Getting deposit back

rs82uk

Hi my and my fiancee, are going to be moving shortly, and our current landlord came round to have a look and sign the reference for the new place.
He recons the carpet needs replacing, I dont think there is anything wrong with it that a shampoo wouldn't fix.

We have lived here for 4 years and the previous tenant had this carpet for 1.5 years, how much could he take from our deposit to recarpet a two bed house.

plane_boy2000

When you say he said it needs replacing did he say he was expecting you to replace it, or was he just making a general comment that he would need to replace it before he rents it out again?

From my perspective its a wear and tear item, so unless you have damaged it then its not your problem, although your lease may say you are obliged to have the carpets cleaned before your departure.

rs82uk

he said it will need to be replaced before renting it. I said we are going to clean it once all the furniture is out and he said it would be a waste of effort as it needs to be replaced, and we can come to some sort of arrangement on how much deposit he will take.

clutton_2

did you sign an inventory on moving in as to its condition ? if you did not he cannot make any deductions whatsoever as there is no yardstick of quality on your taking over the tenancy.

CYBERCIDERSAVER

Isn't there some calculation you can do to sort this out. I'm sure I've heard on here you can do like businesses do with assets.

ie the carpet has been around say 5 years and needs replacing you should not be expected to pay any more than a fifth of the cost ie cost of new / no of years.

Also If he wishes to charge you then a receipt showing proof of purchase would surely be required to prove he did actually buy the thing he is charging??

Or maybe if you cleaned them then they would easily be as good as when you moved in (unless you've ripped them or something)

betterlatethannever

Sorry to butt in on this thread but i was interested in something Clutton says: if you have no inventory (which for this property i don't) then the LL can't make ANY deductions in your deposit? sorry, am i reading this right? If so thats a good thing for me, can a LL give you an inventory ages after you've moved in? (been here a year now)
Thanks in advance and sorry to jump in a thread.

clutton_2

an inventory is a list of the contents and condition of the property - down to marks on the wall, dirty sockets, dirty windows, scratches on doors etc. if no inventory is done on move-in AND on move-out - there is NO measure by which your landlord can gauge how much "damage" - if any - you have done. However, your landlord may withold your deposit, (depending on when your tenancy started). If he does withold, read eagerlearners thread here on MSE and find out who to take him to court.

betterlatethannever

Thank you for that reply Clutton. Much appreciated and i'll read that thread too
Ta x

clutton_2

put aside 4-5 hours to do so !!! its fascinating

rs82uk

we are going to give it a quick clean after furniture has gone.
There is no inventory, but I dont really want to go to court etc so I will see if we can come to a compromise.

We have probably been our own worst enemies we have let our landlord get away with alot as the rent was cheap. For example he installed a new front door soon after we moved in and 4 years later we still have no door frame.

There were also big cracks in the spare room when we moved in and they are still there 4 years later again smetihing he promised to repair.