) think well, fair enough they have been there x years, I will sort it - before my current tenants moved in, I had a professional carpet cleaning firm in, and they did the whole house (large 3 storey terrace) for about £350 and it looked immaculate, even after former owner's filthy relations (who even left old pizzas in the wardrobes :eek:), and builders who I got in to put it all right had finished.

I would go ahead and do this again tbh, and just claim it as tax relief - but that is just me - I am not always sure how other LLs that you hear about on here think