Student deposit for rent

karenjsmith

The landlord has taken £200 off my daughter when he repaid the deposit he has done this with all of the students in the house making £1000 they left the house clean and tidy and hadn’t lived there since March because of lockdown. He took £45 each off them for the gardening but the garden wasn’t good when they moved in ?

macman

Was the deposit not protected? If so the LL can't just 'take £200 off'. Is there inventory/photographic evidence of the condition of the house and garden at the start of the tenancy? Did the tenants complain in writing about it's condition?
If they left the property unoccupied for 5 months then of course the property was going to deteriorate, but under the tenancy agreement they would still be liable for it's upkeep. Did they go back in and re-clean before the end of tenancy date?
If the LL failed to protect the deposit then sue for 3 times the value.

tacpot12

Were they obligated to maintain the garden? If so, then they should have objected to the state of the garden before taking the tenancy.  Alternatively if they accept that they were responsible for the garden but know that they didn't want to spend their time maintaining it, paying £100 (each) to have someone else do it for them is perhaps a good option for them.  

The landlord is supposed to itemise the damage that has been caused and cleaning and garden maintenance that has been undertaken. You should ask for this if it has not been provided. The landlord is not supposed to make deductions for a fair amount of wear and tear. What is fair is debatable, but if I rented student properties, I would expect more wear and tear on a property as students are generally young and inexperienced in occupying a property. But this isn't a license for them to treat the property any less well than you would expect them to treat your home. 

The landlord can divide the costs equally between the tenants, and it was probably on this basis that you daughter understood that deductions would be made.

The tenants are supposed to leave the property in a clean and tidy state. Bear in mind that a commercial clean of a house with five bedrooms could easily be £300. Do you have any evidence that the landlord is wrong about the amount of damage or cleaning that was needed? While the deduction is substantial, it may be an accurate representation of the what your daughter owes, and at the end of the day she has not had to do any of the work of cleaning, gardening, or decorating herself. 

greatcrested

Is the £1000 just for the garden? What exactly has he made deductions for and how much for each issue?

Is/was the deposit protected? Which scheme?

Was there a signed inventory at the start? How does it decribe the condition of the garden (and other relevant issues) at the start? Were photos attached?

Was there a check-out inspection? What does it show? Are photos attached?

The fact that the tenants were not in occupation for 4/5 months is irrelevant to the question of whether deductions are justified - it's the condition at the end of the tenancy that matters. Indeed, they may have been in breach of tenancy for leaving the property unnoccupied - often a condition of the LL's insurance!

See

Post 3: Deposits: Payment, Protection and Return.