Dilemma: Are my tenants being unreasonable?

[JudefromJersey]

Note sure if anyone knows the law relating to my current dilemma.

Boring story but nutshell is that my tenant's contract ends at the end of July. However they have already moved out but some of their belongings remain in the property. I asked my tenants if I could take a gardener in to do some work to the garden (as it has not been maintained particularly well) and they agreed. I didn't elaborate on what the work was and they didn't ask.

They happened to stop by when the job was halfway through (it was a two day job). I had an email saying their possessions were covered in dust etc. and they weren't happy saying they were not aware how big the job was and how they would never have allowed it if they had known (sanding the wooden chairs and trellis, repainting, repointing the paving stones and tending to the foliage)
As the tenants now won't allow me to enter the property so can't inspect it but my gardener assures me that the property was left in the same state as it was when he started, ie he cleaned up everything when he finished the job, but during the job, well the gardener says there was no dust anyway. I have used him before and he is extremely trustworthy.

Tenants are trying to argue that I should pay him the sum of approx 50% of the months rent to cover "damage".

I genuinely don't feel like I did anything wrong so uninclined to pay. I feel like he is chancing his arm. I consider myself to be a good landlord and always fix any problem promptly.
What would you do? Do you think I am in the wrong?

So you didn’t maintain the garden and now thee stuff has been damaged?
No the tenants are not being unreasonable.

No they are just chancers. Anyway you cannot do a final inspection until all their stuff is out of the house so you could not say whether you can even return their deposit.

Chancing his arm.

Wasn`t there anything in the tenancy agreement about keeping up maintenance of the garden?

Why would it be up to the landlord to maintain the garden? Every flat I’ve lived in it’s been my responsibility as a tenant.

Tenants are being unreasonable AF. A bit of dust isn’t going to destroy their belongings. They’re changing their arm to try and get some money out of you.

Well in their shoes if my landlord said he wanted to send a garden in it wouldn’t occur to me that this would involve a lot of sanding which of course creates a huge amount of dust. However for the belongings to have got dirty within the flat presumably they left the windows open and the fees were ground floor the Gardner should’ve shut them from the outside So I can understand their frustration

However whilst the dust maybe annoying this is not mean that they entitled to any rent reduction let alone 50%.

Tenants don’t repoint paving stones, sand and repaint! Cut the grass and trim hedge but that’s it

Have they got some pictures? What was covered in dust?

Do they have photos? And surely it’s up to them to “maintain” garden? Though how you describe the work isn’t so much maintaining...

If they are asking for reduction in rent then you have the right to see the damage. At most you pay for their stuff to be cleaned.

Sounds like they are just pushing their luck

They are chancing their arms. A bit of dust, seriously - not a chance in hell. Just say no and see what they try next.

Either their belongings were in the garden or the gardener was sanding chairs in the house.
Which was it?

Sanding furniture isn't normal maintenance and definitely would cause a mess.

What are they saying has been damaged?

Thanks for your responses.
To answer a few questions:
It's in the contract that the tenants should maintain the garden. In this case it's only a small patio. It wasn't maintained very well by tenants despite being in their contract to do so. When I had seen that the foliage etc was overgrowing, the inbuilt wooden benches were a bit warped etc, and that the pavement pointing was jagged and would be painful if they were to fall on it, I thought it prudent to maintain it.
Gardener says nothing has been damaged. Tenant showed me a photo of some dust but it's dust in corners (one would think dust from a job such as this, if there was any would be in the form of a "film" over everything rather in a corner. The tenants moved out 2 weeks ago and most of their stuff is gone so I would think it's natural that some dust would settle in an empty house in a week.
The gardener told me that he kept the doors to the garden shut when they were doing the repointing but they had to bring everything through the house (it's a terrace) so for the duration of the job there may have been some dirt (I haven't been able to get in and see it as the tenant refuses me entry). However the gardener, who I know well, had everything cleaned up when he left.
Effectively it's an empty house with a few bits and pieces left and they are trying to say that the dust caused damage.
As I write it, I can see how daft it sounds but at the same time, I consider myself a nice landlord and don't want to act in an unreasonable manner. But in this case I can't see why I should have to pay him.

The tenant is not responsible for your patio or inbuilt garden furniture. Maintaining the garden would include a mow here & there. Possibly a tiny bit of cutting back.

From your description & having sanded a lot of furniture recently I can totally believe that there will have been lots of dust & dirt that probably looked worse once gardener left & it had settled. Depending on the possessions it may well have caused damage. Scratching, dirt etc.

However, without you being able to inspect the damage in person the tenant is being very unreasonable in expecting payment. If they wont let you see for yourself they can whistle for it.

Your next tenant can bring their own furniture then. Problem solved.

You have the money for July. Give them the full deposit back if there is no good reason to keep it. Let them whistle for anything else. I’m not sure what they could have done about the furniture and grout but they should have trimmed plants. Go in after they move out and get a company to do the exit check so it’s impartial.

Thanks all. We had always planned on giving them their full deposit back as they looked after the place generally and we had a good relationship with the tenant. (I should clarify, the female tenant. The male tenant actually moved out about a year ago but we usually dealt with the female tenant).
I'm debating whether to pay for the end of tenancy clean as a gesture of goodwill, even though it's around £500. I'll have to think about it.

£500 for cleaning how big is this house?

It’s probably slightly larger than average but fairly big standard where we are. It’s an end of tenancy clean, they all charge this kind of money. They send a team in and steam carpets etc also. But no, not cheap.

Jakers ours charge nothing like this I would be looking to pay £250. You are stuck if they all charge this.

Why were their possessions in the garden? Did the gardener have windows open to let dust in? Doesn't make sense.

I'd ask for an itemised list of what they claim was damaged together with photos and quotes for repair or replacement showing how it adds up to half a month's rent. Even if you get a bit of dust on things, for the most part it just rinses off? Chancers I reckon.

I wouldn't be £500 out of pocket for good will.