End of Tenancy - Replacing Items on Inventory

girlxface

Sorry if this has been answered elsewhere, I did look over a few pages but couldn't find any answer to my query.


I am moving out of my current rental property at the end of this month. When I moved into the property it was an absolute state. It had clearly not been cleaned, or at the very least cleaned very well. The walls were all grubby and severely marked, back door was broken, mould stains on kitchen ceiling, holes in walls (to name a few). I ended up having to ask for quite a few things to be fixed (for which I fought for over a year), and repainted the walls myself. There was also items of furniture of the landlords, which had clearly been there for about 40 years, some falling apart, some disgusting filthy, which I asked to move to replace with my own but was told I had to keep them there.
Over the three years I have been in the property a couple items of furniture have broken, my question is am I liable to leave a replacement for these? As they are listed on the itinerary? And if so, do they have to match the item exactly as listed on the itinerary?


I am worried they are going to start charging from my deposit for missing items. Even though over the years I have put more work and money into the property than the landlord has (put in a brand new patio in the garden, and a new shed as the one there was broken and falling down), repainted most of the house etc.


I know the law says I should leave the property in the same condition I received it, but considering the state of it, it will be in much better condition than what I received anyway.

G_M

girlxface wrote: »

....... my question is am I liable to leave a replacement for these? As they are listed on the itinerary? And if so, do they have to match the item exactly as listed on the itinerary?
Yes. That is the whole point of an inventory.


I am worried they are going to start charging from my deposit for missing items.
If items are missing, and unless you ave writen permission to dispose of them, you can be charged.

Of course, the market value of these 40 year old items might be very low.......



Even though over the years I have put more work and money into the property than the landlord has (put in a brand new patio in the garden, and a new shed as the one there was broken and falling down), repainted most of the house etc.
Irrelevant to the isue of the missing items, though a reasonable LL might take that into account.


Did you get written permission to install a patio? Repaint? In theory the LL could force you to remove the patio and repaint the walls the original colour (if different).



I know the law says I should leave the property in the same condition I received it, but considering the state of it, it will be in much better condition than what I received anyway.

Each item is considered in isolation.


You cannot balance one item that is in better condition than at the start, against another item that is missing or in worse condition (unless the LL agrees to do this).

girlxface

Hi
Thanks for the reply. Yes I gained permission to do the garden and the walls are painted white as were originally (minus all the black marks and grubby handprints when I moved in)

So are you saying that if the itinerary states “Pine nest of tables” that item has to be exactly the same? Cannot be black nest of tables for instance? Are they going to be picky? As I don’t mind replacing the items in order to keep my deposit but I am just wondering how easy it is going to be to replace items that are clearly years and years old.

[Deleted User]

Argos should cover it, they sell everything in multiple colours

G_M

girlxface wrote: »

...

So are you saying that if the itinerary states “Pine nest of tables” that item has to be exactly the same? Cannot be black nest of tables for instance? Are they going to be picky?

I've never met your landlord so have no idea if he'll be picky!


From a legal perspective, yes, it must be exactly the same.



Personally I would not quibble if it was a new black nest of comparable quality (though if it was cheap plywood instead of solid wood, I would quibble).


Why not invite your LL to tea, bake a cake, and walk him round the house with all your questions? Then you'll know where you stand.


Send him a polite friendly letter afterwards, thanking him for his understanding (assuming he was!), and briefly listing what was agreed.

girlxface

_shel wrote: »

Argos should cover it, they sell everything in multiple colours

Thanks. But I was more thinking along the lines of getting items from free and cheap sites, considering the condition of the items that were originally left, I don’t want to be dishing out on brand new items. Which is why I ask how picky letting agencies/landlord are over itinerary items? For instance there was a nest of Three Pine tables, severely stained and marked, two with legs almost falling off. I got rid when the legs eventually did fall off. If I wanted to replace this with a glass set or mahogany set for example are they going to quibble it?

Thanks

girlxface

G_M wrote: »

I've never met your landlord so have no idea if he'll be picky!


From a legal perspective, yes, it must be exactly the same.



Personally I would not quibble if it was a new black nest of comparable quality (though if it was cheap plywood instead of solid wood, I would quibble).


Why not invite your LL to tea, bake a cake, and walk him round the house with all your questions? Then you'll know where you stand.


Send him a polite friendly letter afterwards, thanking him for his understanding (assuming he was!), and briefly listing what was agreed.

Thanks GM. I don’t intend on leaving any item that’s in worse condition than what was originally in there, But considering how bad the items were in the first place which is why they eventually broke, that shouldn’t be hard. I just also don’t want to buy brand new items for this reason, but am finding it hard to find any used items exactly the same as what was in there’s originally, and I know what letting agencies etc can be like from experience.

And I would love to do that but I mainly deal through the LA rather than my landlord who is notoriously hard to get hold of for anything anyway, I’ve been asking to have my back garden fence fixed since May. I just want to be out at this point.

Thanks for your help

theartfullodger

You are entitled to leave it worse condition - through "fair wear & tear". e.g. carpet worn after 4 years of 6 people living in house using hall carpet to get in & out: But not through damage (eg big burn mark on carpet from hot iron)

Nasqueron

Did you take photos before you moved in recording the state of the place?

girlxface

Nasqueron wrote: »

Did you take photos before you moved in recording the state of the place?

Yes I did, attached to a rather long email containing details about why and how unhappy I was with the state of the place

theartfullodger

If unhappy with landlord/agent's proposed deductions simply don't agree and go to the **free&& adjudication by deposit scheme.