Getting the whole deposit back??

colleensims

We have just brought our first home and we are meeting our landlord tomorrow for the final check before hopefully getting our deposit back.

We have rented/ lived there for the past 7 years. The flat is still in good condition although there are a few minor issues.... walls are a bit grubby, could do with a bit of painting...same for carpets, but nothing major. It was furnished when we arrrived and most things are still there, maybe a plate or a cup missing etc but again not any big things. I feel after 7 years of wear and tear this is prob normal but do you think our landlord will think the same?? We have also left lots of extra handy bits behind like mugs etc that we purchased and have replaced the toilet seat, shower head and shower curtain ourselves recently aswell. Does anyone have any advice on how to handle it if our landlord refuses to give us our deposit back? what can he deduct for etc? thanks

Fire_Fox

They can charge for any dirt, damage or missing items, if there is a decent dual signed inventory. They cannot charge for fair wear and tear - eg. paint faded by sunlight, carpets thinning - nor new for old, and there will be quite a lot of depreciation after seven years.

IMO go out early tomorrow and buy some sugar soap and wash the grubby walls, this removes far more muck than any other cleaning product I have tried and can make them look a lot less like they need painting. If the carpets are grubby same deal, scrub them. Don't leave 'handy' extra bits unless the landlord has said he wants them, he can charge you for clearing the property. Also be sure you have emptied all bins, cleaned the windows, run a service wash on the dishwasher and washing machine, cleaned the oven.

There is no point in worrying about the landlord withholding the deposit until he has done so, if you want to get into that run an advanced search but IMO you'd be better spending the time cleaning the carpet and walls and appliances (if you have not already).

anselld

Have a look at this ...
http://www.depositprotection.com/documents/a-guide-to-tenancy-deposits-disputes-and-damages.pdf

As FF has explained grubby/dirty equates to damage, not wear and tear. However, life expectancy needs to be taken into account. So it is arguable that after 7 years paintwork would be out of life anyway so damage would be irrelevant. A decent carpet, however would be expected to have more than 7 year life so it should be clean or expect some deduction ( but with age taken into account).