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!

You said tenants should be able to change properties to suit their needs. Your reasoning was open plan is impractical, nothing to do with disabilities. I said they cannot do this willy nilly. Stairlift, absolutely reasonable adjustment. Demolishing house, not so much. I cannot see how adding doors would be an adjustment for a disabled person. Nowhere did I say a disabled tenant would need to leave if they cannot manage stairs.

There's no such thing as a 1 year tenancy in the residential market in England. You can have an initial fixed term of 1 year but the tenancy continues after that unless either party gives notice. Tenancies can only be ended by the tenant or the courts, the landlord can only serve notice, not actually end the tenancy.

OP you are entitled to have your property returned to you in the same condition it was handed over in (allowing for fair wear and tear) unless you have given permission for changes to the condition. If you haven't then get quotes for the work needed to put the property back to its original condition and ask the agent to negotiate with the tenant.

If the tenant doesn't agree to the proposed charges then the scheme will arbitrate on your behalf and if you have a solid inventory and check out report clearly showing the changes you should get awarded costs minus any allowance for betterment.

There is always one.....

OP says the carpet was a year old. After a year a carpet will not need replacing.

MN Is absolutely batshit on this topic, tenants can do no wrong, landlords are the devil incarnate.

That’s not my experience- I had a very detailed photograph inventory, all the evidence to show that the tenant had damaged the house beyond wear and tear- they used the excuse that a “contractor” (a relative) had done the unnecessary terrible paint job (why they decided to pain the house I have no idea-they were not asked to or required to) and wrecked all the flooring in the house and they still got all of the deposit back and left me without the final month of rent which I had to pursue through small claims (which I did despite it costing me money as I was determined to give them a CCJ).

Now the deposit is only 5 weeks rent anyway it’s hardly worth having. Deposit free seems to be increasingly popular and is the way we will go I think. Although I am in the final 5 year countdown before I sell anyway so may not have another tenant.

@AlltheFs I agree it is more of a lottery than it should be, hence why I said 'should' get awarded costs. In my experience the schemes are a bit of a mixed bag.

I wasn't. The person I was quoting was.

You say he has a dog.... and the carpets were new and neutral..... I expect the dog has damaged the carpet and he has replaced as cheaply as possible.

Be prepared for a damaged carpet when you lift the old one. In which case, you definitely deduct the cost of the carpet replacement.

The doors - he should remove and make good.

Having had nothing but bad experiences with landlords and letting agencies myself I am almost always on the side of the tenant but this case seems pretty clear cut to me. You can't just go round replacing perfectly good curtains and carpet because they aren't to your taste and installing doors without the landlord's consent, that's ridiculous.

If there's a dispute, you can negotiate how much he gets back. The deposit protection scheme can make the final decision. Our landlord years accused us of not looking after their flat. I asked for photos of what the issues were saying the problem was (they couldn't say, apart from I'd once accidentally melted a tray in the oven (which I agreed cleaning costs for). The inventory was what backed us up. It's there to protect both sides.

In my line of work, I've different tenancy agreements. Check the agreement and inventory because carpets and blinds may be described as contents which would help but alternatively the carpet may have been listed as something he was able to change. The doors could have an impact on health and safety and I'd have expected him to have asked. Try and get some quotes to rectify it all (make sure it's itemised so the scheme can see everything broken down and it's fair).

Unfortunately, it may end up more expensive than you realise so I'd recommend disputing the deposit. Only if the agent has protected it! If not, you need to give him every penny back and not mention any issues at all as he would be within his rights to take you to court for 3x the amount.

If he's had a dog in there, it's possible the dog damaged it and it did need replacing at his cost. He may not have wanted to admit that.

Hopefully the carpet is still there underneath the one he has had put in, in which case that will be easy enough to check.

Elderly and vulnerable does not mean you can just destroy the owners property because you don't like it.

Its not ok.

The doors could have an impact on health and safety and I'd have expected him to have asked.

Or the OP's building insurance...

As most house fire's start in the kitchen if there's no door on the kitchen the fire spreads quicker. So the most obvious thing is to have a kitchen door on. Why would you not?

I've been a tenant 27 years of various homes with a 2 or 3 year break of owning. My sympathy here is totally with the landlord.

Whilst I am renting somewhere it's my home but it doesn't entitle me to make any changes without permission and the understanding I may have to put things back to how they were on moving out

Improve for who? The tenant should stick to the contract and ask permission for things like this.

Reading comprehension is a real issue for some people...

The OP says that the flat was designed to be open plan. Not all kitchens have a door, some are part of a large living/dining/cooking space which is entirely legal and very common.

She also says the tenant has been a "nightmare". All the landlord-haters are determined to paint him instead as a doddery old chap who is vulnerable and being exploited by the nasty, grabby OP. Instead, he's a guy who has made material changes to a property which is not his without anyone's permission.

Most flats built after about 2000 don't have them I think....that's a guess.

I've viewed so many small flats, hardly any have had a kitchen door.

I'm living in just over 500sq ft atm, love a door but it isn't feasible.

goodness, so many responses on here, I was indeed walking the dog.
thank you for your constructive advice although it seems for the most part what I thought was the case, is.
arbitration is only necessary if there’s a dispute, I’m hoping there won’t be.
the deposit was very definitely lodged through an estate agent.

im about to head up to the property now to see what’s what. He rang me this morning to ask if I want to keep the curtains (!) or give him something for them…
the original ones were thrown away and the carpet too - his one is not just laid over the top.
i asked why he didn’t ask before doing any of this and he said he couldn’t get hold of me.
he has rung me, at a very conservative estimate, over 30 times in the last few weeks, and left 16 voicemails when I was in meetings.
it’s farcical to say he couldn’t get hold of me.

he is elderly and vulnerable, and also a wily old bugger at the same time.

the original ones were thrown away and the carpet too

Well he needs to pay you for them. Seems pretty clear cut to me.

What a cheeky fucker.

Just tell him no, you don't want to keep his curtains or his carpet and if any of his deposit is left after you have deducted the cost of replacing your carpet and your curtains and paid someone to remove the doors and fill the holes, you will refund that part.

Fixed term tenancies are really a thing.

Oh my god, this is worse than I thought

he threw out your stuff?? 😱😱😱😱

does he have full mental capacity? And how old is he?

Very strange that he would do this in the first place, but especially because he knew he would only be there for a year.

As for his deposit, personally I would just give it back and move on from it, but I understand why you wouldn’t.