To charge tenant for how much?

[Robinredbreasted]

Have a small rental cottage (my home I rented out after moving back in with mum to help care for her as end of life). Tenants asked me to see them and they gave notice. All very nice etc. but on leaving (which was quite rushed) I noticed there’s some quite sizeable holes in the walls (they’ve not mentioned before). Problem is the walls are covered in anagalypta type wallpaper so if I filler and repaint them you’ll still see the patches, it’ll look really untidy. The main walls are papered in this old design so it’s not like I can re plaster or re wallpaper small sections.
They’ve asked that they get all their deposit back as they are moving away and need the money. But I don’t want it to be left as it is.
AIBU to charge them the full cost of re plastering/rewallpapering (which I imagine would be more than their deposit anyway), or what should I do?

Firstly, tell them you can’t agree to return their deposit until you’ve done an inspection. If you’ve seen holes there, how do you know that there isn’t damage all over the property?

You are well within your rights to use the deposit to make right the damage. That’s what it’s for.

If my tenant had put knacking big holes in the wall, I’d get a written estimate and present them with that. They can’t be serious wanting the entire deposit returned having damaged a wall that much? What on earth have they been doing? Take pictures for when they inevitably go back to the deposit scheme (who didn’t whinge at me when I retained the entire deposit because the tenant had left dog shit and 6 car loads of crap in the house and didn’t pay the rent).

How long ago was it last decorated? How long were they there? If it was a while ago and you plan to rent it again you may need to put it down to wear and tear. Remember to keep spare of paper so you could match in future.

This.

how long have the tenants been in, is it wear and tear, what inventory and record do you have of the condition they took occupancy in, etc.

You can't charge for replastering and redecorating the whole walls. Holes and damage obviously aren't fair wear and tear but scuffs and updating wallpaper/painting is, in my understanding.

You need to do a full check out inventory against what it was like when you moved in with pics and videos

I would get a quote from handyman for patching holes. Remove all wallpaper anyway and plan to repaint or repaper yourself to keep the property modern and fresh and to inspect for further damage

How big are the holes? How many holes? How many walls?

What's written in your tenancy agreement? Was there an inspection before they moved in and then after (with photos)

No your not unreasonable to charge them the cost of repair and repapering the damage wall or walls

12 months and all the house had been repainted. Tenancy agreement says it should be handed back in same condition minus wear and tear. I saw 3 holes each about the size of a fist (I assume a fist has made them!)

Have you before photos ? Have you asked how they’ve managed to damage the walls.

I assume their deposit is protected and this will all have to go through the DPS anyway?

Not an answer for the tenant issue but you may be able to find the name of the design of anaglypta online if you search for original or vintage anaglypta patterns. Then search on the name. Amazon also seem to have some discontinued ones. It worked to find a couple of old wallpapers from my parents house.

I’m hoping you protected their deposit? It’s required by law. You’ll need to lodge a dispute/claim with the DPS.

Yes all done correct and proper. That wasnt my question!

@Robinredbreasted as the previous posters suggests, you will need to lodge a dispute with the tenancy deposit scheme.

You will need to provide evidence to support your claim, and also for the repair costs. I used the check in report, the check out report, and the written quotes I had for the work that needed undertaking. The process is quite laborious but it is straight forward. I can dig out the link that guides you through it.

I would suggest that you register the dispute with whoever you registered the deposit with sooner rather than later. The tenant will be given the opportunity to respond, and the whole process takes about a month if I recall correctly.

How long has the wallpaper been on the wall?

Above you said it was painted 12 months ago but in the OP youre talking about holes in wallpaper that can't be plastered and painted over.

A landlord cannot claim for betterment or wear and tear.

Holes are damage.

If the wallpaper was 10 years old then it would be a the end of it's life so you'd charge for the holes to be refilled.

If the wallpaper was brand new when they moved in then you should charge for the hole filling and 90% of wallpapering costs.

As they're wanting their entite deposit back, I would do an inspection with them and make it clear that holes in the wall are damage and they need to be made good so they can no longer be seen. Give them the option of doing it themselves.

I assume the deposit was protected and you did a check in inventory when they moved in signed by both parties?

Lodge a dispute with the deposit company.

Wear and tear is all well and good - even the odd hole for a picture or cracked tile, scuffed worktop maybe. But fist-sized holes in the wall is not wear and tear, it's damage and should be paid for. Make sure you take lots of pictures with something for scale, and do a thorough check everywhere to make sure there's no more damage.

They're CFs wanting their whole deposit back!

I know you painted but how old was the wallpaper?

you can’t claim for betterment - so if the paper has been up more than 3 or 4 years you might struggle.

when did you last inspect the property?

As long as you have the deposit in a scheme, you are right and justified to charge them for the damage they caused. Let the deposit scheme make the judgement. They are generally on the side of tenants and won’t let you keep money you aren’t entitled to so you have nothing to lose by putting in the claim.

It is irrelevant that the tenants told you they need the money. You also need walls without holes in them.

Charge them what it costs to repair the holes, not for entire replastering/wallpapering!

Your question was ‘what shall I do?’. I answered it by saying lodge a dispute with the DPS! You can’t just keep their deposit money to make good without going through this process.

You'll need to obtain a quote to see how much it costs to repair the wall. Perhaps two quotes so you have a good idea of the market cost to repair and then deduct that from the deposit. You would then log into the tenancy deposit scheme or whichever scheme you or your agent used to protect the deposit and it would be handled through them as they will have protected the deposit in escrow. There are time limitations when dealing with deposits and the relevant deposit scheme so make sure you work within them.

Have you got photos or proof that the holes weren't there when they moved in? They could try to argue that they were already there if they want to be difficult.

Done with fists rather than pictures?!

Yea charge them for whatever it costs to replaster and repaper. The tenancy deposit scheme you’re with will decide anyway, if tenants dispute it that is.

But if the paper is up 20 years and the plaster underneath is in poor repair, for example, the landlord won’t get the whole cost back.

Anaglypta type paper is often used to cover walls that are in less than ideal condition. And the op calls it an old paper.

It’s really old wallpaper, I’m guessing at least 30 years old but it was painted just before the tenants moved in. The wallpaper is in excellent condition mostly as is the whole cottage-it’s got many many original features all in excellent knick. I understand how to use the deposit scheme etc but I was wondering what to do re repairing the holes eg just filling them in (either they do it or I get someone in to do) will look really silly as the hole will be flat but all around is highly patterned wallpaper. But, I imagine it would be very expensive to replaster everything over as surely I’d have to do each whole room rather than have some walls wallpapered and some flat, and would remove some of the character perhaps.
yes I’ve got lots of before and after pics, there’s 3 holes each the size of my hand, two in hallways and one at the bottom of the staircase. I looked today but tenants weren’t available, their friend showed me around. There’s also huge weeds growing out the gutters but the tenancy doesn’t mention gutters being cleaned. I checked last in March.

Then you can't charge for replastering or rewallpapering the whole walls unfortunately
Get quotes from local handymen or decorators and charge that from the deposit
Or DIY
Probably wouldn't ask them to do it as they've moved out now ?

You will just have to try and find some similarish wallpaper and paste it over and paint it - if it's patterned just enough it shouldn't look too bad as may draw the eye away
Alternatively you go creative and try and paint the pattern on the patches
Or panel the lower half of all the rooms to cover all the spots