Landlord overcharging for repairs?

Davve

Hi, I'd quickly like to appologise if there is already a thread on a similar issue, I have tried searching the forum for similar issues and didn't find anything, but there are literally 100s (if not 1000s) of threads.


Me and my fiancee recently moved out of our rented house and when we asked for our deposit back we were told that as there was a small burn ring on one of the kitchen surfaces (presumably from a hot pan) we would have to wait a week or so until we got a quote for the repair.

We patiently waited for our ~£700 deposit minus a charge to arrive. It has been 2 whole months and we emailed to ask what was going on. We immediately got a response from the esate agent that the damage was not repairable and the surface would need replacing and that it was going to cost £480.

Firstly it strikes me as odd that she didn't tell us as soon as the quote was obtained (the landlord surely wants the repair asap?) and that the reply came so fast. The price is also astronomical, the surface was a cheap-as-they-come laminate topping, 3m of which you can get from B&Q for £40, so including labor I wouldn't think an entire replacement would be much more than £100, nevermind nearly £500.

I've seen that it is possible to repair far worse damage (seeing before and after pictures of much worse damage of a similar nature on a bunch of websites) which, in my opinion, is indicitive of the landlord and/or estate agent trying to take a large sum of money from us for no other reason than profit, which is especially annoying as we were very good tennants and apart from this one mistake have left the property in very good condition.

teeni

when did the tenancy start and is the deposit protected

Davve

The tennancy started early July 2012 and finished on 16th January 2013. The deposit is protected using DPS.

Werdnal

Have you applied to the DPS yourself to get deposit released? Tenant has to complete their part of the deposit release process before anything happens with DPS!

If you don't agree with the amount, you can lodge a complaint through them - that is the whole point of deposit protections schemes.

Davve

I believe that we requested the full amount as soon as we moved out and the landlord hasn't submitted anything to DPS whatsoever, as far as I know.

sandsni

Was the kitchen surface brand new when you moved in? The replacement cost sounds absolutely extortionate (unless it was solid marble or something, in which case you probably wouldn't have been able to burn it!). As far as I know the LL shouldn't be able to claim "new for old" from your deposit, only a what the counter was worth as a proportion of its original cost minus the normal wear and tear over the years it has been in place.

Davve

It's one of those grotty laminate ones, as far as I can tell similar, if not exactly the same as this:

(go to B&Q and look for "Laminate-Worktop-Inari-Granite-Effect-3050mm-10187797" as a new user I can't post links)

It's hard to gague how old it was as I imagine they can last for millions of years without showing much in the way of aging. I know that the landlady used to live in the house with her husband until they split up so I don't think it was brand new, it is possible it was new-ish though.

sandsni

Davve wrote: »

It's one of those grotty laminate ones, as far as I can tell similar, if not exactly the same as this:

(go to B&Q and look for "Laminate-Worktop-Inari-Granite-Effect-3050mm-10187797" as a new user I can't post links)

It's hard to gague how old it was as I imagine they can last for millions of years without showing much in the way of aging. I know that the landlady used to live in the house with her husband until they split up so I don't think it was brand new, it is possible it was new-ish though.

In that case I'd say you have a good case to dispute the deduction and negotiate a more reasonable one. The LL would have to prove the counter would have been worth £480 when you moved out if you hadn't damaged it.

Davve

sandsni wrote: »

In that case I'd say you have a good case to dispute the deduction and negotiate a more reasonable one. The LL would have to prove the counter would have been worth £480 when you moved out if you hadn't damaged it.

I take it this is to be done through the DPS website?

Does anyone know how long it will take until we can dispute it on DPS if they don't submit a figure?

Iwant2boptimistic

This happened to me as a landlord. The LL will have to show proof of when it was installed and the value of it at that time. Then there will be a deduction for wear and tear/age as otherwise its termed as betterment I think. The LL can't be better off which they will be if you pay the full amount. The DPS can adjudicate if there's a dispute. My property was new build and so I'm not going to accept joe blogs down the street to repair it so I went back to the original outfitters but yours doesn't sound like its that bespoke. Did you take photos of it so you can prove what type/quality it was so they can't submit a quote for a far superior replacement?

Davve

It's just one unit on the end (the majority of the work-surface is on the other side of the cooker and is unconnected to the damaged area, as far as I can remember anyway) so unless she tries to claim that one on the end was somehow superior to the rest, or replaces the whole lot, I doubt she'll try that. I was thinking earlier I wish I'd taken pictures.