Tenants have had carpet fitted without permission

Becks045

Tenants have just moved into a property, there is fairly new in excellent condition laminate flooring throughout and upon visiting the property we notice that there is fitted carpet everywhere!

The tenants haven't asked for permission to do so and what we're particulary concerned about is whether carpet grippers have been used as will damage the flooring. Also even glue etc. will damage the floors.

All very odd, that they haven't even asked.

Never been faced with this situation before, any thoughts...are they in breach of contract?

annie-c

What does your contract say? I agree, it seems very odd to do that to a rented property! But whether they are in breach of contract depends on what your contract with them covers.

FATBALLZ

Perhaps they are foreign, as most other countries allow tenants to treat rented properties as their home as opposed to this country where you are treated like a squatter. Could be a cultural misunderstanding.

Smackie

Hi,

I guess it depends what's in your contract but I have rented quite a bit in my time, but I have always been under the impression that you should ask before doing this type of thing otherwise any damage done etc can be taken out of a tenants deposit??

Is the property managed by yourself or through a lettings company? If it's managed for you then they should be able to help you out.

Sorry I'm not sure if that helps or not.

redlady_1

Is it actually fitted or have they just put it down over the flooring?

jamesb1239

As a tennant I always expect to have to carpet, if there is flooring in that is ok then i wouldnt bother. I wouldnt ask permission unless the contract explicitly stated that I was not to change the internal decoration of the property

Becks045

They are British and to be honest thinking about it, they must have organised and planned this. They came round 3 times to measure for their furniture but clearly must have measured floor dimensions as the carpet was in the property within a few days of them moving in.

The contract states:-

You must not do the following - Alter or add anything to the outside or structure of the property or the furniture, fixtures and household belongings that are on the list that you and we signed.

The laminate flooring is mentioned throughout the inventory which they signed.

Becks045

There is brand new carpert on the stairs and landing areas but the bedrooms and reception rooms are laminate and as I stated when they viewed the property etc. they never mentioned they were unhappy or didn't want/like laminate flooring.

Just think in view of the contract its all a real cheek.

missile

Becks045 wrote: »

...are they in breach of contract?

As others have said, depends on your contract. Even if they are, what can you do? Hopefully they will leave the carpet as their deposit certainly will not cover cost of re-instatement. Welcome to the hard reality of being a LL:(.

phlash

The AST would normally state that the property is returned in the same condition at the end of the tenancy less fair ware and tear.

So, if it has damaged the flooring and you need to replace you can charge - so don't panic.

If they leave the carpet, and it's not an eyesore and is nice, you could compromise and keep it.

I would maybe put this in a letter to them, a nice one, just stating your expectations when they leave the contract and that going forward an open dialogue about such things would be appreciated. It's not the worst thing in the world, they clearly want a nice home, so my bets would be they will be looking after it quite well.

Becks045

missile wrote: »

As others have said, depends on your contract. Even if they are, what can you do? Hopefully they will leave the carpet as their deposit certainly will not cover cost of re-instatement. Welcome to the hard reality of being a LL:(.

Fed up of tenants thinking they own the property and can treat it as they like and ingore the legally binding document of a contract.

As a landlord for many years, I'd never recommend it to anyone, a real pain!!