Garden repair in rented property

Terrilowe07

Hi there, I hope someone can help. I've recently moved out of a rented property where I lived with my partner for 3.5 years. The landlords renovated the garden themselves before we moved in but the steps and wooden walkway were never fixed in place properly. So if you were to step on the side of the step it would completely tip over. And the wooden pathway was loosely placed over broken grey slate "pebbles". Over the years all the wood rotten in the fence, the wooden pathway and some of the other wooden decorative posts around the step and many have crumbled and broken. One stairway had a rail running down the side but a friend of ours fell down the steps (that weren't fixed down) and pulled the rail so it's now slanting inwards. Do you think my landlord has a right to withhold our deposit for these repairs? The decking paint is also extremely chipped even in the places where we don't walk so does not look as it did when we moved in. It's possible it's rotten the same as all the other wood. The overhanging porch way roof to our front door collapsed while we were away one weekend because it was rotten. We have videos and photos of all these things. We never really complained about the garden as we hardly used it apart from to store things in the shed so I feel that will go against us but it's clear the steps etc we're never fixed down and are rotten. Any advice on this? 

Comms69

Depends if your tenancy required you to maintain the decking. 
But have they actually made any claim??

Terrilowe07

Thank you for your reply. Garden maintenance was in our tenancy agreement, and we maintained the lawn out front and regularly deweeded. Is the structural integrity of the garden fences and pathway part of garden maintenance? And will we be liable to replace the rail that was damaged when someone fell down the steps that weren't fixed down? We want to make sure we have all information relating to this and ensure we have the right evidence etc while we have access to the house in case they make a claim about it. 

greatcrested

Debatable!

Much of that sounds like fair wear and tear rather than damage caused by yourselves. Though there might be differing explanations provided....

Also bear in mind that as a tenant you hae an implied duty to act in a 'tenant-like manner' which has been defined by the courts as reporting issues to the landlord so as to prevent ongoing deterioration. For example, if you had written reporting the wood starting to rot at an early stage, the LL could have painted it with a protective stain or varnish to prevent further rot.

At the end of the day i would be for the deposit scheme arbitrator, or a court, to weigh up the evidence provided by either side, and decide....