Clearing out my dad's flat - told I need to remove carpets.

NameUnavailable

Ignore them - if they only have a phone number block them! If anything further did come of this your next step is to point out that carpets were already fitted when your father moved in so they are their property, not his (no need to elaborate further).

AdrianC

When my father moved into a care home, the HA he rented his flat from insisted on the carpet being removed. And I don't blame them...

It does sound from the move-in as if carpetting was his responsibility, but they simply agreed to cover the bill as a sweetener.

Removing and disposing of carpet really isn't that big a deal. A stanley knife will allow you to cut it into manageable strips easily, especially with a whole £2.50 spent on a set of hooked blades.
https://www.screwfix.com/p/hooked-utility-knife-blades-10-pack/3410v
If you don't have a stanley knife, then two-pack for a fiver...
https://www.screwfix.com/p/stanley-classic-retractable-utility-knife-fixed-utility-knife-pack/464hg

Then get it all in the back of the car, and down the tip.

Is it a fun way to spend an hour or two? No.
Is it quick, easy, and dirt-cheap to DIY? Yes.

HampshireH

AdrianC said:

When my father moved into a care home, the HA he rented his flat from insisted on the carpet being removed. And I don't blame them...

It does sound from the move-in as if carpetting was his responsibility, but they simply agreed to cover the bill as a sweetener.

Removing and disposing of carpet really isn't that big a deal. A stanley knife will allow you to cut it into manageable strips easily, especially with a whole £2.50 spent on a set of hooked blades.
https://www.screwfix.com/p/hooked-utility-knife-blades-10-pack/3410v
If you don't have a stanley knife, then two-pack for a fiver...
https://www.screwfix.com/p/stanley-classic-retractable-utility-knife-fixed-utility-knife-pack/464hg

Then get it all in the back of the car, and down the tip.

Is it a fun way to spend an hour or two? No.
Is it quick, easy, and dirt-cheap to DIY? Yes.

Yup it's often standard practice in social housing because they could be revolting, unhygienic, have fleas etc. So it's often easier to have a standard policy of removal. It's quite amazing what condition some people think would be acceptable to pass on.

Any carpets down on move in is usually gifted and signed for by the customer as their full responsibility including removal when the time comes. The tenancy agreement does not need to state he is responsible for removing carpet but may say something like tenant is responsible for floor coverings and the paperwork he signed when he moved in seperate to the tenancy may have gifted the items and said to remove on leaving. Especially if he insisted it was laid for him before moving in (therefore clearly his and not standard).

Completely get the short notice. Did you not receive a letter or email when you gave notice and a copy of the death certificate acknowledging the notice given and advising how to return the property and in what condition?

wilfred30

Was your dad living in social housing or not, only you call it a 'private retirement park' in your opening post which is a little confusing.

teachfast

AdrianC said:

When my father moved into a care home, the HA he rented his flat from insisted on the carpet being removed. And I don't blame them...

It does sound from the move-in as if carpetting was his responsibility, but they simply agreed to cover the bill as a sweetener.

Removing and disposing of carpet really isn't that big a deal. A stanley knife will allow you to cut it into manageable strips easily, especially with a whole £2.50 spent on a set of hooked blades.
https://www.screwfix.com/p/hooked-utility-knife-blades-10-pack/3410v
If you don't have a stanley knife, then two-pack for a fiver...
https://www.screwfix.com/p/stanley-classic-retractable-utility-knife-fixed-utility-knife-pack/464hg

Then get it all in the back of the car, and down the tip.

Is it a fun way to spend an hour or two? No.
Is it quick, easy, and dirt-cheap to DIY? Yes.

I suspect he can't get there to do that with such short notice. 

pyrrhus80

It is not social housing.
I'm aware that removing and disposing of the carpet is a relatively straight-forward job which is why I would have done it myself if they'd have told me from the outset. The point of my frustration is that they have only told me of its requirement now that it's too late for me to do myself. I simply don't have the time.

pyrrhus80

I haven't been given anything by the retirement park other than the keys. I went down there the day after my father died and I was handed the keys and told that I have four weeks to clear it out. Again, they never asked for any identification, and I have never received any official instruction from them.

The phone call the other day was the first communication I've had with them since being given the keys.

NaughtiusMaximus

Slithery said:

The legal responsibility of your fathers estate is to leave the property in the same condition as it was at the start of the tenancy. Were the carpets present on the check-in inventory?

The problem with that is the estate may not know what the condition was.

In the case of retirement properties or sheltered accommodation, the residents/tenants are generally fully compos mentis on moving in therefore may well make arrangements such as carpets, removals etc themselves without involving relatives. This was the situation when my dad had to move into a nursing home after a prolonged period in hospital about 18 months ago. We held on to anything of sentimental or financial value along with all important paperwork and paid a house clearance company to remove everything else. The company who managed the home were fully aware of this as we liaised with them to agree a date for the house clearance people to arrive but it was only AFTER they had been and gone that we were informed the carpets should have been removed too.

pyrrhus80

NaughtiusMaximus said:

In the case of retirement properties or sheltered accommodation, the residents/tenants are generally fully compos mentis on moving in therefore may well make arrangements such as carpets, removals etc themselves without involving relatives. This was the situation when my dad had to move into a nursing home after a prolonged period in hospital about 18 months ago. We held on to anything of sentimental or financial value along with all important paperwork and paid a house clearance company to remove everything else. The company who managed the home were fully aware of this as we liaised with them to agree a date for the house clearance people to arrive but it was only AFTER they had been and gone that we were informed the carpets should have been removed too.

How did you deal with that?

NaughtiusMaximus

pyrrhus80 said:

NaughtiusMaximus said:

In the case of retirement properties or sheltered accommodation, the residents/tenants are generally fully compos mentis on moving in therefore may well make arrangements such as carpets, removals etc themselves without involving relatives. This was the situation when my dad had to move into a nursing home after a prolonged period in hospital about 18 months ago. We held on to anything of sentimental or financial value along with all important paperwork and paid a house clearance company to remove everything else. The company who managed the home were fully aware of this as we liaised with them to agree a date for the house clearance people to arrive but it was only AFTER they had been and gone that we were informed the carpets should have been removed too.

How did you deal with that?

My sister phoned (she's better at being scary than I am) them and backed it up with a sternly worded email saying we would not be removing the carpet as we were not informed this was necessary until it was too late to make the appropriate arrangements (they actually only told us AFTER we handed back the keys when there was less than a week left on the tenancy), if they had informed us before the house clearance people arrived we would happily have done so. We were fully expecting to be charged a fee for removal of the carpets in the form of a deduction from the deposit but to our surprise there was no charge levied.