Landlord trying to charge me £1700 in damages on rented property.

JKACLARK

Hi.

My ex landlord/estate agent are trying to charge me £1700 in damages. £807 of that is my deposit and the rest they expect me to pay. They are trying to charge me for 3x new carpets in bedroom, landing and stairs. I have accepted liability to damage to the landing (my cat scratched a hole in it). However, the stairs and bedroom have no damage apart from tufting and a bit of fraying where heavy footfall is there are no holes or any reason why they would need to replace the whole carpet.

I managed to find the property on Zoopla and found pictures from 2014 when the house last sold and it would appear the carpets are still the same ones that are in the property now. Landlord is trying to charge £725 for these carpets. I do not agree and think this is extremely unreasonable considering the age of the carpets and the fact that the stairs and bedroom are not damaged, rather fair wear and tear. 

They are also trying to charge me £300 for a sink issue. I have pictures from when I moved in showing a huge crack in the sink as well as the start of 'frosting' and white staining, which got worse during my 5 years there. Again, I feel like this is fair wear and tear considering there is evidence the sink was already in a not so good way when I first moved in. 

I also had a damp issue whilst living there. I have a string of emails from estate agent where they have acknowledged the mould. I was advised to wipe it down, keep the windows slightly open and use the fan. which I did. I clearly state in this email thread that the house is poorly heated and it is a struggle to keep warm (storage heater in lounge that barely warms, no heating in kitchen and only a towel rail in bathroom). They are trying to charge me to repaint the ceiling as the paint is peeling off and damaged. My issue is if they knew about the moudl whilst I was living there, why was it not rectified then, and why am I expected to pay for it now I have moved out.

They are also charging me £20 here and £30 there for re-painting walls due to scuff marks. Again, I do not feel that these marks go beyond fair wear and tear considering I lived in the property for 5 years.

I am going through the deposit scheme to dispute this but I wanted to know if I had a leg to stand on or if I am being unreasonable myself. 

any help appreciated!

DullGreyGuy

Do you have a check in and checkout report from your tenancy? Does it have photos of said carpets? What does the description say about condition?

Without seeing the damage it's hard to say, one person's suff can be another persons 6" divot in the wall. 

Thankfully never had to go through the dispute process, the one time where I disagreed with the checkout report the total charges being retained was under £10 so wasnt worth my time and effort and given the LL had bought our fridge/freezer off of us for well above market value went for an easy life. 

Mark_d

Scuff marks are damage you caused.  Cat damage is your responsibility too.  If you fail to heat the property to a reasonable level, then damage caused by the cold temperatures etc. are your responsibility.

If the storage heater was not working then you should have reported it and possibly used fan heaters/oil radiators to keep warm - looking after your own health as well as the condition of the property.

Normal wear on the carpets and sink are not your responsibility.  Landlords always try to squeeze money out of tenants so that they don't have to use their own money to maintain the property.  This is not right or fair.  Fingers crossed for you.

JKACLARK

unfortunately I threw that away, however I requested images from 2020 for what they are trying to claim and the pictures they took on check out. I also have my own pictures. 

I understand what you are saying. I have been reading up on betterment and from my understanding the landlord has to consider depreciation. If the carpets are that old then surely they aren't worth much now. But I could be misunderstanding this information. 

I was a good tenant. I always paid my rent early, looked after the property and I fully accept that the landing will need a new carpet as I am a decent person and don't want to abandon my obligations as a tenant. I just find it ridiculous that they are trying to charge me for 2 extra carpets for a bit of fluffing, which is actually shown in the 2020 pictures.There is already a new tenant in the property so none of the items they are charging me for has impacted the landlord receiving their rent.

JKACLARK

Mark_d said:

Scuff marks are damage you caused.  Cat damage is your responsibility too.  If you fail to heat the property to a reasonable level, then damage caused by the cold temperatures etc. are your responsibility.

If the storage heater was not working then you should have reported it and possibly used fan heaters/oil radiators to keep warm - looking after your own health as well as the condition of the property.

Normal wear on the carpets and sink are not your responsibility.  Landlords always try to squeeze money out of tenants so that they don't have to use their own money to maintain the property.  This is not right or fair.  Fingers crossed for you.

thanks for replying!

I read online that scuff marks on walls is classed as 'fair wear and tear'. However, multiple sites generally give contradicting information...

100% agree with you on the cat and I am in no way disputing that. I accepted full liability. I feel like they are using that as an excuse to try and get the full house carpeted as the cat caused no damage anywhere else, other than the landing.

I used electric and oil heaters every winter. I heated the property, of course. Unfortunately they are very cold houses and poorly insulated. Me and my neighbours would always moan how cold is was every winter lol. The storage heater works, it was just rubbish in terms of actually being warm - hence why I used my own radiators. 

Mark_d

@JKACLARK I hope you are able to get some money back from the tenancy deposit scheme.  In the worst case you'd be losing your deposit but I can't imagine a court would rule against you.  The acknowledged mould issue would win over any magistrate!

Smalltownhypocrite

Mark_d said:

If you fail to heat the property to a reasonable level, then damage caused by the cold temperatures etc. are your responsibility.

It absoloutly is not as per Awaabs law. While not in full effect until October it has been passed through the courts for 5 years and the idea the landlord will magically be granted money in court by saying they did not fix the heating and as such the dangerous mold issue (which courts have already declared as landlord issues) should be blamed on the tenant is utterly ridiculous.

Voyager2002

My take on it (as a landlord) is that you have a very strong case, so it is emphatically worth disputing the charge through the deposit protection scheme.

JKACLARK

Voyager2002 said:

My take on it (as a landlord) is that you have a very strong case, so it is emphatically worth disputing the charge through the deposit protection scheme.

that is comforting to read. I have been questioning myself and wondering if I am doing the right thing disputing it. I just find it utterly ridiculous some of the things they are charging for.

JKACLARK

Smalltownhypocrite said:

Mark_d said:

If you fail to heat the property to a reasonable level, then damage caused by the cold temperatures etc. are your responsibility.

It absoloutly is not as per Awaabs law. While not in full effect until October it has been passed through the courts for 5 years and the idea the landlord will magically be granted money in court by saying they did not fix the heating and as such the dangerous mold issue (which courts have already declared as landlord issues) should be blamed on the tenant is utterly ridiculous.

I have not heard of this law before. Very interesting read. They are trying to blame me by saying I didn't ventilate the property correctly. I have obviously pushed back and said I did. The estate agent conducted an inspection and noted mould in the bathroom and some in the living room. I was advised to wipe down with bleach/mould cleaner, which I did. I even foolishly tried to repaint the bathroom ceiling to try and help and make it look better, and they are now moaning about that too. 

if they noted the mould and did nothing to rectify it, but left it for me to do are they liable now to pay to fix it, or am I?

ripplyuk

The landlord isn’t entitled to ‘new’ anything, even if you or the cat damaged it. Raise a dispute with the deposit scheme and be sure to point out that the landlord is seeking betterment. If the carpets were eg 5yrs old when you moved in, then all he’s entitled to is the value of a 5yrs old carpet (minimal). For wear & tear, he’s not entitled to anything. 

I disagree with the above poster who believes it’s your responsibility to install extra heating. I find that absurd. If the landlord wants to avoid mould in this property, they should make sure the existing heating and insulation is adequate.