What is reasonable wear and tear?

richbek

Hi all,


We've been privately renting for 6 years and have recently given our notice. We have three young children (but one of them was born here do it was only two when we moved in) and a cat (which we have permission for). The landlord doesn't like spending any money on the house (I'm being polite), and we're anticipating him trying to take some money off the deposit.


I'm trying to work out what would be considered reasonable wear and tear for a family home where we have been for over six years. The house was already in relatively poor condition when we moved in and the check in list reflects that (it refers to walls being 'heavily marked' etc).


The things that I think we may be charged for are:


- The carpet in the younger boys' bedroom has a stain on it that we haven't been able to lift - we will be steam cleaning before we move out so that may lift it but I'm not hopeful. The carpets are cheap, thin, and were old when we moved in. I would expect that they should all need replacing anyway as they have far exceeded their lifespan.


- The carpet on the stairs is fraying at the edges on a couple of steps.


- A glass panel in the back door was broken a while back. I mentioned it to the letting agents, who said that we could replace it but it would need to be replaced with safety glass as it's a rented house. The panel that is broken is a small one, the rest of the panels on the door are larger and none are safety glass. Would this be considered betterment as the glass wasn't safety glass to begin with? The back door is very old, metal (rusty and peeling paint from before we moved in) and glass.


- We repainted two of the bedrooms and the downstairs toilet. The toilet walls were badly marked and peeling, and had been previously painted in normal emulsion which wasn't suitable as the paint would rub off if you tried to clean it. I bought proper bathroom paint in a similar colour and redid the whole room including gloss on the woodwork. I'm not prepared to do anything in there as it's in a much better state than when we moved in and I matched the colour as much as possible. The bedrooms were both badly marked on the walls but very neutral colours, we have painted one yellow and one blue and red. Our tenancy agreement says that we can't make any 'alternation' to the property but doesn't mention any 'alteration'... I'm aware that I'm being facetious and of course am prepared to repaint in a neutral colour before we move out.


- The hot tap in the downstairs cloakroom has never worked since we moved in. We asked the agents about it on the second day of the tenancy but nothing was ever done about it. It's not mentioned in the check in list, as we didn't think to check the taps before we signed, but we have advised the agents in writing at several points during the tenancy.


- In the bathroom, there is a shower unit that attaches to the taps. It is made of plastic and has leaked since we moved in. We had to replace the taps on the bath and so unscrewed the covering where it attaches, as which point the plastic disintegrated and we were not able to reattach it. We have patched it up with cling film and electrical tape to minimise the leaking but it will need a new unit. It has been like this for at least a year, during which time there have been four routine inspections. At the first inspection after it happened I was home and pointed it out to the agent, explaining what had happened. What it the life expectancy of one of these shower adapters? A new one is around £25 in Homebase so I'm not going to worry too much about it. Also I've noticed that it's not mentioned on the check in list although there is a photograph of it.


- In the kitchen, there has been a major issue with the floor and the ceiling. The pipes are leaking both from the bathroom through the kitchen ceiling, and under the kitchen floorboards. We have pointed this out to the agents several times. The kitchen floor was relaid about 2 years ago, but they didn't fix the problem with the leak (they said the damage was most likely caused by our washing machine, however our washing machine has never leaked and they made no attempt to charge us for any damage). Since then, one of the previously damaged floorboards has caved in again and caused a tear in the vinyl. Again, as soon as we realised that the floorboard was giving we informed the agents and they have had two routine inspections since then but nothing has been said or done about it. We are certain that there is an inherent issue with the pipes in the house and the problem has not been resolved but simply 'papered over' which is why the issue with the floor has resurfaced.


- The fridge door handle has broken off. It is an old fridge and was definitely not new when we moved in, the door trays were missing when we first moved in and are mentioned on the check in list as being missing. I'm not sure what the expected lifespan of a fridge is but the handle didn't break because of an accident, it just came off in my hand one day as I was opening the door. The plastic seems to be perished. I perceive this as wear and tear since it wasn't damage caused by an accident or deliberately, but I'm not sure where I stand on this? I'm assuming he can't try to charge us for a new fridge (which is what I expect he will try to do).


- The garden - it was a bit of a state when we moved in and we spend a fair amount of time tidying up the borders and returfing a section of the lawn which was patchy. There were two fruit trees when we moved in. One of these started getting bare a couple of years after we moved in, and died at some point in our 4th year. We advised the agents and asked whether the landlord would remove it as it would be dangerous if the branches fell off. The landlord knocked on the door a couple of days later and said "it's your bloody tree, you cut it down". We haven't cut the tree down but did remove the branches in anticipation of them falling off and hurting the kids.
Also - there are two large trees at the rear of the garden. (around 10m tall). Two years after we moved in, we had a letter from the agents saying that it was our responsibility to keep them trimmed, and the landlord had requested that we pay to have the tops taken off. We checked our tenancy agreement which states 'To keep and leave the garden in good condition and not to cut down or remove any trees or shrubs and in particular to keep all lawns mowed and hedges trimmed.'. We argued that the garden was in good condition and it wasn't our responsibility to pay for the tree work, and never heard back from them. I'm thinking he may now charge us for a tree surgeon to top the trees? I don't know where we stand on this. It was never formally resolved, but equally we haven't been asked again since.


Phew... sorry that is really long!


Any insight welcome as we could do with getting as much of the deposit back as possible, and have a month to get everything in good order before we have to give the keys back. We will of course clean thoroughly anyway as we're good tenants and have always done so in the past.

pinkshoes

A landlord cannot claim for betterment.

richbek wrote: »

- The carpet in the younger boys' bedroom has a stain on it that we haven't been able to lift - we will be steam cleaning before we move out so that may lift it but I'm not hopeful. The carpets are cheap, thin, and were old when we moved in. I would expect that they should all need replacing anyway as they have far exceeded their lifespan.

It was clearly worth nothing when you moved in, so the LL would have needed to replace it anyway.

- The carpet on the stairs is fraying at the edges on a couple of steps.

Again, if the carpet was really old when you moved in, then this is fair wear and tear.

- A glass panel in the back door was broken a while back. I mentioned it to the letting agents, who said that we could replace it but it would need to be replaced with safety glass as it's a rented house. The panel that is broken is a small one, the rest of the panels on the door are larger and none are safety glass. Would this be considered betterment as the glass wasn't safety glass to begin with? The back door is very old, metal (rusty and peeling paint from before we moved in) and glass.

Could you not replace the door yourselves? If it wasn't safety class to begin with, then this would be betterment. I would offer to replace the entire door with another second hand one.


- We repainted two of the bedrooms and the downstairs toilet. The toilet walls were badly marked and peeling, and had been previously painted in normal emulsion which wasn't suitable as the paint would rub off if you tried to clean it. I bought proper bathroom paint in a similar colour and redid the whole room including gloss on the woodwork. I'm not prepared to do anything in there as it's in a much better state than when we moved in and I matched the colour as much as possible. The bedrooms were both badly marked on the walls but very neutral colours, we have painted one yellow and one blue and red. Our tenancy agreement says that we can't make any 'alternation' to the property but doesn't mention any 'alteration'... I'm aware that I'm being facetious and of course am prepared to repaint in a neutral colour before we move out.

YOu have improved the property, so don't worry!

- The hot tap in the downstairs cloakroom has never worked since we moved in. We asked the agents about it on the second day of the tenancy but nothing was ever done about it. It's not mentioned in the check in list, as we didn't think to check the taps before we signed, but we have advised the agents in writing at several points during the tenancy.

Again, don't worry. It was broken when you moved in and you reported this immediately.


- In the bathroom, there is a shower unit that attaches to the taps. It is made of plastic and has leaked since we moved in. We had to replace the taps on the bath and so unscrewed the covering where it attaches, as which point the plastic disintegrated and we were not able to reattach it. We have patched it up with cling film and electrical tape to minimise the leaking but it will need a new unit. It has been like this for at least a year, during which time there have been four routine inspections. At the first inspection after it happened I was home and pointed it out to the agent, explaining what had happened. What it the life expectancy of one of these shower adapters? A new one is around £25 in Homebase so I'm not going to worry too much about it. Also I've noticed that it's not mentioned on the check in list although there is a photograph of it.

I would not mention it. If the plastic as disintegrated, it was obviously quite old in the first place, so perhaps a £2 deduction????

- In the kitchen, there has been a major issue with the floor and the ceiling. The pipes are leaking both from the bathroom through the kitchen ceiling, and under the kitchen floorboards. We have pointed this out to the agents several times. The kitchen floor was relaid about 2 years ago, but they didn't fix the problem with the leak (they said the damage was most likely caused by our washing machine, however our washing machine has never leaked and they made no attempt to charge us for any damage). Since then, one of the previously damaged floorboards has caved in again and caused a tear in the vinyl. Again, as soon as we realised that the floorboard was giving we informed the agents and they have had two routine inspections since then but nothing has been said or done about it. We are certain that there is an inherent issue with the pipes in the house and the problem has not been resolved but simply 'papered over' which is why the issue with the floor has resurfaced.


- Not your problem. You reported it several times and they chose not to fix it properly. You cannot be charged for this.

- The fridge door handle has broken off. It is an old fridge and was definitely not new when we moved in, the door trays were missing when we first moved in and are mentioned on the check in list as being missing. I'm not sure what the expected lifespan of a fridge is but the handle didn't break because of an accident, it just came off in my hand one day as I was opening the door. The plastic seems to be perished. I perceive this as wear and tear since it wasn't damage caused by an accident or deliberately, but I'm not sure where I stand on this? I'm assuming he can't try to charge us for a new fridge (which is what I expect he will try to do).

They can perhaps charge you for another old fridge. Why not pick one up for £10 on your local Facebook group?

- The garden - it was a bit of a state when we moved in and we spend a fair amount of time tidying up the borders and returfing a section of the lawn which was patchy. There were two fruit trees when we moved in. One of these started getting bare a couple of years after we moved in, and died at some point in our 4th year. We advised the agents and asked whether the landlord would remove it as it would be dangerous if the branches fell off. The landlord knocked on the door a couple of days later and said "it's your bloody tree, you cut it down". We haven't cut the tree down but did remove the branches in anticipation of them falling off and hurting the kids.
Also - there are two large trees at the rear of the garden. (around 10m tall). Two years after we moved in, we had a letter from the agents saying that it was our responsibility to keep them trimmed, and the landlord had requested that we pay to have the tops taken off. We checked our tenancy agreement which states 'To keep and leave the garden in good condition and not to cut down or remove any trees or shrubs and in particular to keep all lawns mowed and hedges trimmed.'. We argued that the garden was in good condition and it wasn't our responsibility to pay for the tree work, and never heard back from them. I'm thinking he may now charge us for a tree surgeon to top the trees? I don't know where we stand on this. It was never formally resolved, but equally we haven't been asked again since.

I am not a Landlord, but have many friends who are, and they certainly would not expect a tenant to pay for a tree surgeon! Sounds like the garden is in better condition than it was when you arrived. I cannot see anything here that they can charge you for.

See comments added in red.

Other than the fridge and broken window panel, I cannot see anything they can charge you for. As the LL cannot claim betterment, the charge for both the above would be minimal due to the original condition and age.

Was your deposit protected correctly?

G_M

Bl**dy h*ll......

richbek wrote: »

Hi all,


We've been privately renting for 6 years.............. what would be considered reasonable wear and tear for a family home...........The house was already in relatively poor condition when we moved in and the check in list reflects that (it refers to walls being 'heavily marked' etc).


The things that I think we may be charged for are:


- The carpet in the younger boys' bedroom has a stain on it that we haven't been able to lift - we will be steam cleaning before we move out so that may lift it but I'm not hopeful. The carpets are cheap, thin, and were old when we moved in. I would expect that they should all need replacing anyway as they have far exceeded their lifespan.
a stain is damage, not w&t. But see 'betterment' below

- The carpet on the stairs is fraying at the edges on a couple of steps. w&t.

- A glass panel in the back door was broken a while back. probobly damage - broken how?
......
Would this be considered betterment as the glass wasn't safety glass to begin with?
cost of replacement like for like
The back door is very old, metal (rusty and peeling paint from before we moved in) and glass. is that a Q? sounds like w&t

- We repainted two of the bedrooms and the downstairs toilet. The toilet walls were badly marked and peeling, and had been previously painted in normal emulsion which wasn't suitable as the paint would rub off if you tried to clean it. I bought proper bathroom paint in a similar colour and redid the whole room including gloss on the woodwork. I'm not prepared to do anything in there as it's in a much better state than when we moved in and I matched the colour as much as possible.
providing the colour & paint type is the same, noproblem. If the LL wants the paintwork re-done as it was before (eg colour is different), then that is 'damage' (but see 'betterment' below)
The bedrooms were both badly marked on the walls but very neutral colours, we have painted one yellow and one blue and red.
I assume the original colours were not yello, blue, red? So you should re-paint in the original colours or the LL could claim the cost for doing so. (but see 'betterment' below)
Our tenancy agreement says that we can't make any 'alternation' to the property but doesn't mention any 'alteration'... I'm aware that I'm being facetious and of course am prepared to repaint in a neutral colour before we move out.
yes you are being facetious (don't worry - I often am too!). What the agreement says is irrelevant anyway

- The hot tap in the downstairs cloakroom has never worked since we moved in. We asked the agents about it on the second day of the tenancy but nothing was ever done about it. It's not mentioned in the check in list, as we didn't think to check the taps before we signed, but we have advised the agents in writing at several points during the tenancy.
Providing you can produce the letters, dated from the start of the tenancy to show it was broken from the start, you're fine. If you first reported it properly, say 2 months later, it could easily be suggested you broke the tap

- In the bathroom, there is a shower unit that attaches to the taps. It is made of plastic and has leaked since we moved in.
As with the taps - reported in writing? Dated?
We had to replace the taps on the bath then, or later?and so unscrewed the covering where it attaches, as which point the plastic disintegrated and we were not able to reattach it. We have patched it up with cling film and electrical tape to minimise the leaking but it will need a new unit.
Why did you have to replace the taps, and when? You broke them? Or......?
It has been like this for at least a year, during which time there have been four routine inspections. At the first inspection after it happened I was home and pointed it out to the agent, explaining what had happened. and then confirmed in writing?

What it the life expectancy of one of these shower adapters? Mine is 18 years old and still fine.
A new one is around £25 in Homebase so I'm not going to worry too much about it. Also I've noticed that it's not mentioned on the check in list although there is a photograph of it.what does the photo show?
It will cost you £25 if you buy the replacement and fix. It will cost you £50 at least for the landlord to get a contractor to fix
- In the kitchen, there has been a major issue with the floor and the ceiling. The pipes are leaking both from the bathroom through the kitchen ceiling, and under the kitchen floorboards. We have pointed this out to the agents several times.
In writing? And followed up? Why have you not pursued the repair?
The kitchen floor was relaid about 2 years ago, but they didn't fix the problem with the leak (they said the damage was most likely caused by our washing machine, however our washing machine has never leaked and they made no attempt to charge us for any damage). Since then, one of the previously damaged floorboards has caved in again and caused a tear in the vinyl. Again, as soon as we realised that the floorboard was giving we informed the agents and they have had two routine inspections since then but nothing has been said or done about it. We are certain that there is an inherent issue with the pipes in the house and the problem has not been resolved but simply 'papered over' which is why the issue with the floor has resurfaced.
Provided you have acted in a 'tenant-like manner' by reporting these issues, at the time, in writing, to the proper address, then you're fine.
Unless the LL claims the damage is caused by your leaking washing machine (it's your machine, yes?)

- The fridge door handle has broken off. It is an old fridge and was definitely not new when we moved in, the door trays were missing when we first moved in and are mentioned on the check in list as being missing. I'm not sure what the expected lifespan of a fridge is but the handle didn't break because of an accident, it just came off in my hand one day as I was opening the door. The plastic seems to be perished. I perceive this as wear and tear since it wasn't damage caused by an accident or deliberately, but I'm not sure where I stand on this? I'm assuming he can't try to charge us for a new fridge (which is what I expect he will try to do).
sounds like w&t. If the machine is that old, then 'betterment' will make any claim by the LL pointless.

- The garden - it was a bit of a state when we moved in and we spend a fair amount of time tidying up the borders and returfing a section of the lawn which was patchy. There were two fruit trees when we moved in. One of these started getting bare a couple of years after we moved in, and died at some point in our 4th year. We advised the agents and asked whether the landlord would remove it as it would be dangerous if the branches fell off. The landlord knocked on the door a couple of days later and said "it's your bloody tree, you cut it down".

We haven't cut the tree down but did remove the branches in anticipation of them falling off and hurting the kids.
I trust you wrote back at the time quoting the LL and reprting your intention to remove the branches?
Also - there are two large trees at the rear of the garden. (around 10m tall). Two years after we moved in, we had a letter from the agents saying that it was our responsibility to keep them trimmed, and the landlord had requested that we pay to have the tops taken off. We checked our tenancy agreement which states 'To keep and leave the garden in good condition and not to cut down or remove any trees or shrubs and in particular to keep all lawns mowed and hedges trimmed.'. We argued that the garden was in good condition and it wasn't our responsibility to pay for the tree work, and never heard back from them. I'm thinking he may now charge us for a tree surgeon to top the trees? I don't know where we stand on this. It was never formally resolved, but equally we haven't been asked again since.
Dubious. There's a general obligation on you to maintain the garden. But there's also a specific contract clause to trim hedges but not trees.
Personally I would not expect tenants to trim trees, but that's just me.

Phew... sorry that is really long!
Me too.

Re 'betterment', see

* Deposits: payment, protection and return

richbek

Thank you pink shoes for your reply. The deposit is protected by mydeposits.co.uk - it looks like the actual deposit is kept by the landlord or his agent and the company take and hold any disputed amount in the case of a dispute.


I'll look into seeing how much it's likely to cost to replace the door, it's a French door with two sides so I don't think it would be cheap. I did get a builder friend to have a look and he said that the seals around the glass are so old it's likely to be a pain in the bum to replace any of the panels so it's likely he'd have to replace the entire door. But I don't know what the rules are on safety glass and whether he's likely to have to do this anyway as it's clearly not suitable for a rented house? The broken panel makes up about 5% of the total surface area of the door. I was just grateful at the time that my son managed to just hit the small panel with his head rather than one of the larger ones or he could have gone through it and been seriously injured.

AlexMac

Frankly I wouldn't even try to retain anything from the deposit in the circumstances you desribe (as a small landlord of 20 years experience ) but then I would never treat tenants as badly or neglectfully as yours. And if your landlord is that mean they may try it on?
It's hard to generalise. One agent I used actually issued Ls with depreciation guidelines on how long a carpet, fridge or whatever should last. Implying that after say 7-10 years they had no value so they didn't try to rip tenants off.

A different agent's inventory clsrk took a harsher view, suggesting they pay to remedy every tiny scuff or chip! I told them to stop boogering about and return the deposit in full as they had been model tenants.

Why not take your wonderfully detailed post, above, take out any admission of liability (don't mention the stain!) and maybe mail the agent with your checklist as a reminder of the landlords failures to repair or renew? You could even pretend to present this as a helpful re.minder of snags requiring attention!

At least they'll know you won't roll over but will appeal if they try it on.

EmmyLou30

After 6 years and an inventory that states the house had heavily marked walls etc and the proof you've reported the leaks and broken things in the past then I would suggest you ask for your full deposit back and take it to dispute with the deposit people if need be and let them decide.

I would think the only possibly part of your list that could be considered damage as opposed to wear and tear would be the broken glass in the door. I'm not sure replacement with toughened glass would be classed as betterment though as the landlord has no choice but to put the correct glass in. Even if you get a deduction for that though, it shouldn't cost that much.

richbek

Thanks G_M - you replied as I was posting previously.


To save quoting again and making an already enormous post even bigger, I'll reply to key points here:


The glass panel broke when my son fell over and hit it with his head. He got a bit of a cut and we reported it to the agents who just said that we should get it replaced but to make sure it's safety glass that goes in. The conversation was all over the phone, I have nothing in writing (I wasn't as thorough at the beginning of the tenancy as I should have been). The comment on the back door being old and rusty was more a comment on the age of it rather than it being our fault, it's no worse now than it was when we moved in. Possibly a few more scuffs.


The paint type in the toilet isn't the same, the colour is slightly greener than it was originally but I used bathroom paint so that it didn't rub off every time I cleaned the walls rather than the cheap emulsion that was used originally.


I had a feeling I'd need to repaint the bedrooms, I'm happy to go and get a big cheap bucket of magnolia and do this.


The tap was only originally mentioned verbally, it was put in writing about a year later and we referred at the time to it having been like that since the start. Again, this was naïve not to have put it in writing at the beginning.


We replaced the taps in the bathroom earlier this year as they were leaking and replacement washers hadn't worked. When we reported it to the agents (telephone call followed up by email) the landlord appeared on our doorstep 2 days later with a pack of new taps, handed them over and told us to fit them. There is nothing in writing about this.
The photo of the shower adaptor just shows the taps with the adaptor connected. It's not great quality so you can't see any great detail and I think it would be easy enough to just replace it before we move out.


We haven't pursued the repair in the kitchen because to be honest after six years here it's like banging your head against a brick wall to try to get anything done and we just haven't had the energy. There are all sorts of issues that we were told would be sorted at the start of the tenancy and haven't happened. Nothing is in writing from the agent or the landlord, he lives next door so constantly grabs us in the street to tell us things and never follows it up with a letter or email. The kitchen floor was replaced 2 years ago after over a year of us complaining about it - the kids would often put their foot through the hole left by the floorboard that is loose and trip over. The washing machine belongs to us but has never leaked. We've had two washing machines in the 6 years we've been here, the first one stopped working but it wasn't leaking. The newer one works fine. We've checked and rechecked the connector hoses (for our dishwasher as well) religiously and it's definitely not our appliances that have caused the issue. When his mate came round to fix the floor he said that there was just hardboard laid over the floorboards and vinyl over that, and it looked like the pipes were causing water damage to the wood. But again, nothing in writing all just verbal. Including the landlord's accusation that it was our machine, which we immediately and repeatedly denied.


I'm aware that there is a lot that should have been put in writing that wasn't, it's been incredibly awkward living next door to him and the only reason we've stayed so long is because we've been saving to buy. The key things that we HAVE emailed about are the water damage in the kitchen, the hot tap in the toilet (albeit not in writing immediately) and other issues that we have been aware of since before we moved in such as the deadlock on the front door not working and the double glazed being blown in most of the rooms which I don't think is relevant here as it's not something that we could be responsible for.


Thanks again for your detailed reply, I think I'm going to spend a wee bit of cash now so that we can hopefully resolve any issues before they arise.

richbek

AlexMac wrote: »

Frankly I wouldn't even try to retain anything from the deposit in the circumstances you desribe (as a small landlord of 20 years experience ) but then I would never treat tenants as badly or neglectfully as yours. And if your landlord is that mean they may try it on?
It's hard to generalise. One agent I used actually issued Ls with depreciation guidelines on how long a carpet, fridge or whatever should last. Implying that after say 7-10 years they had no value so they didn't try to rip tenants off.

A different agent's inventory clsrk took a harsher view, suggesting they pay to remedy every tiny scuff or chip! I told them to stop boogering about and return the deposit in full as they had been model tenants.

Why not take your wonderfully detailed post, above, take out any admission of liability (don't mention the stain!) and maybe mail the agent with your checklist as a reminder of the landlords failures to repair or renew? You could even pretend to present this as a helpful re.minder of snags requiring attention!

At least they'll know you won't roll over but will appeal if they try it on.

Thank you. I wish you had been our landlord we had got lucky in our previous tenancies so it was a bit of a nasty surprise when we realised how little our current landlord cares about this house. I posted a few days ago about how the garage in the garden fell down and it took him 6 months to clear and rebuild it, and even then we had to go over the lawn ourselves to try to get rid of all the glass and debris before we could let the kids out to play again.


We have our checkout inspection scheduled for 8th August, and we're completing on our new house on 15th July with the hope of moving in around the 22nd so we should have plenty of time to get the house a lot cleaner and tidier than it was when we moved in.

richbek

EmmyLou30 wrote: »

After 6 years and an inventory that states the house had heavily marked walls etc and the proof you've reported the leaks and broken things in the past then I would suggest you ask for your full deposit back and take it to dispute with the deposit people if need be and let them decide.

I would think the only possibly part of your list that could be considered damage as opposed to wear and tear would be the broken glass in the door. I'm not sure replacement with toughened glass would be classed as betterment though as the landlord has no choice but to put the correct glass in. Even if you get a deduction for that though, it shouldn't cost that much.

Thank you. I have most things in writing but need to check my email to check what I missed as we both work full time and with three small children we do sometimes forget to follow up in writing when we have reported something over the phone.


I'm going to get a couple of quotes for repairing the back door, in anticipation of a dispute there.


Our checkout inspection is scheduled for 8th August so we will make sure we are there and can discuss things with the agents at the time. We're refusing to pay their 'exit fee' though as it wasn't disclosed at the start of the tenancy, so I'm already expecting there to be problems with them cooperating.

G_M

as an addendum, I agree with alexMac: "Frankly I wouldn't even try to retain anything from the deposit in the circumstances you desribe".

I'd be going in after you left and re-painting throughtout (probobly), fix what needs fixing, get the property up to scratch, and then re-let with an inventory describing everything as 'pukka'.

* My property would be increased in value
* I'd attract more/better tenants (and higher rent?)
* I'd protect against future deterioration
* I'd be running my business efficiently
* I'd reduce call-outs and complaints from next tenants

But landlords vary greatly in their attitudes and approaches to these matters, so who knows?

However I disagree with AlexMac here:
"Why not take your wonderfully detailed post, above, take out any admission of liability (don't mention the stain!) and maybe mail the agent with your checklist".

I wouldn't raise any issues till the landlord does.

thesaint

No one can stop you from putting "normal" glass in the door.
I don't see how the landlord could sue you for replacing normal glass with normal glass.