Wear and tear on long term renting

emcap

Hello All,

We are renting our property through a housing association for last 4 years.

During the time we have noticed usual wear and tear e.g. Carpet is not as clean (was a brand new when we moved in) and beige paint on the walls is looking a very slightly dirty. In our opinion we expect to have dust and marks while you are in a property for number of years.

My question is what how should we handle the situation when moving out; since the inventory of the flat mention condition of the walls and carpet at the time we moved in.

Thanks

booksurr

emcap wrote: »

My question is what how should we handle the situation when moving out; since the inventory of the flat mention condition of the walls and carpet at the time we moved in.

you return the property to the condition it was in when you moved in - if the inventory is insufficiently detailed to establish what that condition was then there is no ability to show that the condition has worsened. If the inventory says it was clean and new then handing it back dirty is not the same condition

BTW
- dust is not wear and tear, failure to clean
- carpet dirt is not wear and tear, it is failure to clean. If it was new when you moved in then it needs to be clean when you move out
- markings on the wall is damage, not W&T.

wear and tear is fading of paintwork (your description of slightly dirty?) and flattening of carpets through being walked on

[Deleted User]

booksurr wrote: »

you return the property to the condition it was in when you moved in - if the inventory is insufficiently detailed to establish what that condition was then there is no ability to show that the condition has worsened. If the inventory says it was clean and new then handing it back dirty is not the same condition

BTW
- dust is not wear and tear, it is just slovenly living and inability to use a duster
- carpet dirt is not wear and tear, it is failure to clean properly. If it was new when you moved in then it needs to be clean when you move out
- markings on the wall is damage, not W&T.

wear and tear is fading of paintwork (your description of slightly dirty?) and flattening of carpets through being walked on

Bit insulting to the OP?

benjus

I think the usual rule of thumb is that landlords should expect to redecorate about every 5 years - so even if the paintwork was new when you moved in, it would not be expected to have a lot of life left in it. So if the 5 year figure is accepted, even if full redecoration is required you would only have to pay 20% of the cost.

Have a look here to get an idea of how it works: http://www.thedisputeservice.co.uk/case-studies.html

dirty_magic

I disagree, dirty carpets are wear and tear. Obviously it's not as noticeable if they're dark carpets, but if you have a cream carpet which gets walked on regularly it's obviously not going to stay pristine.

One of the reasons. I don't like carpet, look at the colour of the water after cleaning laminate.

Kynthia

You return the property in the same condition less fair wear and tear. Dirt and damage aren't wear and tear. Wear and tear is things looking older, paint and carpet fading from the sun, minor scuffs in high traffic areas after a period of time, thinning of the carpet where used a lot, cupboards and appliances breaking due to age and normal usage, etc.

If the carpet is dirty you can get it cleaned, and if there is dust then scrub it off, and repair scratches or holes, etc.

bouicca21

if you have a cream carpet which gets walked on regularly it's obviously not going to stay pristine

I've just finished cleaning my rental flat for end of tenancy. The carpet was cream and pretty dirty, but I hired a rug doctor and it's not dirty any more. Mind you it is pretty well worn out, but that genuinely is wear and tear.

honey_badger_3

I've recently moved out of a rental too - we bought a load of B & Q value equivalent paint and gloss and gave every wall a re-coat; we also oven pride cleaned the oven, re-seeded the garden and hired a carpet cleaner guy who also gave me and end of tenancy report on the condition of the carpets - he concluded that shadows on the thin, cream carpet was due to wear and tear due to there being no underlay.

We're now hoping that we get our deposit back as the house was in a better condition when we left.

Good luck on getting everything sorted

smileykt

bouicca21 wrote: »

I've just finished cleaning my rental flat for end of tenancy. The carpet was cream and pretty dirty, but I hired a rug doctor and it's not dirty any more. Mind you it is pretty well worn out, but that genuinely is wear and tear.

We also hired a rug doctor when we moved out of our last rented property. We agonised over getting the house absolutely spotless - we cleaned the walls, cleaned the curtains, and the carpets really were fantastic. When the letting agent came to do our check out she walked in with dirty boots and didn't wipe them - we nearly cried!! Even though we were about to leave the house forever we asked her to take her boots off.

When we leave this place though it's just getting a quick hoover - there was no inventory done and our 'deposit' was registered as the last month's rent paid in advance. (Plus the house looks a million times better than when we moved in anyway.)

Modgepodge

I wouldn't bother repainting if you've been there that long, unless you've actually damaged the walls.

We rented a house for just under 3 years. There were splash marks in the kitchen, near the sink and behind the cooker (neither area was tiled). The LA tried to pressure us in to paying for professional repainting before we left, saying doing it ourself wouldn't be good enough and that the LL would bill is if we left it as it was. In the end, we left it and took our chances, as we believed it was fair wear and tear.

LL tried to charge us £140 for redecorating that one room (!), we disputed and went through the DPS, who gave her nothing, saying that after 2 years the wall would have needed repainting anyway so we weren't liable.

The_Deep

Get everything professionally cleaned, especially cooker hob and hood, and keep receipts. As a landlord I expect to replace carpets and curtains every 3-5 years.