Paying for damage to rented house- legal help please!!

ashli_2

I have just moved out of my rented house and we've just recieved a rather hefty bill for damages. Some of these are fair, a few are ridiculous.

One of our armchair legs made a rent in the living room carpet, we are being charged for it's replacement and the cost of disposal. It was a very old, tatty carpet and coudln't have had much life left in it anyway, is the landlord legally entitled to charge us for the whole cost of a new carpet? Or is it some kind of pro rata charge based on the life the carpet had left in it? I think he is trying to diddle us. :mad:


Also, he has billed us an extortionate amout for some repairs to plasterwork. Is there any way I can query the costs he has requested?

Thanks.


ETA- The house we were living in is already up for sale by auction, therefore he isn't actually intending to make any of the repairs he is charging us for anyway. Is this allowed?

pcwilkins

ashli wrote: »

One of our armchair legs made a rent in the living room carpet, we are being charged for it's replacement and the cost of disposal. It was a very old, tatty carpet and coudln't have had much life left in it anyway, is the landlord legally entitled to charge us for the whole cost of a new carpet? Or is it some kind of pro rata charge based on the life the carpet had left in it? I think he is trying to diddle us. :mad:

He can only deduct the cost of returning the house to the condition it was in when you moved in...so he cannot charge you for a new carpet if the old one was not new when you arrived. Does that make sense?

Also, he has billed us an extortionate amout for some repairs to plasterwork. Is there any way I can query the costs he has requested?

Yes. Ask for an itemised list.

ETA- The house we were living in is already up for sale by auction, therefore he isn't actually intending to make any of the repairs he is charging us for anyway. Is this allowed?

If he cannot show you receipts for the items he has had to replace, he may have trouble justifying the deductions. However I think he can deduct the cost of repairs even if he doesn't plan to actually carry them out --- i.e. if you break a fridge he can deduct cost of replacement even if he doesn't want to replace it. I think.

Peter

alijay_3

pcwilkins is correct in that costs should be justified.
If you took the matter to court/arbitration,t the general rule of thumb is that carpets/furniture have a 'useable life' of 10 years. If the carpet is older than this, it's likely to rule in your favour. LL may have to provide evidence of carpets age and relevant serviceable life remaining. eg a £500 carpet, replaced at 8 yrs old would only have had 2 years life left and therefore LL could only charge you the relevant proportion of the cost of replacement. ie 2 years = £100.
Also, if you are not happy with the quote he provides you with for the other work, you are entitled to offer to arrange one for comparison (just in case his mate has knocked one up for him)

Regards, Alijay
(independent letting agent)