House deposit - wwyd?

[Lolatall]

Dh and I have been renting a house out for the past few years, through an agent. House was all done out before letting, new carpets, freshly decorated, new fixtures and fittings.

Soon after the tenants moved in they started breaking their tenancy agreement, smokers when we asked for non smokers, they had pets when we'd stated no pets, they'd redecorated, they were running a business from the house. We rather stupidly and naively let them stay because they seemed a nice family and we didn't want to rock the boat. They then started demanding new carpets and reporting the property as being damp when it was actually mould caused by condensation.

We are now selling and the tenants have left the property in a right state, thankfully it's nothing that can't be sorted out with a good clean and redecoration.

The carpets are trashed, huge stains everywhere and have literally never seen a hoover, the house is filthy everywhere and stinks, Thick with grime on every surface. They done an extremely bad decoration job, paint all over the sockets, switches and skirting boards, wallpaper been put up (badly), they've been drawing all over the walls even on the woodwork. They also left lids of rubbish and filled the recycling bin with dead rats and birds and plants, an old hoover, and other junk.

We were in negotiation with the agent regarding the deposit and claiming some back for cleaning and redecoration costs. The trouble is the check out inspection has missed lots of things, it's acknowledged the carpets being stained and the paint being bad, but is been judged as an average level of cleanliness (I don't know how), and it's missed all the rubbish and mould.

The tenants have now gone to the tenancy deposit scheme.

We are unsure whether to pursue making a claim. We feel as though we've been well and truly done over by both the agent and the tenants.

Was an independent inventory done when they moved in that said cleaned to a professional standard and most items in new condition? Paint in new, or nearly new order?
You could query the inventory clerk's report and ask to review photos. Presumably the report suggested cleaning contribution and decorating contribution from tenant?
How many years were they there? 3? So you'd have probably painted every 5-6 years. Get a quote for Painting now and for deep clean, steam clean and forward to everyone with a suggestion of % contribution.

We haven't seen the original inventory to compare, I guess that we should ask to see it?

We've got quotes for the works but the agent have told us that we can't claim for cleaning because the inspection says it's has been left reasonably clean.

We've taken photos as further evidence and sent them off but nobody seems to have done anything with it.

They lived there for 4 years and although we can clearly see it's in a right state compared with how it was originally. I'm concerned that a professional agency may just put it down to wear and tear.

We don't know whether it's worth the time and energy to pursue a few hundred pounds.

They are quite volatile people and dh is concerned about them carrying out some sort of revenge and damaging the outside of the property somehow. They've shown themselves to be quite malicious in the past.

It sounds like they left the house in a disgusting state and you would be justified to pursue this. Has the agent made any comments about references for them, assuming they found the tenants for you initially?

That said if I was in your shoes, for the sake of a few hundred £ I would write it off. Presumably they paid rent on time throughout their tenure so at least you didn’t have cost of voids and tenancy changeovers.

There are always costs and maintenance involved with letting property. Hopefully your next tenants are cleaner!

I got every penny that I claimed once through the adjudication process with DPS. I had pics of dirt, rubbish and damage. Receipts. Tenant was only there 3 months though, so my tolerance for wear and tear was low. It took me hours to put together, maybe a silly waste of time, but the judgment going in my favour, vindicating how I felt, was amazing!