Has anyobe actually ever got their deposit back on a rental?

[malificent7]

I am currently deep cleaning my rental property ...I have been there for 10 years so wear and tear is evident.

I have scrubbed scuff marks off the wall, got a deep cleaner to do barhroom/ kitchen / skirting boards etc. Grout/ tiles are looking good.
There is a tiny blob of slime on dds carpet..i have softened with vinegar and is coming off slowly. I am using rug doctor throughout. there was also some black mould growing behind furniture...have scrubbed it off.
I know I wont get my deposit back but as a matter of pride I want to leave it in a good state.
Has anyone actually had a deposit back and if so...how?

Yes but only the time my mate who runs a cleaning company did me a cut price clean. And one time when the landlord just gave me my deposit back without looking at the property which was essentially a fucking garage with no heating
I have found that how shittily agents treated me as a tenant correlates directly with how much of my deposit they've gone for. Good luck.

Every time! We always left it in a better state than we came in though.

As a landlord, it normally covers rent arrears, deep cleaning, and visits to the tip. Wish we got more people with pride…

Some agents charge for spurious reasons. I know one who has a tame handyman who invents invoices for them and charges the landlord. So the landlord can be in the dark about the return of deposits

Always get it back! It’s protected it can’t be just refused to be returned unless you’ve done something really bad to the property

@TheRebelle

Yes, every time, on the last one I even had an email from the letting s agent thanking us for leaving it in such good condition.

We got a tester of magnolia paint and went around coving up all the marks and pin holes with it so it looked better than before we moved in!

We did the same lol

I've ALWAYS got full deposit back for every property I've rented and it's been many. I also have a dog.
If I can, I always start the new tenancy a week before I leave the old property. This allows me time to go top to bottom in every room for blemishes, wall marks, nail holes, dust.... I work methodically through one room at a time. When the room is finished I close the door and move on to the next. I do the hardest first: kitchen, bathroom, garden, lining room, bedrooms, stairs, landing hallway, front garden.
I usually leave it in such good condition they think I've had professional cleaners in. It also takes me a week to recover as I'm knackered. Attention to detail is key.

Yes! Usually a few deductions but always get most back. 10 years wear and tear should be taken into account

Sometimes yes and sometimes no. The place we are in now was filthy when we moved in so we had to hire cleaners and landlord would only pay half of bill! So we were out of pocket already. Probably won’t get our full deposit back when we move. It’s very one sided in favour of landlords in our experience.

Yes both times. It goes into the deposit scheme and the landlord has to justify why the should keep any of it.

We did get the entire deposit off our tenants but they trashed the place.

Yes. All three times. Why wouldn't you as long as you've been a good tenant.

Is the law covering the return of the deposit the same in Scotland?

Yes always full return of deposit, rented about 5 times in the last 30 years, relocation moves, each time we left immaculate and the last one about 10 years ago the owner cried when we left as the house was so clean.

If it's been 10 years plus OP, things have changed. Your own deposit might not be protected - I'm not sure if the law applies retrospectively - but wasn't it around that time that things changed?

@Toddlerteaplease

Yes. All three times. Why wouldn't you as long as you've been a good tenant.

That's a bit smug and PA. Why do you think landlords were made to protect deposits?

Yes I've had my full deposit back for both the rentals I've lived in. Both were professionally cleaned before I moved in so I paid to have them professionally cleaned when I vacated (cost around £150 each time) so I guess you could say I lost £150 of it - but equally I didn't go to any effort myself so it suited me.

We got our deposit back each and every time we left a rental in a four year period.

We made damn sure that the Letting Agent/Landlord didn't get an excuse to deduct any of our deposit. They seem to think that tenants are nothing more than fair game.

One time the lino got damaged when we had a washing machine installed. We told the Letting Agent how it happened and claimed off the washing machine company for replacement lino costs.

Those same Landlords wanted to deduct £100 for water damage to the bathroom carpet which wasn't our fault. We faced them down and they backed off. We got our deposit paid in full.

This was after we spent over £600 paying to have the house and garden professionally cleaned and tidied to get it back to how it was when we moved in. In fact, it was better. The driveway was immaculately clean. The cheeky bastard Landlords had the cheek to ask the Letting Agent to take new pictures of the house (because we had cleaned it up so well.)

The LA just said lamely they were within their rights to do as the Landlord asked. (OK). These are the same Letting Agents that were going to charge us £30 for every reference we needed to ask for in the future.

Many years ago I was struggling to get a deposit back on a rental. Fortunately I had no rent book or proper agreement and landlord preferred cash. It only took a letter mentioning HMRC and solicitor for it to be in the next post. Very different back then I always knew that paying cash would work in my favour. Landlord had loads of properties and it was pre digital so Tax Inspectors really knew their stuff and investigations were terrifying.

Every time :)

Every time. Never had a deduction, or any attempt to take one.

Yes in my renting days I always got it back.

I've never had a deduction but I've had good landlords that accept wear and tear! After 10 years they should be expecting to paint and new carpets as a bare minimum

I did in all the properties I rented as a student & after. Sometimes took a phenomenal bit of cleaning...

Interestingly, I've been a landlord for 20 years now. One of my tenants left recently & wanted to cover damages by far too much. She wasn't covered by the deposit scheme (been there too long, once it came in, I gave her deposit back) , so I've had a good look at the rules for fair wear & depreciation & they're strict. In the end, I persuaded her not to pay anything as she's been a fab tenant & I'm now selling the house. But the tenant deposit scheme is there to be fair to both ll & tenants, so use it if there's a problem.

We've had 3 sets of tenants and always given them their full deposit. And DH always got his whole one back when renting. I rented dodgy places that didnt take deposits!

I do now that I know my rights. I'm meticulous about taking pictures and gathering evidence. Despite being a good tenant - and having nice relationships with LLs during the tenancy, when it comes to deposit they always want to fight! I think they just expect to keep it tbh. Always leaves such a bad taste. Even had an estate agent who was surprised at the LLs behaviour!

But of course the MN perfect landlord, 'if I didn't let my property you'd have nowhere to live' brigade is out on this thread to tell you how unreasonable you are