Tips to keep deposit??

mrcol1000

We have rented for years and finally taking the steps into buying. Our current property was a dump and depsite promises by the letting agent to fix the problems before we moved in we moved in to find it in the same state as the previous tenants left it (who had vanished aboard and told the letting agent to keep the bond) which was a state. The major problems were sorted within a week of moving in and we cleaned the placed ourself. Some stuff it was impossible to clean such as the carpets which are beige and are very dirty in the kitchen (even the letting agent said it was mad to have carpet in a kitchen). We supplied the orginal letting agent with a correct invetory as it quickly became apparent that the one given to us was taken when the tenants before us moved in.
Half way through our tenancy the landlord changed letting agents ironically to the one we dealt with in the property we were in before this one. We did not get a new tenancy agreement so I persume we keep to the one we had when we moved in with the old letting agent?
Anyway I just wondered what tips people had to ensure we keep our deposit. If we left today without doing any cleaning it would be in a far better condition than when we moved in. So should we go all out with the cleaning to ensure we keep our deposit? Or should we just tidy up and point out its cleaner now than when we moved in?

jockosjungle

Can you prove the state when you moved in? Personally I would clean it, but thats me, legally you have no duty to do so but I'm sure they'd then bill you for cleaning it and then you'd need to raise a dispute, prove the state it was in when you moved in, etc.

R

Wee_Willy_Harris

Is the deposit in a recognised scheme as per the Tenancy Deposit Protection legislation?

mrcol1000

Wee_Willy_Harris wrote: »

Is the deposit in a recognised scheme as per the Tenancy Deposit Protection legislation?

Yes it is. It was orginally and then the new letting agent moved it to another scheme in their name.

mrcol1000

jockosjungle wrote: »

Can you prove the state when you moved in? Personally I would clean it, but thats me, legally you have no duty to do so but I'm sure they'd then bill you for cleaning it and then you'd need to raise a dispute, prove the state it was in when you moved in, etc.

R

We have an inventory with us writing in the actual state compared to the state they said signed by the orginal letting agent.

Wee_Willy_Harris

The TDPS works on the assumption that the tenant is entitled to get all of their deposit returned unless the LL/agent can prove that there is damage over and above normal wear and tear to justify any retention of all or part of the deposit. Unless the LL can PROVE that the current condition of the property has deteriorated further than would be expected from normal wear and tear, the likelyhood is that you will get your full deposit back. Dispute outcomes currently seem to be favourable to the tenant as SOME LLs get used to the idea that deposits are no longer a free source of income, justifiable against the most petty of issues.

poppysarah

I'd clean it. Just because it's nice for the next tenant to not have a pigsty. Mind you that doesn't stop some people cleaning it again though...