Help with landlord - cracked pain of glass

[QueenBean]

Hello

I've moved out of my rental house and our landlord is trying to take back half of the deposit, mostly for things which we have either had permission for (ie picture hooks) or which are fair wear and tear. As a result, we are going to adjudication and will present all our evidence to them.

One of the items is a crack in the double glazing of one of the bedroom windows. The contract specifies that we are responsible for damage to any windows, however, we do not believe that this crack was our fault. It is the tiniest hairline crack to the outside of one pain of double glass in a sash window. The window was very hard to close and so someone from the letting agency closed it with force. A few days later the crack appeared and got progressively worse over winter. We should have told the landlord then, we do accept that. The house is Victorian though and I'm wondering if this could be a house issue (ie wear and tear of the house) rather than a tenant issue, and therefore if we'd have a case for dispute of paying this.

Any help would be greatfully received! The landlord has quoted £260, what would be a reasonable cost if we did have to pay?
Thank you

Hopefully bump :)

even if it is deemed your fault you don't have to pay for the entire window. Round here new DG windows are about £100 a square metre if that helps.

do you have accidental damage cover in your tenant's insurance? This will cover it if you are judged liable, although I don't think you will be. And obviously the house may be Victorian but the double glazing isn't!

but yes, you should have reported it, although double glazing can't be 'patched' in the same way as car windscreens.

Thank you very much. How do they judge if we were liable for it or not? Can damage like this ever overrule what is said in the contract?

Many thanks!

into the realms of guesswork here - but if a window is hard to close, people will slam it and so it will get broken. So I'd put this as poor maintenance on the part of the landlord. BUT did the landlord know it was hard to close? Can't be fixed if not known about!

what are you thinking about regarding the contract?.

as you say most of the rest of the disputed amount is for things where the landlord doesn't have a cat in hell's chance, I wouldn't worry too much.

Thank you so much special. Yes, the landlord knew that the window was hard to close. Her solution was just to keep it closed

The contract said that the responsibility of the windows lies with the tenants. Therefore if we've done anything to the window it seems to be our fault.

I am so hoping that the adjudication rules in our favour. Other items include sealant on the shower at £40 and £800 to rebuff a kitchen floor which is made with very sensitive stone. Totally ridiculous!

ooh, bring on the 'unenforcable contract terms' !! No way will this stand up. And it is not reasonable to let out a place where one bedroom has no opening windows. Of course you will want to open the window - in fact part of 'tenant-like' behaviour is ventilating the place.

buildings are the responsibility of the LANDLORD. End of. (that is the bonus of renting!)

sealant, fixing floors - all landlord responsibility and all wear and tear.

take no prisoners - but the deposit scheme definitely should rule in your favour.

Thank you so much special, I really appreciate your responses

We sent our responses to our landlord with accompanying evidence yesterday and she replied and discounted it all! She has now resorted to telling lies too, ie "the tenants told me xyz" which, even though wouldn't stand up, it's hard not to take it personally.

We're logging our adjudication tmrw so I will definitely let you know how it goes. And thanks again!

Special can I ask one more question? The floor is a very sensitive stone which marks if virtually anything is put on it (ie, it water marks very easily and takes weeks to dry out so even mopping the floor requires heavy buffing and doesn't stop looking mottled for weeks). Just before we moved out we defrosted the freezer and that left water marks on the floor.

We have had well document discussions with the landlord about how hard the floor is to clean, how it easily gets white marks and she also has agreed that the floor is very sensitive. Basically, it's a totally inpractical floor for a kitchen.

We have now been hit by a bill of £800 to rebuff the kitchen floor and remove "discolouring to the grouting". We have tried so hard to keep the floor clean! Where would we stand on this? There is nothing wrong with the floor really apart from those marks around the freezer which will probably dry out in a few weeks. The checkin inventory notes "mild discolouration to the grouting" so could we note that reasonably, over the last few years, it would have naturally discoloured? Should we refuse all out to pay for the floor or should we offer a token amount to buff the area around the freezer only?

Would the adjudicator ever decline our offer to pay something, ie if we offered £100 might they say "the tenants should pay nothing"?

Thank you again!

I'm just an ordinary landlord, not a legal expert - but this sounds entirely wear and tear to me. You've done your best but if she is a floor fashion victim and has put something NON-WATERPROOF in a KITCHEN then more fool her!

and yes, putting it back to 'as-new' and better than it was when you moved in is a total non-starter. It doesn't work like that.

I suggest stopping further contact beyond acknowledgement and awaiting the adjudication. But the onus is on the landlord to prove and I think you'll be fine.

Thanks special, you've been very helpful. We have acknowledged her last email and advised that we have noted her position, disagree and will now put to dispute.

Argh! But thanks again