Landlord being unreasonable at end of an 10 year 10 month lease

11years_a_renter

Hi, 

We have been renting off a family member privately, they moved out of the house to move in with their partner. They never took a deposit and the rent has been fairly cheap for the property. So we have been quite lucky in that regard. Now we have just moved out but our lease is still till the end of the month they have been in and inspected it and they aren't happy with the condition it's in. They have done no maintenance to the property in the time we've been there never decorated or replaced anything, but we've not minded we've been happy with the condition it was in. Now however they are saying we have ruined the property and the whole place needs redecoration new carpets and new blinds, new fidge (a compartment on the inside of the door that's slots in hangs loose as the plastic tgat holds it in has snapped) new freezer (the plastic fronts to the drawers are all cracked from pulled when drawers for blocked by ice) new hob and stove (the inside glass panel on door isn't secured anymore as the clips holding it have snapped) and they're going to get back to us with a quote, like they're expecting us to pay for all this. The place wasn't newly decorated when we moved and the kitchen wasn't new either. I've been stressing and I've tried to find the cooker to see how much it might cost us and the brand diplomatic stopped trading in 2008 so it must be at least 15 years old so I'm guessing the fridge and freezer is the same, can I really be expected to pay for all of this? 

They are saying we've done absolutely no maintenance, but neither have they other than replace a the electric shower that stopped working. I have done necessary stuff like light bulbs, replaced the flushing mechanism in the toilet as all the pipes in the house vibrated when you flushed the toilet. Replace front door handle that snapped off, replaced French door lock on doors from kitchen to conservatory as there was never a key and we were told to never push a button on the handle in because that would lock it. Eventually my son done this as he grew older and could reach, so I replaced the lock. We are really scared that's she's going to try bill us for a whole new interior of the house can this happen?

Sorry if this is a bit long I'm just really worried. Do I need to be worried? 

Thank you

km1500

I suspect they need to be worried. Have they complied with the various regulations such as a gas safely check every year, electrical safely checks every 5 years? If not, these are criminal offences - they could get a substantial fine or even worse.

Did you pay a deposit? If so it needs to be held in an approved scheme, again with substantial penalties if they didn't

Have they declared your rent on their tax return and paid tax?

You are probably in a stronger position than you think.

bunnygo

Assuming England; This is what a deposit is for, and there are regulated procedures for landlords to claim damage (as opposed to wear and tear) As he didn't take one, all he can do is take you to the small claims court.

Take lots of photos if you haven't already, and see what happens.  There's also a concept of 'betterment' which landlords can't have - you are not expected to replace new stuff with old. If it was done under deposit schemes, value is calculated with reference to the age of the item. Everything is deemed worthless within 6-8 years.

if you are renting again, get up to speed with your rights. Rental demand is very high which is a bonanza for the dodgy landlords.

GDB2222

It sounds like your family member had different expectations from you. They let you have it cheaply, expecting you to look after it. They clearly feel you let them down. 

IMHO, they should have charged you more rent, so they'd have a pot of money to refurbish. You may want to bear that in mind, and make a voluntary contribution.

As a tenant, you are expected to do basic maintenance, eg tighten loose screws, or defrost the freezer. If you didn't do that, then theoretically you are liable for the damage caused. However, after 10 years +, a lot of wear and tear is expected, anyway. 

theoretica

Seems like your landlord thought you would be doing maintenance in return for lower than commercial rent - but didn't explicitly share that expectation with you.  After 11 years of course appliances need replacing and lots of things are worn out, and they won't have any chance to force you to pay for expected/usual ageing.

11years_a_renter

We have had 2 gas safety checks since we've been there, no electrical safety checks. There was no deposit taken. Yes we are in England. I'm not sure if they've been paying tax on the income but I'm sure I could guess they right answer. She's saying there's no way she can rent back out in the condition it's in. But surely it's due to be redecorated after over 10 years plus however long it was before we moved in. She's just really stressing us out. 

Slinky

Do you have the annual gas safety certificate or is this something else they overlooked.

11years_a_renter

Slinky said:

Do you have the annual gas safety certificate or is this something else they overlooked.

No nothing like that, it had 2 checks while we've been there and we never seen the certifcates

lika_86

Do you have photos of the property fro  when you moved in as to the state of the carpets etc? They aren't entitled to betterment but it does sound like a few of these things are on you a bit - cracked freezer drawers due to build up of ice etc, but if they're still essentially functioning then there's not really much to be done there, unsightly as they may be, if replacements can't be sourced.

theoretica

Seems like you would be doing her a favour - and hopefully getting her off your back - if you pointed out how many requirements there are on landlords, how many she has missed (does the property have an EPC? In date fire alarms?) and how much trouble she could be in if she tries to continue to treat renting as casually and unprofessionally as she has.

anselld

Decoration - nil value after 10 years.  Redecoration is on them.

Cracked and damaged appliances - that is on you, but they dont het nef for old, they get the value of a ten year old scond hand appliance without such damage.  Decent second hand appliances galore approx £80 a go on gumtree, facebook, etc.

No, you dont need to be worried.  Make them a fai offer for the things you have broken and leave it at that.