Moving out of rented soon

Clearlier

Hoping to get some advice on what's reasonable wear and tear and what should be repaired.

2 adults and 2 young children (2nd child born while in house) in a 4 bedroomed detached for 3.5 years.

We commented on the inventory at length but we didn't make a copy and I can't remember everything that we wrote down on it. We have got a copy of the inventory as they originally presented it. I also recall not fully finishing the inventory as they wanted it back within a day or two, we had taken a week and there were just so many blemishes (would do it differently now).

Potential issues that I can see are:

Some of the doors have small chips of paint out of them, also on the skirting board of the stairs - some of it has blistered and some of that has come off. The paintwork in question is definitely 5 years old (our tenancy plus previous one) and realistically given its discolouration closer to 20. I don't think that I could colour match to patch it up so I'm looking at patching with the wrong colour, repainting all of it or leaving it and hoping.

We put a swing set for the kids in the garden. We didn't dig it but the garden is north facing and gets little enough sun and the area around the posts has worn away/turned into moss. Should I be looking at buying a roll of grass and cutting it into the lawn? Likely to be a different type of grass I would imagine.

Any thoughts on what I should do/what's reasonable to do on the above? The check out will be done by the LA - a national company that often gets bad press but who have always arranged repairs as promptly as the LL's let them. The LL's are planning on doing a few things to the house and putting it back on the market. We were in contact with the landlords until we received a phone call from the LA with a series of bizarre allegations. I'm not sure that we could come to any arrangement with them unfortunately.

I would be grateful for all advice/thoughts.

G_M

Clearlier wrote: »

Hoping to get some advice on what's reasonable wear and tear and what should be repaired.

2 adults and 2 young children (2nd child born while in house) in a 4 bedroomed detached for 3.5 years.

We commented on the inventory at length but we didn't make a copy and I can't remember everything that we wrote down on it. We have got a copy of the inventory as they originally presented it. I also recall not fully finishing the inventory as they wanted it back within a day or two, we had taken a week and there were just so many blemishes (would do it differently now). for the benefit of others, or for next time, 1) NEVER be rushed when checking the original inventory - if they want it back in a week, take 2 weeks if you have to! 2) ALWAYS add comments/change/amend ALL errors and highlight exising damage and 3) ALWAYS keep a copy

Potential issues that I can see are:

Some of the doors have small chips of paint out of them, also on the skirting board of the stairs chips etc are damage. After 3.5 years many LLs would repaint anyway, but some LLs may claim this as damage- some of it has blistered wear and tear and some of that has come off. The paintwork in question is definitely 5 years old (our tenancy plus previous one) see above. and realistically given its discolouration closer to 20. I don't think that I could colour match to patch it up so I'm looking at patching with the wrong colour, repainting all of it or leaving it and hoping.
why not discuss with the LL?

We put a swing set for the kids in the garden. We didn't dig it but the garden is north facing and gets little enough sun and the area around the posts has worn away/turned into moss. Should I be looking at buying a roll of grass and cutting it into the lawn? Likely to be a different type of grass I would imagine.
I guess theoretically this is damage. Depends on the LL and how sympathetic he is. Depends on the standard of garden. If it was handed over to you as an immaculate garden/lawn, then clearly you have damaged it. If it was pretty scruffy/basic, then wear and tear..

Any thoughts on what I should do/what's reasonable to do on the above? The check out will be done by the LA - a national company that often gets bad press but who have always arranged repairs as promptly as the LL's let them. The LL's are planning on doing a few things to the house and putting it back on the market. We were in contact with the landlords until we received a phone call from the LA with a series of bizarre allegations. I'm not sure that we could come to any arrangement with them unfortunately.

I would be grateful for all advice/thoughts.

My advice would be to discuss with LL or invite him round to tea....!

Not clear what the 'bizarre allegations' were, but I suspect the agnts were trying to dissuade you from by-passing them? If you want to talk to your LL, with whome you have a contract, and who owns the property you live in, go ahead!

Clearlier

G_M wrote: »

My advice would be to discuss with LL or invite him round to tea....!

Not clear what the 'bizarre allegations' were, but I suspect the agnts were trying to dissuade you from by-passing them? If you want to talk to your LL, with whome you have a contract, and who owns the property you live in, go ahead!

Thanks for all the comments G_M. On reflection I wouldn't be terribly happy about the grass if it were my property so I'll definitely do something about it.

I wouldn't be worried about the paint if it were my property particularly given the age of the decoration so your comments are really helpful there.

Contacting the LL is one I'm quite undecided about. We did make an offer to buy this house but it was rejected following 3 EA valuations that came in significantly above what had been paid for the identical houses either side of us. They decided to put it on the market anyway going with the highest valuation.

With 2 young children we had to exclude evening viewings but we did allow for weekday morning and afternoon viewings as well as Sunday mornings (we were aware that we didn't have to do this but were trying to create some goodwill and a scenario where both sides could gain as we were now looking at other properties). I periodically checked in with the EA to see if these restrictions were causing any problems and was assured that they weren't.

They had 2 mickey mouse viewings in about 6 weeks when we got a phone call from the letting agent (not the selling agent) saying that the LL had phoned to complain that the house was filthy, we were obstructing viewings, holes had been dug in the garden and we had too much furniture:shocked:. Aside from the fact that none of this is strictly their business (although given our agreement to work together I could understand a concern) absolutely none of it was true - I invited the LA down straight away who was visibly and audibly surprised at the immaculate state of the house.

What I suspect happened was that the selling agent (they're very poor in my experience even leaving aside the ridiculous asking price) was pressed as to why there was so little activity and decided to blame us.

It upset us as we had made a particular point of presenting the house well for the viewings. We had also had direct contact via phone and email with the landlords since their decision to sell and so to get this via the LA was baffling. We emailed them expressing our disappointment (not aggressively but we made clear that we weren't happy to receive these accusations) and we got a phone call followed by an email saying that they were instructing the LA to give us notice which duly arrived a few days later. I imagine that it will be no surprise to hear that they are accidental landlords.

The concern I have with contacting the landlord directly again (haven't been in contact since the email above) is that I have no idea how they'll respond. If their behaviour had been reasonable and/or they explained themselves then I wouldn't hesitate for I'm fairly confident that we could make an agreement that would see us both gaining. The potential issues I see with telling them (and there are probably some I don't see) are all in relation to the original inventory. There aren't any biggies but £30 - £40 here and there can add up very quickly. My inclination is to steer clear of them and work with the LA who to date have been professional in all my dealings with them.