Help Please - My Landlord will not let me have my deposit back - read the reasons why

silvercar

Check your tenancy agreement, some require the tenant to have the carpets professionally cleaned at the end of the tenancy.

Gingernutmeg

silvercar wrote: »

Check your tenancy agreement, some require the tenant to have the carpets professionally cleaned at the end of the tenancy.

Just curious, even if it does state this in the tenancy agreement, does this still stand if the carpets weren't professionally cleaned before you moved in, or does being made to have the carpets cleaned count as 'betterment'?

Debt_Free_Chick

mrstinchcombe wrote: »

Doesn't the thousands he/she made from you in rental income and the tens of thousands he/she made in the increase in "value" of the property in that time count for nothing?p

A very good point :T

But I'd go further than that ..... he would have got that increase anyway, even if the house had been empty! The market has simply risen - period.

The profit (if any) from the rent is a bonus. And if there's no profit, then he's simply a bad businessman, as no-one in their right mind would run a business that didn't make a profit. :rotfl:

lynzpower

Gingernutmeg wrote: »

Just curious, even if it does state this in the tenancy agreement, does this still stand if the carpets weren't professionally cleaned before you moved in, or does being made to have the carpets cleaned count as 'betterment'?

damn right, I think Ive established that if it is in the contract its an unfari term

kennyboy66_2

In addition to the above advice I would also include dropping a note to the inland revenue, asking that they check that the landlord is declaring all the income on the property.

If they have not had your gas appliances checked annually, I would contact your local council.

scrummy_mummy_2

kennyboy66 wrote: »

In addition to the above advice I would also include dropping a note to the inland revenue, asking that they check that the landlord is declaring all the income on the property.

If they have not had your gas appliances checked annually, I would contact your local council.

Council???? They don't have anything to do with it!...failing to have any and all gas appliances present, annually certified in a rented property is a criminal offence....thus police! Minimum £5000 fine or 5 years in the big house if anyone dies as a result of landlord's neglect (from memory)

A landlord can only get you to professionally have carpets cleaned if they were cleaned to the same standard when you moved in. The invoice for any such work should be attached to your inventory and you should have been made aware of the need to have the cleaned to the same standard when you moved out...when you moved in!
I an all 3 of my properties, I initially paid to have the ovens, hobs and extractors cleaned by Ovenclean and the carpets professionally cleaned...total cost was about £600 but 7 years on and I haven't had to replace carpets or ovens etc because they are consistently cleaned PROPERLY and looked after.

If it wasn't cleaned professionally prior to your moving in...don't have it professionally cleaned now, you are not legally required to do so.

I have to say, emotionally, it is hard as a landlord to distance yourself from your property and when you go back into a house after a tenancy and see things that were new slowly (but obviously because you don't see them everyday) getting worn, it is hard.
It is even harder to draw a line and demonstrate an understanding of what constitutes fair wear and tear though.....lots of people find this hard. Try not to take your landlord's approach personally...I know he's being 'unreasonable' but help him to understand what fair wear and tear looks like and explain that you aren't expected to replace something that wasn't new when you moved in because of the small matter of depreciation!

Gorgeous_George

HMRC, Gas safety certificates and misguided jealousy about house price inflation and rental income are red herrings.

From the OP, it is clear that the LL hasn't got a leg to stand on. The moneyclaim link given at Post #4 is a good place to start. Be prepared to take the LL to the small claims court. You will win.



GG

prudryden

Was the OP's post a windup? Sounds like it.

scrummy_mummy_2

Debt_Free_Chick wrote: »

A very good point :T

The profit (if any) from the rent is a bonus. And if there's no profit, then he's simply a bad businessman, as no-one in their right mind would run a business that didn't make a profit. :rotfl:

Property should be viewed as an investment vehicle and an investment vehicle doesn't necessarily equal profit.....thus, you can have a property as an investment, but it may not return a reportable profit for several years, or even ever. This doesn't make it a bad 'business'.

Letting property is often described as a business and rent (commonly in error) seen as the profit from the business function. This is not always accurate.
In many cases rent only offsets the running costs of the investment.

I have had my property for seven years and still do not turn a profit. I use the property to invest my money and the rent offsets some of the expense and running costs of this investment vehicle. The properties cost me (personally) £6000 per year and will do for about 5 more years...after that I will start to post profits, but from a busisness perspective my gross worth is near £1million...not a bad business from where I'm sitting!

I couldn't think of anywhere else (except high risk futures) where I could have invested only £6k per year to give me such returns in the long term

prudryden

Because futures are contracts on commodities (which includes property, sow beans, cattle, currencies etc.) in itself doesn't mean their high risk. It all depends on the leverage you use, which can be anywhere from 2% deposit to 100% deposit (i.e. paying the full price of the commodity).

Sorry about that Scrummy, but the point you are making is understood.