Tenants disputing claims against the despoit

propertyrental

Your main claim, which appears to have substance, is the damage to the tiles.

You could claim for carpets, wall redecoration, mattress(??), etc, but you must understand 'betterment', get quotes, and only claim a % of each quote depending on the item's age and normal life expectancy.

a4007035

Thanks for all the responses. 

Tenant was there for a year. 

Yeah, main thing is the damage caused by the water. 

For the carpets, not looking to replace these but just clean professionally. This and the mould. 

Understood on the point of betterment. New bathroom floor would certainly come under that bracket so I may try and apportion that. 

theartfullodger

a4007035 said:

Thanks for all the responses. 

Tenant was there for a year. 

Yeah, main thing is the damage caused by the water. 

For the carpets, not looking to replace these but just clean professionally. This and the mould. 

Understood on the point of betterment. New bathroom floor would certainly come under that bracket so I may try and apportion that. 

Tenant entitled to disagree and propose what they think fair.  Scheme then adjudicates.  

Good detailed inventory and photos signed by tenant?

RHemmings

There's a lot of good advice in this thread, particularly the link to the TDS pages on how long things should last.

When I moved out of my last rental (into bought), I left the property in a state similar to when I moved in, but my landlord starting making lots of ridiculous claims on the deposit backed up by nothing. One of those was the condition of the garden (which I worked very hard on). As part of preparing to dispute these, I looked through TDS's documentation and found a whole lot of interesting stuff. E.g. that if a landlord expects the tenant to maintain the garden, that the tenant should be provided with tools to do so. (I wasn't). 

In the end my landlord backed down, possibly linked to me finding some 'irregularities' with the documentation for the tenancy. But, I found things in TDS's documentation that I never would have expected (e.g. garden tools). 

The overal point I'm making is that both landlords and tenants should make sure that they properly read all the documentation from the deposit scheme the deposit was lodged with. (And, for the OP, I think possibly their EA should as well if they think that TDS always sides with the tenant). E.g. the mattress which was new in 2014. 

chanz4

matress = £0 how often do you change your own one

RHemmings

chanz4 said:

matress = £0 how often do you change your own one

I've had the same mattress since 2005, and it's still comfortable and in good condition. I haven't noticed armies of bugs emerging from it to feast on my blood every night. Note: I agree that the mattress from 2014 in the OP shouldn't be charged for. Just giving a data point. 

35har1old

BarelySentientAI said:

a4007035 said:

There is a mattress (bought in 2014) that has stains all over it and needs chucking out and replacing. 

Ten year old mattress - unlikely to get anything.  TDS says they usually last 8 years.

a4007035 said:

The carpets were only installed in 2019 and look filthy from the photos. There is a lot of mould distributed around the property, all of which needs cleaning. 

Depends on the quality of the carpets, life expectation is anywhere from 2 to 15 years.  If at the low end, unlikely to get anything for replacement, at the high end you probably would.

a4007035 said:

The main issue is the damage caused by the excessive water from cleaning. This has caused staining to the walls which need repainting. 

Painting walls is general maintenance that many landlords would do between tenancies anyway.  You might get some contribution, you might not.  TDS says decoration lasts 3 to 5 years.

You might find these two documents useful:

https://www.tenancydepositscheme.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/A-Guide-to-product-lifespans.pdf

https://www.tenancydepositscheme.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/How_TDS_approaches_disputes_involving_redecoration.pdf

Not if the tenant had a go at DIY and failed painting carpets and not taking any care when painting the angles at the ceiling and skirting 
As to the estate agent pointing out that TDS favours the tenant is true
but the estate agent  should be highlighting the case to the tenants before they proceed to the appeal.
If care has been taken painted walls can last well in excess of 5 years