Rental Cleaning Deposit Deduction £350 plus Non-Safety Glass?

sheramber

Beeblebr0x said:

Whilst taking on board the impracticality of rewiring a property every time the regs are updated, I would've thought there's a difference between electrical fittings that are safe if untampered with and a glass door where someone could fall through it.

 It the glass door was perfectly safe until somebody tampered with it  and broke it. 

It didn’t suddenly break of its own accord. 

Murphybear

From what I can see from the photos it looks OK and I have seen hundreds of properties over the years where tenants have moved out.  It certainly doesn’t look as if it needs an additional clean.  

How clean was the flat when you moved in?  Technically it should be cleaned to the same standard.  Did you get an inventory?  This should include the condition of the flat and the furniture.  If there was no inventory then the LL will have a problem in proving what the condition of the flat was like when you moved in

Don’t get worried if the LL wants a ”professional clean”.  This is a red herring.  If you paid a friend a few pounds to clean it then that is defined as a professional clean.  I’ve seen some pretty bad “professional cleans” in my time.  What the LL wants to charge you sounds way over the top.  

Most landlords I’ve worked with have been very good but sadly there are still a few around that want to charge tenants extortionate amounts for things like cleaning 

saajan_12

Beeblebr0x said:

Grumpy_chap said:

Nabla said:

No... No check-out inventory check or flat inspection was done in my presence. It was all done after I left, not in my presence and I did not receive their quote until 1 month after moving out.

Surely if non-safety glass is installed, against legal regulations, and I have injured myself as a result (it is looking like it will leave a scar), then there is some way I can make a claim against them?

If there was no check-out inventory carried out, then I would use your departure photos and the 1-month delay in notifying the alleged damage as the damage occurred after you left.

I doubt you have any grounds to claim for the glass and cut to your hand.  The door and the glass probably complied with the regulations in force at the time the door was fitted.  How long ago did you break the glass?  Did you leave the glass like in the photo?  Or did you remove and dispose of the remainder of the glass pane?  Or did you tape some firm cardboard to both sides of the glass?  Or did you do something else to mitigate the remaining hazard?

Doesn't the landlord bear responsibility for having non-safety glass in the property in the same way as he/she has to comply with safety requirements for gas boilers etc? It's fortunate a child wasn't injured.

Nabla said:

I don't think it is any different to if they had left exposed mains wiring and I had electrocuted myself (Yes, they could say it was my fault for touching the wire, but it should never have been exposed in the first place - an accident waiting to happen.) 

You're making the leap that safety glass is a requirement in a rental property. There's lots of things that could potentially cause injury.

* Some are specifically called out to make a property uninhabitable or by regulation that has to be made safe when a property is used for rentals - eg gas safety, access to heat, access to water, safe electrics...

* Others are only required in new properties or when there's broader refurbishment done, eg minor wiring standards, no low beams, etc. There's no expectation that properties are constantly updated every time there's a better way found to wire them or that ceiling heights are raised every time there's a new accessiblility rule. 

* Yet others are required in buildings with certain use cases, eg HMOs, buildings open to the public, schools etc may have higher requirements as the volume and demographic of people using them may increase the risk, eg more fire alarms required in a HMO, but that doesn't mean every building needs to have the same. 

I suspect safety glass falls into the 2nd category, and it'd be on you (or your lawyer) to prove otherwise for a successful claim. This would not be handled by a property deposit scheme, so would need to be separate action.