New carpets after renting 5 years

[NewbieDivergent]

Any landlords about also interested in others opinions.
I've rented my current house for over 5 years,washed the carpets myself over the years plus had living room done professionally once.They looking a bit dingy now so not sure how much improvement would happen if I washed again before I moved.
Theres a few mark's from paint,nail varnishetc,not big,small but noticeable if you looked closely.Would you think this would impact getting my deposit back or would you expect to replace carpets after 5 years?
Thank you.

Well if you're good with nail Scissors it's easy to remove the nail varnish and paint if the patches are small.

My landlord replaced my carpets after 7 years when I asked. So I think it would be reasonable to return your deposit and accept they need to replace them due to normal wear and tear.

Were they new carpets when you moved in?
Unless there are large and obvious stains i think it would come under wear and tear and the landlord should replace them without taking from your deposit, especially if they weren't new 5 years ago

Depends if they were new when moved in. I believe ll have to replace carpets every 7 years?? Or have i imagined that

Your deposit should be in a deposit scheme. If the landlord attempts to charge you for marks on the carpet you can appeal to the deposit holder. They usually heavily favour the tenants and after 5 years they may well write the carpets off.
I am a landlord by the way.

I'd definitely try to remove it. It's doable with baby nail scissors. I've done it a couple of times

If it was small splatters under 1cm I wouldn't notice. A big full spill of red nail varnish in the middle I might ask for a small amount back if it looked deliberate lack of care. Not the full amount of a replace but I'd get a quote for a clean. I've had tennants put fag burns in all carpets out of spite so that has tainted my view. But if the carpets was already old and you had obviously been a good Tennant and everything else was well kept I'd let it go. After five years it's not really fair to withhold unless like I say you put holes in all of the carpets.

I've never actually withheld any part of a deposit. Except the fag burn family but it was for their unpaid rent.

Depends if they were new when you moved. If they were, 5 years is no time at all really and I'd expect them to still be semi-presentable.
Domestic carpet cleaners (both machines and sprays etc) can also make carpets look worse over time as they can over-wet the carpets and/or leave too much soap residue behind, industrial machines are just better at the job.

There is a depreciation time On carpets. Not sure how long exactly it is but it's quite short.

@Morechocmorechoc never thought of that 😀

Mmmm the tenancy deposit scheme didn't even favour us for the carpets when we moved out and we'd been there over 5 years! It did surprise me especially bearing in mind it was a rubbish carpet too.
I reckon it can depend on who you get reviewing your tenancy deposit if you go through the scheme

Yes,new when moved in,tiny accidental spills,drips.
Good to know it should be ok and not unreasonable to hope.Been stung in past with deposit not returned but my own fault for not chasing.

If they charge anything at all it will be minimal, but very unlikely after 5 years

I'm an inventory clerk and do check outs!

I guess I was charged minimal for the carpet to be fair
I didn't agree with being charged for the carpet but couldn't argue

In my experience they charge you for everything and there’s no allowance for reasonable wear and tear.
They tried to charge DD £60 because a lightbulb was not working, so basically a new bulb needed putting in. Fortunately she had photos she had taken when she moved in showing two bulbs not working.

Lots of landlords will try to claim for a full carpet, but you should just go straight to the TDS or whoever your deposit is with if they do- for 5 years wear and tear you're probabl paying 0-20% of the cost of a replacement, depending on quality.
www.google.com/url?q=www.tenancydepositscheme.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Product_Lifespans_Guide_NRLA_version_Updated_Feb_2021.pdf&sa=U&ved=2ahUKEwivmbThyfb3AhXKUMAKHbyDAOAQFnoECAsQAg&usg=AOvVaw22KtlYd91SLjOM2afsTDH2

We have a rental and don't replace all the carpets every 5yrs! The carpets in our own home were over 15yrs old before the moths had almost completely eaten them so changed them.

If new carpets were needed after just 5yrs, I'd think I had purchased poor quality carpet to start with, or the tenants had been jogging around the house to cause such wear and tear- which is unlikely. Within months of a new carpet, 1 girl burnt a scorch mark from hair straighteners in the middle of the carpet in her room. She had to pay for the carpet to be replaced in just her room, as we couldn't cut it out as it had burnt right through. Luckily there hadn't been a fire!

I think it depends how bad really with them being new when you moved in.

If it is genuinely just tiny spots then I would think it would be fine but you say "paint, nail varnish etc" which makes me think it's more than one stain if it's from different things.

Only you'll know how bad they are but I'd recommend taking photos of the stains before moving out so you have evidence of what it looks like before leaving in case the LL does try keep some of your deposit

Thank you @anon2022anon.

Does this mean that you all change your carpets every five years???

@Lou98 some paint drips in a bedroom and nail varnish in living room.The rest is just dirty from foot traffic etc.

I was going to link to the rules linked above.. the 'low, medium and high' quality descriptors might be open to interpretation and you will only be required to pay based on the remaining useful life.. not replacement cost.

Definitely not low quality,hoping medium which is 5-8 years.

I Don't replace the carpets in my rental every 5 years as standard, but I would only expect a carpet in a rental to last that, anything longer is a bonus. That does mean I only buy low cost carpets now- not the cheapest, always put good underlay underneath. But unfortunately there is a % of tenants who don't look after.

I work in the lettings area too, and I would say 10-20% of people who leave need to have their carpets replaced, the vast majority from damage not wear and tear.