Tenancy Deposit Deductions

TeddyGirl

We have just ended a years tenancy in a rented house.
We didn't sign an inventory when we moved in and the landlady didn't carry out a check before we handed back the keys.

We just signed onto the DPS site to find out they are deducting £440 out of our £500 deposit.

I also received an email from her saying it was due to the condition of the worktop in the kitchen and it needing replacing.

It was a wooden worktop which blackened around the sink. We admit this damage happened while we were tenants however we class this as fair ware and tear. After researching wooden worktops I have found out they are supposed to be oiled regularly however this was not mentioned in our tenancy agreement.

The landlady says she has before and after pictures, however we never signed any pictures.

Is it worth us disputing this ? Do we have a leg to stand on ?

Thanks for any help !

stator

Dispute the whole thing. Just state the facts as you have outlined them above and any evidence you have. I think it's very unlikely they will allow a £440 deduction.

Pixie5740

No inventory taken at the start of your tenancy or taken at the end of your tenancy means that your LL will have a hard time proving any damage you've caused regardless of what photos she may or may not have. Who knows when they were taken?

Dispute the £440 deduction and claim your full deposit back now.

The damaged worktop isn't really fair wear and tear, it wasn't cared for properly. It would have been prudent for your LL to leave instructions on how to care for solid wood worktops or better still, install laminate worktops like every other rental property I've lived in.

ali_hire

It's not the landlord's job to coach you on how to carry out basic regular maintenance.

Regardless, it sounds like they don't have a leg to stand on.

Without evidence of the condition of the worktop before and after (are the photos they have time/date stamped?) the arbitrator will almost certainly throw out the claim.

fairy_lights

ali_hire wrote: »

It's not the landlord's job to coach you on how to carry out basic regular maintenance.

If a landlord decides to install impractical wooden worktops that require more care than a standard worktop would then yes, it is their job to inform their tenants how to maintain it.

ali_hire

It might be prudent, but I don't think it retracts from the tenant's responsibility to act in a tenant-like manner.

Who decides what's impractical? Should I have to visit my tenants to show them how to change LED light bulbs just because they've never seen them before? Should I have to show them how to mow a lawn because they've lived in inner city apartments their whole life?

If you take on a property with features you're not accustomed to I think it is the tenant's responsibility make sure they are aware of things like this. All they have to do is ask the Landlord or spend half an hour online.

benjus

Is that the total cost of replacing the whole worktop? Even if you do accept responsibility for damaging the worktop, it's unlikely that DPS would accept that charging you for replacing the whole thing was fair. Even if the worktop was brand new when you moved in, the most the LL can claim for is the cost of getting it back to the condition of a worktop with 1 year's worth of reasonable wear and tear.

OTOH, if the current age of the worktop is greater than the reasonable expected life of a wooden kitchen worktop (whatever that is), then the LL is unlikely to be awarded anything even if you admit responsibility.

Between the two extremes, the DPS might award the LL a proportion of the cost of a new worktop, calculated by the age of the worktop against the expected lifetime.

Also, it may be possible to simply sand and re-varnish it, meaning that charging you for a replacement would be unfair.

JennyP

I'm a landlord and I'd say that without an inventory, you're in a good position.
I didn't have an inventory on my property and the tenant really made an awful mess of it. I had photographic evidence to prove this but without an inventory proving the condition of the house beforehand, I lost and he won.
Dispute it and see what happens. I've heard they normally find in favour of the tenant unless the landlord has 100% proof.
It is impractical to have wooden worktops in a rental property - I had them in my first rental and they didn't last long!

TeddyGirl

Thanks so much for everyone's advice.


They are saying repairs in the whole house will cost them £1000 but they only want to deduct the cost of the worktop (£440 out of £500). Baring in mind other things they are doing to the house include replacing the downstairs carpets which the landlady admitted her puppy damaged when they lived there. They also said the carpets were dirty, I attempted to clean them using a vax but due to loose fibres (from where her dog ripped them) I was worried about damaging it further. I offered to have them professionally cleaned (as we have a cat and it seemed like the right thing to do) before we left and she said not to bother as they will be replacing them.

She is also mentioning a coat hook that fell down and when moving we lost it and some rubbish left outside (e.g. my lavender plant and a small grow bag) and although I'm sure if we wanted to we could get past thing saying there was no inventory so she has no proof there was a coat hook or what was left in the garden, we want to be fair so we are willing to take responsibility for that.

In addition she said there was a flea infestation which required 'chemical fumigation'. Admittedly we did have a few fleas due to my cat having a skin condition and us finding it difficult to find a treatment that would not make it worse. We did find a treatment and give it to him almost a month before the end of out tenancy and after which I only saw 1 or 2 fleas.

I am willing to pay for the price of the 'chemical fumigation' and the coat hooks etc. We are thinking of offering that they keep £100 of the deposit and return £400 back to us. Does that seem fair ?

This was my first rental property.

JennyP

I think that seems very fair.

DT12

Pay nothing.

If the carpet was in disrepair prior to you moving in then its residual value is next to nothing. Therefore you owe nothing. Why should you pay to replace something old for new? As for a coat hook, it's a fairly petty point to mention...

Do yourself a favour and pay nothing, ask the DPS to deal with the deposit, then sit back and wait for your full deposit to come to you. Don't negotiate with people who adopt an unreasonable opening position, just go directly to the DPS.