Getting deposit back at end of tenancy

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We recently moved out of a rental property, we were in for a total of 3 years.

It is an old property, and I believe the previous owner had passed away and the daughter had given it a little spruce up then put it straight on the rental market. Some of the carpets were old but freshly cleaned etc and there was a new landing carpet and a new bedroom carpet.

There were a lot of 'bodge job' repairs that had been done before we moved in eg. the bathroom must have leaked through the ceiling at some point, and you can see where it had been fixed and painted over. One of the carpets was bubbled up in the middle. No huge problems, we were in a hurry to rent somewhere and this place accepted dogs so we thought it would be a good stop gap.

We moved out and had the whole place professionally cleaned and had a gardener sort out the garden. We took all our things with us and left it in what I thought was as good as if not in better condition than when we left it.

Now the letting agent has send us a check out report with a list of things that need doing, carpet repairs, a professional clean (already done) and the agent has included pictures of the parts of the house that were in disrepair when we moved in and want to claim a hefty part of our deposit.

They have said they checked it against a move in inventory, however there was not one done as far as we can remember, I asked for a copy of it and they say they can't find it.

the deposit is protected so what shall we do? I would like the full deposit back. How can I make sure that we get it.

Dispute via your tenancy deposit scheme. If there's no signed inventory from when you moved in you'll get the full deposit back. Don't even worry about it.

Tell them that unless they can provide a copy of the inventory that you signed, you will be expecting the full deposit to be returned, and that it was in better condition than found.

You can also log into the deposit scheme and request a deposit return, there's then a time limit on how long the EA can sit on it. Doing that will show them you are serious about not being mucked around.

Shakes head

How many frickin times have I read this exact same story in the last three months?

They can't produce a copy of an inventory that you either signed or did not respond to, they don't have a leg to stand on.

Go through your deposit scheme. If they don't have evidence of the inventory, they can't do anything. Did you take any pics when you moved in? When we moved in I ensured I took lots of pictures of the house first. Any scratch, missing bath plug etc. when we left they also tried to keep a large sum of the deposit however I went back to them with the photos (which I had sent 3 years previously on the first day we moved in) and they didn't have a leg to stand on.

Thanks for the replies

I have requested my deposit back through the TDS

We took some pictures when we moved in, there were dents in the radiator and bubbled carpet. We don't have any of the ceiling though.

We're going to be in a very similar situation when we eventually move out of our place. The entire place is bodged and falling apart. We have no inventory, the landlord/agency have no photos, they didn't even visit the property, just got the previous tenant to meet us with the keys.

Basically if they question anything when we leave we can just say "it was like that when we moved in" and that's that. Because they haven't got a clue what the place looks like even now and no evidence of how it was and that's their problem.

Without an inventory or photos printed out that you have signed you will get full deposit back. I'm a LL and I always take a photo of every room and get the new tenants to sign printed photo which I keep. I send them copies so they have them too. They also sign a printed out inventory which names each item, which brand/model. I've never had any problems at all with deposits. I suspect it is because of the photos. I've only twice in 18 years had to with old any deposit and once was because the tenant left not informing me or paying last minute baths rent. The other time a sitting room carpet that was 2 years old was bleached by the tenant leaving a large white stain they couldn't remove. I divided the cost of the carpet by 8 and multiplied by 6 which takes account carpet was expected to last 8 years and had done 2.

You'll get it all back automatically if they can't produce evidence of the state it was in pre-tenancy and that it's then worse now at the end. There's nothing to compare it to so they have no evidence for a deposit deduction.

Ours tried this on, then didn't bother to respond so the deposit money eventually defaulted back to us. We did have to wait weeks though as they get a certain amount of time to respond.

I've emailed the letting agency and said we feel the property was left as good as if not in better condition than the start of tenancy so we would request our full deposit back.

I actually cannot believe the cheek of them saying they have compared their check out report with the inventory, then back tracked and said there isn't an inventory.

Dodgy agents always try it on. It’s such a racket! I’ve also used the TDS and they were very good. Check all your other paperwork is in order too - if not, you could be able to claim even more. Did you have an up to date gas safety certificate, for example?

DD's landlord tried to retain the whole deposit when she moved with absolutely no justification. The deposit scheme refunded all but £5 for a light bulb.

Yes, Gas safety certificate was up to date.

They're not replying now.