Tenant has changed carpet, door and curtains!!

[Member786488]

He’s leaving tomorrow as was served a s.21 in July, my daughter is moving in.

he’s just told me how much he’s ‘improved’ the flat - he’s put in a horrible cheap grey fluffy carpet over a lovely, hard wearing, (expensive) and neutral one, he’s put a couple of doors in because he ‘doesn’t like open plan’, and my (again, neutral) blinds and curtains have been replaced with dark red things.

his deposit is £860. I don’t want to have an uncomfortable conversation but I think I’m going to have to. What’s reasonable here?

I can’t believe he did all that without asking!

Normally I'd say keep the deposit because it sounds like it will cost more than £860 to put it right. But if he's elderly and vulnerable then I would just be glad you have the property back.

Honestly I think it's fair enough to make the assessment of whether it's due to come out of the deposit after he's moved out. The carpet under may be fine. The curtains if he has removed them, well there is a cost if he's not kept the old ones. The doors can be easily removed but if there is damage to the frame then I guess he has to pay.

I don't see why he shouldn't pay something if he's ruined certain elements.

@EmmaEmerald many posters have berated the OP for ‘not knowing how the deposit scheme works’ etc….

Surely that applies to the tenant who should know they’re not allowed to make such modifications (doors in particular!) Wo asking the landlord first??

How long since you redecorated and put carpets in? Have a look around the deposit scheme you use, some have examples of disputes that can give you guidance with how yours might be handled. In my own experience, a LL tried to deduct money for painting the walls or something but wasn't granted it because he hadn't decorated in 6 years- with carpets its much longer though.
Will the doors be easy enough to take off and fix holes? A small amount could be deducted for that.

Well hopefully the tenant has kept the OP's curtains and will put them back up again before he leaves today. If he hasn't kept the OP's curtains, he has stolen her property and it will need to be paid for. Curtains can be cheap or they can be expensive, largely depending on what kind of fabric they are made from and whether they were custom made to fit the windows or not.

Tenants have a legal right to treat the property they are renting as their home, which means they are entitled to peaceful enjoyment of it. There is no reason to suggest the OP has not respected this right. Indeed, it sounds like - perhaps foolishly - she did not exercise her right to carry out periodic inspections of the property, and she also allowed him to keep a pet there when many landlords specify no pets.

They don't have the right to make alterations to fixtures and fittings without the landlord's consent. If I were renting a property with white walls and I wanted a splash of colour, I would ask the landlord's permission before painting my bedroom bright orange, and I would expect the landlord to say that was fine as long as I repainted it white before I moved out. It would be up to me to decide whether I wanted to go to the expense and hassle of painting the walls orange and then painting them white again, in a rented property.

It would not even cross my mind to get rid of the landlord's fitted carpets or install doors without their consent. If I didn't like the open plan layout or the carpets when I viewed the property, I would rent somewhere else, or put up with these things for as long as I lived there. If I was there a long time and the carpet which was threadbare but acceptable when I moved in started to become unacceptable, my first port of call would be to ask the landlord to replace the carpet, and if the landlord said it was unnecessary but I really wanted new carpet enough to replace it at my own expense, I would ask permission from the landlord and I would expect them to want to approve the choice of new carpet.

If I made any of these types of changes without the landlord's consent then I would certainly not expect to see my deposit again.

They don't have the right to make alterations to fixtures and fittings without the landlord's consent. If I were renting a property with white walls and I wanted a splash of colour, I would ask the landlord's permission before painting my bedroom bright orange, and I would expect the landlord to say that was fine as long as I repainted it white before I moved out. It would be up to me to decide whether I wanted to go to the expense and hassle of painting the walls orange and then painting them white again, in a rented property.

Actually this depends on when the landlord last painted the walls. If it hadn't;t been done in 6 years, the tenant can paint it orange, and leave it orange!

Well he's an idiot then, isn't he?

How is the tenant supposed to know when the landlord last painted the walls?

It depends on what is stipulated in the tenancy agreement.

No thats a completely obtuse argument but they could be required to allow a stair lift etc...

The Disability Discrimination Act 2005, enacted the following requirements for let and leasehold premises. Landlords or managers are required to take reasonable steps to:

1. change a policy, practice or procedure which makes it impossible or unreasonably difficult for a disabled person to accept a letting, enjoy the premises or use any facility that the lease or tenancy specifies;
2. provide auxiliary aids and/or services; and
3. change the term of a letting or lease when requested to by a disabled person, or by someone with the authority to act on their behalf.

The OP doesn't say this tenant is disabled though, and even if he were, surely he'd be more likely to want take doors out than put them in.

Given I lived in my rental propery for 13 years over all I could confidently say half way through my stay that the landlord hadn't painted it for over 6 years.

I mean I have no urge to paint it, if it needs it then its the landlords job but I definitely knew he hadn't snuck in during the night like a little paint elf to redecorate my walls.

Oh the heard-wearing carpets, London golden standard 😌

In a Listed Building, the tenant has also broken the law as I doubt he applied for Listed Building Consent before adding the doors.

PP was making a ridiculous comparison to a disabled person who can't handle stairs knocking down a house and building a flat, then saying that the tenant has to move... thats disability discrimination.

Right, but most people don't stay in the same rental property for that long, and this guy certainly hasn't.

Did you ever ask the landlord to redecorate, by the way?

Right, so maybe it was a bad example but the point that if this non disabled man didn't like the flat he shouldn't have rented it is a fair one.

He is elderly and vulnerable! If you cared about him being elderly and vulnerable then you wouldn't have served a notice to kick him out of his home and try and keep his deposit !
Don't try and justify what you are doing - I hope you have decided to let it go.
Otherwise it would look really greedy on your part.
I take it this guy paid his rent on time ? Every month ?
The dog maybe a companion for him.so yes a therapy dog ! OK I know he should have asked but really it isn't the crime of the century is it !
I am sure your daughter will just have to cope with extra doors to take off and the horrible carpet.
I am a private tenant so I know the rules about decorating and asking the landlord, having pets without permission etc but really in all honesty YABU in my opinion it's just a carpet and a couple of doors I am sure you will know people who can do this cheaply most landlords know someone in the building trades.
You serve this guy a section 21 notice so your daughter can move in and then you want to make things worse for him by keeping his deposit as well seriously!
It doesn't sound like he wrecked the place.

No because I was fine with it as it was.

Lots of people stay in rental properties that long or longer, I know many people my parents age that have rented for 20-30 years and raised their kids in those houses.

Its a pretty modern occurrence for people to bounce around and part of it is the result of the hyper modern issue that any tom, dick and harry think they can make a quick buck by become a landlord and then sell homes out from under the tenant when they realize its not a lazy quick get rich scheme.

Have you read the OP's posts?

She says it was only ever a one year tenancy and she made that clear at the start.

She also says she has liaised with the local housing officer and, from the sounds of things, allowed more time for the tenant to find another property where he can have his dog.

She has been more than reasonable.

If your position is that people should never rent out properties if they might ever want those properties back at some point, that would be a lot of properties sitting empty which would hardly help with the housing crisis, would it?

Either way, none of this is relevant to the fact that the tenant has made changes to the OP's property without her consent, despite knowing that he only had a one year lease, and that it will cost her money to restore the property to the condition it was in when he moved in. This sort of situation is what the deposit is for.

If you want your deposit back, you leave the property as you found it. This is rule 1 of renting.

If, as you say, the OP can find someone to restore her property to its former condition "cheaply" then perhaps this tenant might be lucky enough to get some of his deposit back. It's still a ball ache for her though.

OP has stated he is both elderly and vulnerable (indication of disabled)... they have protections too.

@Chris002 on the other side, I don’t think it’s the landlord responsibility to contact the senior housing officer on his behalf so he has somewhere to live…

The contract was for one year. He knew that.

@Chris002 did you even read the thread?
The flat was available for 1 year. He was aware it was available for 1 year. He took it on that basis. It doesn't look greedy at all that some one has materially changed a flat they don't own, and know they have to leave IN 1 YEAR, and they have to pay for it to be returned to the same standard.

The doors sounds horrific and there will be a cost to removing them. You are entitled to the property back in the state it was rented minus wear and tear. So the cost of taking down the doors and putting back in a good carpet is due to you. No issue with him changing the curtains. But he's obliged to give you back the original ones.

What he should have done is asked you if it was ok to put in the doors and carpet. He didn't. And he was only there a year. No point being cross. It could be a lot worse and at least he is sorted now .

Protections such as being able to dispose of the landlord's property and install doors without her consent, free from any legal consequences?

Pull the other one, it's got bells on it.