To ask for help with landlord/end of tenancy pretty please?

[chlo95]

We are a young couple renting privately - no agent. Contract ends in Feb 2016. We know we can't afford to renew - student loans stop so we're moving back home with parents to save for a deposit. Landlord is fairly good, slow at getting things fixed and a bit tight, but ultimately hasn't protected our deposit! We've reminded him three times but he says he keeps forgetting. We know if we took it to court we could be awarded upto 3x the cost of the deposit but we don't want to screw him over, just also don't want to be screwed over ourselves! I dropped an iron on the carpet in the spare bedroom and its burnt so I know there will be a deduction for that but want to ensure its a fair amount and we'll get the rest back! So my question is, do we tell the Landlord now that we're intending to move out which gives him plenty of time to find new tenants, we're happy to give him access for people to view etc, or should we wait till the end of our tenancy/give 1 months notice? I think the nice thing to do would be to tell him now but not sure if we've overlooked anything meaning doing so would negatively effect us.. any help would be appreciated, thanks!

He can protect your deposit now...

Its a legal requirement as you know!

Anything else is secondary. Yiu have to agree to any deductions. They should accept reasonable wear and tear.( unsure if iron accident would be counted as this)

An iron burn will mean the carpet has to be replaced. That will surely wipe out the value of your deposit anyway.

I think you might as well give up hope of ever getting it back.

Thankyou, so even if it's not in a scheme I still have to agree to it? I'm not sure if he will get around to it to be honest! Totally accept responsibility for the iron

Deposit was £550, it's only a cheap carpet and for a standard sized double bedroom, there's no way it will cost £550 to replace! I would rather replace it myself and get the whole deposit back

an iron burn in the centre of the carpet (our tenant did this too!) does NOT give the landlord a complete new carpet. Deductions are a ratio of the damaged area to the whole area, and also factor in the age of the carpet. Unless it was brand new the landlord will get about £30 back if that.

he can't protect your deposit now, too late. All he can do is give the whole lot back to you.

give one month's notice near the end of the contract, although you don't have to - you can simply leave on the last day.

look on various websites for sample letters telling him the deposit obligations. If he doesn't return it, you can sue him for UP TO (not guaranteed) 3 times its value; but you should get the deposit back.

and don't drop the iron on your parent's carpet.

Thanks Special, good to know! It really is in the middle of the carpet, it was an accident, but I appreciate that he will have to replace the carpet and I'm happy to pay towards that but worried he will take the whole deposit! We've added light fittings, curtain rails and an outdoor security light that we'll be leaving there if he wants them as they're no use to us, just hoping he weighs that against the carpet damage. At my parents we iron in the kitchen where it's tiled

You have no need to tell your landlord now. If he asks I would say you don't know - a lot can change between now and Feb 2016 so this is actually the truth. Plus he sounds unprofessional and will have no incentive to do repairs etc if he thinks you are leaving.

The minimum a landlord should do by law is protect your deposit and he must know this. Do not rely on his goodwill. Get some advice from Shelter and get your ducks in a row so you can use the legal process to protect yourselves and get your money back at the end of your tenancy.

Thanks, I think I'm a little too trusting. He will do repairs I think - it's his childhood home, where he grew up, and doesn't want to sell so he rents it out. He also works full time and has 2 other properties so I know he's busy so thought it might help him out to let him know we're intending to move out so he can start to advertise for tenants but I will look into the legal route just incase he is unfair with the deposit. Thankyou ??

'too busy to protect deposit' - bollocks. He is breaking the law relating to his business. By not protecting it he loses all rights to deductions.

i hope you have a gas safe cert if the property has gas.

Yeah we do have a gas safety cert they came out to redo it while we've been there (lived there 2 years now). He hasn't fixed any of the things that have been a problem, although in all fairness they have all been minor things - and it took him 15 days to fix the boiler in the middle of winter last year :(

I would replace the carpet with the cheapest you can find. Wait until Jan 2016 to give notice then immediately look to take action against non protected deposit. It's not screwing Ll over, he is (or should be) fully aware of the penalty for non compliance.

I made a teeny tiny burn mark with my GHDs on a carpet in a rental property once and they charged me for an entire new carpet! I was pretty pissed off. I wouldn't have replaced the whole carpet if it had been my home so I felt like they were really taking the mick. But nothing you can do.

Sorry got distracted, one thing thats worth trying is very fine sandpaper (180 grade or higher) rub over the iron mark. It gets rid of the hard melted bits and reduces the appearance of the burn.

no, do not replace the carpet. 'they charged me for the whole thing' cannot happen under the deposit scheme, in place since 2007. As the landlord has not protected the deposit, no deductions are possible.

give notice a month before you leave.

these are the facts. Boilers can take a while to get fixed in mid winter but that's not relevant to the above facts.