whats classed as wear and tear in rental property??

rdp1980

jjlandlord wrote: »

There's no need to ask permission to install children's stairgates as they are just held by pressure points...

Not all, some are the screw in type so may be holes drilled into the walls or door frames.

I never find the gates that are pressure fitted to be that secure and tend to move around which of course would mark the wall finishing or make an indentation into a wooden door frame.

jjlandlord

rdp1980 wrote: »

I never find the gates that are pressure fitted to be that secure and tend to move around which of course would mark the wall finishing or make an indentation into a wooden door frame.

Yes, you need to seriously turn the screw to apply pressure. Pretty solid if installed correctly.

BitterAndTwisted

Fair wear and tear is the natural degradation of something by normal use over time. It IS NOT dirt and nor is it damage.

bikingbarney wrote: »

one of the bedroom doors has been badly repaired/painted after been punched.

This may need to be replaced if it can't be repaired. Chargeable.

the rest of the doors upstairs have been painted after been drawn on.

If the painting has been done properly is in the same colour as before and covers the drawing, no charge.

3 big chips out of dining room radiator.

I wouldn't necessarily bother about that. You might want to charge for repainting.

oil type stains on carpet.

Chargeable. You cannot charge them for a full replacement unless the carpet was brand-new at the start of the tenancy. Even so, you would have had six month's of wear out of it. The way you calculate the replacement value is the expected life of the carpet in a rental property less a percentage for how old it is.

they have fitted stairgates at the top and bottom of the stairs and have damaged the walls/paper behind them.

Damage. Chargeable.

one of their children has drawn all over the stair way wallpaper.

Damage. Chargeable.

lots of chips and scratches in the wallpaper in the dining room.

Damage. Chargeable.

all the marks in the wallpaper are in paper that is not for sale any more and it covers the dining room and hall, stairs and landing so as you can see its a lot of paper.

Arrange for the marked rooms to be painted over.

I think you should arrange for three local tradesmen to give you detailed quotes for all of the necessary work, item by item. Then take an average of all three to arrive at the deductions. Keep the written quotes as you'll need those later, possibly for court.

Please ensure that you take dated photographs of every single bit of damage and keep them safe, too.

G_M

bikingbarney wrote: »

one of the bedroom doors has been badly repaired/painted after been punched. If T has repaired/repainted to re-instate as before, that's acceptable. If the 'punch' damage remains and/or the painting is a different colour or badly done, then T is liable. However you can only deduct a fair amount to make good, bearing in mind the age of the door/paintwork.

the rest of the doors upstairs have been painted after been drawn on. as above

3 big chips out of dining room radiator. I also assume this means chips in the paintwork? Not wear & tear but to be honest a dab of radiator paint will make good

oil type stains on carpet. Not wear and tear. Cost of cleaning. If beyond cleaning, then contribution towards replacement - claiming the full cost of a new carpet to replace one 6 months? 1 year? 5 years? old, would be 'betterment. So the older the carpet (and less life it still had in it anyway) the less you can claim

they have fitted stairgates at the top and bottom of the stairs and have damaged the walls/paper behind them. damage. Not W&T

one of their children has drawn all over the stair way wallpaper.damage. Not W&T

lots of chips and scratches in the wallpaper in the dining room. damage. Not W&T

all the marks in the wallpaper are in paper that is not for sale any more and it covers the dining room and hall, stairs and landing so as you can see its a lot of paper. damage. Not W&T but as above you cannot claim 'betterment' and expect the tenant to pay for a full re-paper job. How old is the wall paper?

would you say any of the above can be classed as fair wear or tear or would we be well within our rights to claim for it out of their deposit?? Yes, but you need to be reasonable.

thanks

As suggested, in future, strip the paper and paint in white/magnolia. It then very easy for either your tenant, or you, to
a) find the right paint
b) touch up the paintwork where needed

b) can be done quickly/easily between tenants even where it IS just wear and tear making your property easy to maintain looking good.

edit - snap! B&T you beat me to it.

tbs624

biking barney - have a look here, for guidance on fair wear and tear and here for dealing with the deductions

Edit - link corrected - thanks G_M

tbs624

olly300 wrote: »

The scratches on the wall and rips in the wallpaper can be classed as fair wear and tear, which is one reason why most landlords rent properties out with walls that are white or magnolia painted plaster. Tenants even in furnished properties have their own furniture or will move your furniture causing scratches, marks and small rips in the wall paper.

Wall scratches and ripped wallpaper are absolutely not fair wear and tear.

G_M

tbs624 wrote: »

biking barney - have a look here, for guidance on fair wear and tear and here for dealing with the deductions

tbs - your 1st link is broken. This may be it though.

bikingbarney

Hi all,

Just to update ........

we contacted the letting agent after the inventory had been done at check out and we are pushing for the following...

* replace damaged door upstairs.

* strip and repaint remaining doors upstairs as they had been repainted in a different shade to cover up the drawing marks.(noted on inventory)

* clean of house by letting agent cleaning company as not as it was handed over to them ( mold in windows, oven left dirty/greasy and lots of other litter left around the house)

we have decided to leave the papering as the new tenants have looked at the house and have said they are fine with it as long as marked on inventory.

also going to leave other little bits like radiator to.

anyway the previous tenants are disputing the claim as they ay it was handed over in the state it was give to them in.

The check out inventory clearly states this is not the case.

The letting agent cleaning company is charging £65 to clean the house which i feel is a fair price.

tenants are now saying they will raise a dispute this weekend on the tds

If all the stuff is marked on the inventory how do you think we will fair if it goes to dispute???

Kynthia

Wear and tear is deteriation due to age and use, where things don't look shiny and new anymore and may get scuffed, worn out and break after time even when being used normally. It's clearly different from dirt and damage and damage through incorrect use.

If you have a signed inventory with photos before and one after, plus quotes for the work done (preferably more than one) and deductions to ensure you aren't receiving betterment then you should be fine.

Errata

Some of the problems are wilful damage and it's pretty hard to class the rest as fair wear and tear over only a 6 month period.