Tenants left the house in a mess - Estate agent being lazy ?

j69ant

Hi,

Our tenants moved out yesterday and my partner met the estate agents at the property today for an inspection.

The tenants moved in 24 months ago, to a very tidy house. Prior to them moving in, we painted the house top to bottom, to a high standard. It was also cleaned very well.

The house today doesnt resemble that, or the original pictures.

Every room has had numberous pictures on the walls. The ex tentants have litterally just blobbed a bit of filler over the holes - not sanded - not repainted.. just a larfge blog of white filler - along with numerous pen lines. This isnt just one or two pictures. This is 5 or 6 pictures in every room ! One top of that, every wall has multiple marks on it, hand prints etc.

The living room wall is all discoloured, where i am assuming they have lit candles and the smoke has discoloured the paint - it is obvious that they have then tried to wipe this down, leaving a large ( 4 foot wide ) smudged discolouration on the wall.

On top of that the bedroom and living room carpets have numerous large stains on them - and are covered in various coloured wax blobs and a couple of burn marks.

The general condition is dirty, ie mould all around the bath, windows, etc - PVC filthy.. just generally not clean.

The estate agent was in total agreement about this but came back to my partner informing her that he had negotiated £140 as a fair price for the deposit dedection, as any more could see the ex tentants disputing the cost, and it taking months.

We got a decorator quote today, who has quoted roughtly £150 a room, so this £140 doesnt scratch the surface on the cost - or even take into consideration the carpets or cleaning.

My partner argued that £140 doesnt even cover a room - but he is saying we need to consider the wear and tear and that from his experience the dispute will always favour the tenant in this case - even though we can prove the condition was near immaculate 2 years ago.

I'm under the impression that the estate agent wants the easy life and less paperwork and am wondering if it is worth telling them we want to persue this further.

Has anybody else had a similar experience ?

Thanks

BitterAndTwisted

You are the decision-maker and it's not for the agent to make them on your behalf. You either take their advice or ignore it.

In your place I would get a couple of quotes to make good and claim 60% of the actual decorating costs from the tenant's deposit. This based on a rental property requiring redecoration after about five years of tenancy in any case. As to the carpeting, that all depends on the age it is now. You cannot claim 100% of the replacement costs as they weren't brand new when the tenancy started and they are two years older now.

Alias_Omega

I have written a few responses, then edited them.


The tip here is to not restore it to A1 standard, as in 2-3 years when the tenant moves out, it will be back to how it is now. That's life. People hang pictures, Gloss goes Yellow etc. If you don't want dirty carpets, fit laminate.

So what now? You deducted 10% of the income as Wear & Tear, so use that to restore the property. I would find a Local Handyman to paint the house/touch up the walls. You can find them from Facebook Sales and Wants etc.

Carpet Cleaning - I recommend a Rug Doctor with some Screwfix No-Nonsense Carpet Cleaner. It wont take long to do, then when you have finished you can do your own house. Of course... deducting the fluid/hire charge from the property income :P

dirty_magic

In fairness to your tenants it can be impossible to return it in the state you had it. We have mould in the bathroom and around the window seals in our flat, despite us doing everything we can to reduce condensation, including buying a dehumidifier and leaving the windows open as much as possible. I've scrubbed at it and it just won't come off as it's in the silicone and grout. It needs regrouting.

As for the paint, it does get marked through wear and tear. It's their house, they have to live in it! I certainly don't intend to repaint our house when we leave!

I think you're being unrealistic to expect it to be returned as you left it.

Pixie5740

It does sound like some of the damage goes over and above fair wear and tear, like the smoke damage, wax on the carpets (although you can remove that using grease proof paper and an iron on a low setting), and badly filled in holes on the wall (it would probably have been better if they hadn't bothered to fill in the holes) so you probably have a claim to part of the deposit but £150 per room....nae chance.

Batchy

Think about cars, as it goes back to the lease company with 100000 miles on, its not meant to go back looking like new, fair wear and tear, there will be minor chips, small ping dings, and slight blemishes, but actual damage should be repaired, there are clear guidlines.

If its dirty it should have been cleaned, if its damaged it should have been replaced, if it was new and now it doesnt look new, its pretty obvious, as its now 2 years older.

If this is what you want to see when tenants move out, then stipulate redecoration as part of the contract, but then you may put people off.

j69ant

Thanks for the replys..

We will get the 2 worst rooms done by the decorator and ill do the main living room wall myself....

As per comments above, i think the holes woulnt have been too bad, if left.. Its the big blogs of filler ( total overkill ) which make it look 10 times worse...

And the marks on the walls also seem to have been made a lot worse by wiping the walls with some kind of product... its just turned the walls into a mass of stains / discoloured..

But thanks for the replys..

G_M

The filler can be rubbed flat with a sanding machine in a couple of minutes. Well worth investing in one (or your christmas list?) for the future.

Walls can be cleaned down.

I would always expect to have to do some cleaning/touching up after a 2 year tenancy - it's just part of the business.

And claiming the full cost to re-instate the carpets and paintwork to 'as new' would be 'betterment'. They are not new - they are two years old. (carpets older?).

Having said that, damage has been caused, and the property left dirty, so yes, since you say you can prove the condition at the start (and thus prove the damage etc caused during) the tenancy, deposit deduction is in order.

Get a 2nd quote. Bear the advice given in mind, and calculate a fair deduction.

I hate reading posts here from tenants complaining about landlords over-claiming deductions.

But I also hate reading about (or having) tenants who walk away from a tenancy leaving the property trashed.