Landlord question - wear and tear

[fruitstick]

We have just moved out of our rented house.

We left it clean and tidy. Someone even gave the place a whole coat of paint for us.

However, landlord wants to charge us for more painting work, carpets cleaned, some ikea blinds with one slat broken, plastic fridge shelf broken etc.

Is there any allowance for natural wear and tear, bearing mind we had lived there for nearly 2 years or does he have the right to charge us to put it back to pristine condition?

afaik wear and tear is covered with normal rental agreement (or even by law?)
I don*t think he has the right to charge you, unless you painted a wall black or have left something damaged.

have you made fotos before you moved out?
did you have a clause in the rental agreement saying how much cleaning is needed before you move out of if needs to be professionally cleaned?

I think wear and tear is reasonable .. though it sounds like you did a very good job to make sure it was clean when you left. Did you take any photos to show how good a condition you left it in? Were the broken blinds, broken shelf down to you? I guess its reasonable for him to charge you for those, how much of your deposit does he want to keep?

I'm waiting for him to send the bill.

The fridge shelf and the blinds were the cheapest and flimsiest so didn't take much breaking. They didn't break through anything other than regular use.

Also, he's charging us for professional decorators when I know he did it himself. Does he have to provide receipts?

Did he request that carpets be cleaned at the end of tenancy when you signed the agreement? We have to have carpets and curtains professionally cleaned in our current rental and it is part of the contract and it was the same when I last rented about 12 years ago! If not in the contract I don't think he can expect it.

Broken items I would expect to pay for if they weren't broken at start of tenancy.

Did you have an inventory when you moved in and out again? If not, there's not much he can do. We rented for a few months and the LL tried to charge us for normal wear and tear in an already pretty dingy flat so we took it to the tenancy deposit scheme and they found in our favour and returned us every last penny.

Tbh, if you had been there for two years and not caused any problems during that time, I would be prepared to let one Ikea blind go. If you do decide to take it to the TDS, he will have to show receipts to prove that he was actually out of pocket by your wear and tear, eg, he bought a replacement blind, he paid someone to redecorate etc. It doesn't cost you anything to do so I'd put in a claim asap.

Regardless of whether the shelf and blinds were cheap and flimsy, you broke them so are responsible for them (to be honest I think I'd have replaced them before leaving). I would wait to see the bill re the professional decorators, are you certain he did it himself? If so, the challenge him on it. If not, tell him you'll go to a tribunal as he should have your deposit protected in a deposit protection scheme.

He said the letting agents should have contacted us about the end of tenancy to go through requirements but noone did.

Nothing in contract about professional cleaning.

Hmm. Your landlord will be getting an allowance for wear and tear on the income tax he pays (I hope) on your rent. I'd have a look at your tenancy agreement to see what it says about cleaning, etc. When we rented our house out for a while, we paid to have it painted and bought some new furniture when it started to look a bit scruffy, at the agent's recommendation.

I once left a flat in immaculate condition after 2 years of exemplary tenantship (landlords lived downstairs) only to be sent an invoice some weeks later for 35p for a missing sink plug - pretty sure I didn't nick it, but I think they could have perhaps let that one go.

If it's not in the contract then it's going to be pretty hard for him to impose conditions retrospectively such as professional cleaning, carpets cleaned etc. However, there is an expectation that properties should be left in the condition they were found so were the carpets clean and had the property been cleaned when you moved in? Is this reflected in the inventory?

Can he provide copies of receipts for professional cleaning/services before you moved in?

If not, then you don't have to pay for it either.

I think the fridge shelf and possibly, if reasonably new, the blinds would be chargeable. He should not charge for a repaint or carpets cleaned unless the sue was excessive (ie you'd bashed furniture into the wall several times or stained the carpet) or that it was pristine when you moved in and the lease stated it should be returned as such. Yes you are entitled to receipts. However was it you who moved out before the lease was up ?

Yes it was me that moved before the lease was up, but we agreed to keep paying until new tenants were found. They move in tomorrow so he has has had no gap in rental income.

WRT wear and tear, the landlord is not entitled to be better off after making deductions from your deposit than he would have been through normal wear and tear. Items in rented property including decor and furnishings have an expected lifespan, and charges to replace or repair items should reflect the age of the item.

So for example, a landlord might expect to replace venetian blinds in a rental property every five years. If the blind costs £50 to replace, but is four years old, he could really only charge you 20% of the value of the blind. If he charges you more than this, say the full £50, he would then be better off than he was before if you seen what I mean! It's called the principle of betterment, which basically means that a landlord is not entitled to make deductions from his tenants' deposits which leave him financially or materially better off...