Not sure where to begin, sorry this will probably be a long post!
Returned to UK recently after living abroad for 6 years. Came back because my parents are very elderly (90s) and their health has been nosediving rapidly in recent months. I’m so glad I came back when I did, because over the past couple of weeks I’ve found myself frantically sorting out my dad’s admission to a care home (complex medical needs + dementia) and have just moved in with mum to help her work out next steps. Very difficult times.
Until yesterday, I was renting a place near mum and dad’s. Very nice 1-bedroom accommodation, clean, tidy, everything in order. Only snag: rottweiler and spaniel left alone in the garden all day, barking non stop. I work from home and this wasn’t much fun, but I got used to it.
I made the accommodation very cosy with pictures, curtains, rugs, fairy lights, cushions, etc. It completely transformed the place, so much that when the landlady came round one evening she was oooh-ing and aaah-ing over it and saying how she’d like to keep it that way when I left.
I asked if I could replace the tumble dryer with a dishwasher, and the landlady was kind enough to pay for the plumber to sort this out for the dishwasher I bought. The tumble dryer got taken away and instead, I used a Brabantia rotary washing line instead (which I bought from Amazon, spike sunk into the ground outside).
The furnishings provided by the landlady included a clunky standard lamp that I didn’t like and never used. One day I opened a door and it pushed against the lamp, which fell to the floor, breaking the plastic bit that the bulb screws into (sorry, not sure what this is called!). That weekend, I took it to a local electrical repair shop to get it fixed. The electrician examined it for about 30 seconds but was puzzled by the single wire protruding, and said he couldn’t help. Everyone since has told me it’s an easy fix, maybe a tenner, and that he confused the wiring to the bulb with the internal wiring of the lamp. However, I ran out of time to get this sorted out.
When I gave notice to my landlady, I mentioned the damage to the lamp. She said it was terribly precious to her, and had been very expensive. Apparently it would all be OK if I left her the curtains, rugs, washing line, pictures on the walls, etc by way of compensation. While going around, she sneered that the curtains in the hallway weren’t long enough. Like a mug (which I am), I found myself apologising and saying I’d lengthen them with fabric from the ones in the lounge, which were too long (I’d just selected the nearest lengths when ordering them online).
When we next crossed paths in the garden, a week or so later, by then we’d both spoken to various people who all agreed the electrician had been an idiot and the lamp should be easily fixed, maybe costing a tenner. I was relieved, as I am struggling a bit financially at the moment and the thought of having to replace all the nice things I’d invested in was rather stressful.
However, not wanting to let her down with the curtains, I ordered thread and sewing materials to be delivered during my final week (mine are all still at home abroad), then spent hours turning up curtains this week when I should have been packing (I was also working long hours and trying to fit in visits to my dying father, not wishing to sound dramatic but still!). I left the curtains, a rug, and the dishwasher, all of which I had bought brand new. As I left, I gave her husband (she was away) a note explaining that I was taking the rotary washing line for my mum, who has one that’s now falling apart (she’s had it over 30 years; I think her need is greater) but explaining that if they wanted one they could buy one for about £80 on Amazon. This family, let’s say, are not short of cash. I also enclosed £20 to cover the cost of repairing the lamp – her husband told me not to worry about it.
So, I just got a text from her:
Hi AnxiousTenant, just got back to check [your accommodation], our agreement was for you to leave the washing line, not £20. I will ask [the agency] to replace the lamp form your deposit, minus £20. Thanks [Landlady] xx”
I’m not sure how to reply. Sort of need this like a hole in the head right now.
This is my first experience of renting in about 40 years, and I have no idea what my rights are. The letting agency have a good relationship with her, but I’m a stranger to them. Feeling very anxious about this, as I have no idea what they might deduct from my deposit. It might be cheaper for me to just buy her another brand new Brabantia rotary clothes line, but she and her family are ostentatiously comfortable and I am a bit skint! I left the place absolutely spotless and have photos to prove it, but what happens next?!??!
AIBU?
You are NOT being unreasonable = Leaving the brand new dishwasher, curtains, and rug that you bought, and making the place spotless, and paying for the lamp repairs, should be enough to keep her satisfied.
You ARE being unreasonable = You should replace the lamp with a new one, however much it cost.