Little worried about wear and tear in house

redrabbit29

Hey,

I'm renting a 2 bed house for £750 a month through the estate agents. The agents were quite good when I rented it, very nice and we got on well with them.

I've been here for a year and a half, after signing a new contract after the first year.

I'm a little worried about the state of the house now. We have cream carpets and the downstairs ones are visibily warn, some stains that I can't remove. The carpets were not profesionally cleaned when I moved in, and I don't remember what state they were in when we first took over the house.

In 6 months time I'll probably sign another years contract but wanted some advice about what to do about my worries.

1) I was thinking about writing a letter to the estate agents telling them about my concerns. I don't want to lose any deposit.

2) I also don't want the rent to rise if I do sign another contract (it didnt go up after the first year)

What do you think I should do?

loksat

Your inventory will give you an idea of what state the carpets were, when you came in.

If you dont have them, the best you can do is to hire a carpet cleaning machine or have it professionally cleaned.

I have heard cases where, they have lost the entire deposit.

Does you agent come for an inspection every 6 months?

chriz1000

A lot of household insurance policies will cover the landlord’s possessions too, worst case scenario if they kick up a fuss can you not claim on this insurance?

redrabbit29

loksat: I tried a cleaning machine but it didn't do anything. It's mainly the downstairs carpets that are bad, that is the livingroom and hallway. In fact the hallway is the worst.

They do come for inspections. I had 2 in the first year, but haven't had any in the 6 months of the second year.


chriz1000: I have my own house insurance, which covers contents. It is with Endsleigh.

chriz1000

I’m pretty sure that your Endsleigh policy covers your landlord possessions too. I’m not sure if this will include carpets but its worth checking

merlinthehappypig

redrabbit29 wrote: »

The carpets were not profesionally cleaned when I moved in, and I don't remember what state they were in when we first took over the house.

Do you have an inventory? If you do, that will tell you the state of the carpets and any stains. If you don't the landlord won't be able to make any deductions as there will be nothing to prove the condition when you moved in.

redrabbit29

Hey people,

I checked the inventory and it does make reference to the stain on the floor. That's pretty good, as it doesn't say how bad it was, so they have no way of knowing. Especially as the people who do the inventory are an independent company, and would not have been here for over 2 years.

Should be OK I think.

Gorgeous_George

You should be fine. When signing a new contract your deposit should be held in a tenancy deposit scheme or be protected by an insurance backed scheme. A more detailed inventory, complete with photos, would be better for all concerned.

It is worth noting that stains and dirt are not wear and tear.

GG

moneysavinmonkey

my tenancy agreement has a clause stating that the carpets must be professionally cleaned (receipts must be provided) at the end of our tenancy... but we have some suspicions that they weren't professionally cleaned at the beginning as there were a lot of stains - the letting agents sent round a man who got up a lot of them but even after that my dyson still picked up a lot of cat hairs suggesting they hadn't properly been cleaned!

I'm just wondering if this isn't an unfair contract term given that it will essentially be betterment if they charge us for not cleaning them professionally.

Gorgeous_George

The OFT considers that such a clause is unfair. It is reasonable to ask for things to be cleaned but it is not necessary to pay for a professional to do the cleaning.

Clicky. You need pages 110 and thereabouts.

GG

LizD_2

When we rented a flat we just hired one of those machines and did it ourselves. We gave the agents the receipt and they never questioned it, despite the contract saying it had to be professionally cleaned.