Carpet Moths and Deposits

lewisdicks

 I have been living as a tenant in a ground floor 1 bedroom tenemant flat in Glasgow. The property was buildt circa 1880s.
Recently I have came across a carpet moth infestation in my bedroom (under the bed) and in the carpetted section of the dining room. I have increased hoovering frequency and levels of cleaning and reported it to my letting agency. I now have to fork out £140 of my own money at most to have the carpet treated as the issue occured "during my tenancy" however, given the age of the property, and that the carpet is estimated to be 20+ years old, this was inevitable.

The damage itself to the carpet is very much patchy and not significantly noticeable unless closely examined. Whilst I am willing to have the carpet treated, I do not accept that I allowed the infestation to happen as the property is kept spotless. Additionally, the previous tenants left the carpet in a very bad state and had to be professionally cleaned.

My concern now is that, when I move out of the property (later this year) I am concerned that my letting agent/landlord will attempt to make deductions from my deposit to replace the carpets across the property despite the ageing. The inventory I signed when I entered the property noted that the carpet condition was "consistent with age".
Is this considered reasonable deductions from my deposit if I did not cause damage? I would argue that the property is in much better condition than previous tenants have left it in but I fear I may now not get my deposit back.

anselld

If the carpet really is 20 years old then it holds zero value due to its age and the L will fail with any deposit claim.

AdrianC

anselld said:

If the carpet really is 20 years old then it holds zero value due to its age and the L will fail with any deposit claim.

There certainly are occasions when a 20yo+ carpet could hold substantial value... although I'd doubt any sane landlord has an antique kilim in a tenanted tenement...

OP - how long have you been resident? How do you know the age of the carpet?

Titus_Wadd

Carpet moths are little s***s!  You have my sympathy.  We had to re-carpet the downstairs of our previous house.  We treated the area ourselves with diatomaceous earth (a white odourless fine powder bought from a well-known auction site).  Once the old carpet was taken out they were pretty much gone and fortunately hadn't travelled to our wardrobes into our clothes and bedding as we had wooden floors upstairs.

We sprinkled a layer D Earth on the floors before the new carpet went down, and then used the powder like "Shake and Vac" a few times for good luck.  The guy at the carpet shop was helpful and recommended man-made fibres as they're not moth food so the new carpet was cheaper than the one taken up.  They don't fly much but the LL wouldn't want you keeping windows shut and causing damp.  It's just as likely they came in on something brought into the flat like clothes or furniture.  Check your clothes and bedding, wash them at the highest temperature they can stand (man-made fibres like polyester would be untouched).

I'd maybe look at the cost of re-carpetting the bedroom (cheaply but without accepting that the moths are your fault) and if the landlord owns the building or other flats in the building he can look to treat the rest of the tennement.  I don't know whether his insurance would cover moth damage, just don't let the landlord or letting agent blame you for the infestation.  It could have come from a neighbouring apartment.

Sorry nothing concrete by way of advice, I just wanted to offer my sympathy.