carpets and gardens in tenancy

squizz11

My son rented a 3 bedroom house during his last year at uni. some of the costs I am disputing.

The Garden was a yard garden and gardening was done during the tenancy. in March we have a photo of it being neat and tidy, At easter when gardening was attempted again nesting birds have been found. these were blackbirds so illegal to disturb so gardening wasnt able to be done before end of tenancy and no gardening can take place till end of august , can they still charge even though garden was pretty much up to scratch in March.
carpets- these have already been cleaned but some marks remain, they are saying the carpets are seven years old and the edges are frayed and were falling apart when i cleaned them. what is a reasonable charge for this percentage wise.
redecoration, - they want to charge £50 for covering mould stains. the bathroom is full of leaks and the paint is peeling on the window sill. the extractor fan was not in for approx 2 weeks and after repair,( and we have no idea when it broke down as it was still making a noise as if working despite using and opening windows) , mold still appeared
admin fees- isnt £50 per hour extortionate

marliepanda

I don't see blackbirds on the list of schedule 1 birds that are illegal to disturb whilst nesting?

squizz11

all wild birds are protected as we checked with RSPB

marliepanda

squizz11 wrote: »

all wild birds are protected as we checked with RSPB

You can't intentionally destroy the nest or start smashing the eggs etc but you can garden around birds that are not on schedule 1 as long as you don't start taking a strimmer to the nest. Keeping the garden tidy would not be illegal.

Miss_Samantha

I believe that what is illegal is to interfere with the next. I assume that you could have kept the garden tidy without interfering with the nest. (Edit: What Marliepanda wrote)

Anyway, if you had to keep the garden tidy and had to return it that way and you failed to do it then your landlord is entitled to charge you for it.

G_M

squizz11 wrote: »

My son rented a 3 bedroom house during his last year at uni.
what was the condition of the disputed items last Oct (or whenever the tenancy started)?
How is it documented (eg signed check in inventory?)
The Garden was a yard garden and gardening was done during the tenancy. in March we have a photo of it being neat and tidy,
irrelevant in March
At easter when gardening was attempted again nesting birds have been found. these were blackbirds so illegal to disturb so gardening wasnt able to be done before end of tenancy
What 'gardening' is being disputed? Nesting birds don't stop the lawn being mown, or the beds being weeded etc...
and no gardening can take place till end of august , can they still charge even though garden was pretty much up to scratch in March.
irrelevant in March

carpets- these have already been cleaned but some marks remain, they are saying the carpets are seven years old and the edges are frayed and were falling apart when i cleaned them. what is a reasonable charge for this percentage wise.
the 'marks' are damage caused by the tenants?
What quality carpets?
7 years is probobly getting towads the end of the life of the carpets (10 years?), so 3/10ths of their life left? So 3/10ths of replacement cost is the max claimable
redecoration, - they want to charge £50 for covering mould stains. the bathroom is full of leaks and the paint is peeling on the window sill. the extractor fan was not in for approx 2 weeks and after repair,( and we have no idea when it broke down as it was still making a noise as if working despite using and opening windows) , mold still appeared
admin fees- isnt £50 per hour extortionate

£50 does not sound excessive. More to the point is whether the mould is the tenants' fault, or a result of disrepair of the fan, or building structure?

See:


* Deposits: payment, protection and return

glasgowdan

You can still garden when there are nesting birds - just not buzz the hedge they're nesting in. Sounds like an odd excuse not to cut the grass or weed. Sorry, I agree that the garden should have been returned in the same state a at the start of the tenancy.

Carpets should reasonably be expected to be renewed AT THE LANDLORD'S EXPENSE after 7 years. There shouldn't really be a cost for this and I think you'd have a case to dispute any charges for this.

Bathroom mould stains do need to be cleaned for them to rent it back out. I'd say £50 is ok for this. If I was a cleaner I wouldn't want to make a one-off call to someone for any less.

Admin fees - how much are they charging? You say £50/hr...how many hrs? This charge sounds slightly cheeky to me as I'm sure their other charges have a commission element.

glasgowdan

Damn, I almost agree with G_M!

squizz11

The garden bushes grew upwards, no lawns or weeding was needed as these were done. The nests were among these so could not be cut down.
The bathroom is on a converted loft and the floors are actually wavy where damp has set into the floor. Windows and fan were used but estate agents say bathroom windows should be left open 24/7 which we believe is unreasonable.
Admin fees are 2 hours Which I think is excessive.

squizz11

Sorry don't think the time scale is excessive for Admin just the cost. Even if you took money off for printing , calls made etc the hourly rate is still excessive

G_M

I'm unclear what the admin fee is for.
Is this separate from the cleaning fee?
Is it for arranging the other various tasks eg booking the gardener/cleaner?
Is it a check-out fee?

And critically, did you agree to pay it by signing a contract/tenancy agreement which specified it?