Should we return tenant’s deposit in full?

[RedPepperGreenStepper]

DH’s mum passed away unexpectedly 13 years ago. We became unintentional landlords as it was the best option at the time.

We struck lucky with lovely tenants who made it their family home and lived in the house for 13 years; they have three DC and two cats. Due to a change in our own circumstances, we served S21 a few months ago and the tenants have already moved on.

We now need to return their deposit of around £700. However, DH wants to make large deductions , whereas I believe we should return it in full. The deposit it protected so DH will not make the final decision if the tenants dispute it.

The house was not decorated or professionally cleaned prior to the tenants moving in as it was rather rushed from both sides. We live hundreds of miles away so we have never inspected the property, but have arranged repairs when necessary.

The tenants have (with permission) and at their own expense:

*Replaced all carpets
*Decorated the rooms (one is wallpapered in Peppa Pig, the other is Zoo themed, so it’s not neutral decor).
*Re-decorated the hallway, stairway and landing in a neutral colour way
*Fenced off the yard (it was an open yard when they moved in).

The house is now looking tired but it is generally clean and tidy and has been looked after as a family home.

DH reasons for deductions:

*The wallpaper and paint is scuffed in quite a few places around the house (the wallpaper the tenants added).

*Theres a cracked patio slate in the yard.

*There’s a crack in part of the pipework under the utility sink (the tenant said this was present when they moved in but as they rarely used the utility sink, it wasn’t a problem. They did say it has widened over time and will now leak slightly if it is used).

*A fence panel needs to be replaced (this was the tenants fence) .

*There are weeds growing through the patio in the yard.

*The flooring joints have weakened and there are now sizeable gaps in the flooring (basic laminate).

*The entire home needs redecorating.

We are planning to move a relative in to the home temporarily before we sell next year and it will need some work. However, I do not agree with DH that this is the tenant’s issue and I worry he is going to sabotage our good relationship with our tenants over a small amount of money.

None of the issues were intentional damage as is clear from the way the house has been left. The tenants cleaned before they left and removed all rubbish. I’m concerned we’re going to pay out more to dispute this than to just return the deposit.

Thoughts?

On what planet does your DH think he can argue any of that? those are ALL wear and tear or landlords jobs not tenants jobs.

Why on earth would a tenant be responsible for fixings pipes, paving, fences, joists etc...?

Your husband knows absolutely NOTHING about a landlord's responsibilities.

They rented a tired house, looked after it better than you did, and he has the cheek to bring up weeds!

Give them back the deposit.
How many times have you repainted/ decorated the house in 13 years? It would need done regardless of peppa pig paper

If he argues over this then the tenants should come back and take down their fencing and fencing posts (even if it means sawing or smashing and grinding the posts down so they can’t be seen sticking up from the ground) and take up their carpets and take it all with them. Then there is no single fence panel to be replaced and then strip the walls of wall paper so there is no scuff marks.
As for charging them for weeds which could have easily grown in a few days given we have had sunny followed by wet weather virtually every single day over the last few months

I would like to see how much it is to buy and put up new fencing and posts and replacing the carpet. Definitely more than the £700 he wants to retain

Trying to charge them for 1 cracked patio slab and a cracked pipe that was there when they moved in is just ridiculous

Joists moving - The fabric of the house is the owners responsibility and has nothing to do with the tenant

On top of that I am presuming he has not got proof that any of this stuff he is complaining about was in pristine condition before they moved in.

Your DH is the type of person who gives landlords a bad name.

It's people like your husband which give landlords a bad name. Land lord here. I wouldn't even occur to me to keep the deposit as it all sounds like wear and tear. They looked after your home all this time so it's always best to part ways on good terms. It also might potentially cost your husband more in the long term if this is disputed by them.

This all sounds like wear and tear, you can’t claim for that. They’ve basically looked after a property for you for 13 years, I’m sure they’ve spent more than £700 to keep it in a liveable condition in that time.

Ex-landlord here and I wouldn’t keep the deposit for any of that stuff. (I did keep it for rent arrears with my last tenants hence now being an ex-landlord).

Wow

Pay them their deposit back

It is wear and tear. You won’t be allowed to keep the deposit for these reasons and the deposit scheme is there to protect tenants rights more that the LL. you are taking the piss and your DH is a CF and he is giving us LL who actually respect tenants rights a bad name. What an embarrassment he is.

Absolutely return the full deposit. As a one flat incidental landlord I would never keep any deposit for wear and tear..which all of the items listed seem to be. And having had one nightmare tenant I now realise what a gift a good tenant is to a good landlord. Your husband sounds greedy in this situation.

Sounds like normal wear and tear and your DH is nitpicking.

when we purchased our home, the tenants we inherited left their bathroom trash and a pile of shit I had to get rid of at my expense. We returned their full deposit.

All sounds like acceptable wear and tear, especially after 13 years. They even made improvements which is a bonus win . The only point of contention would be the non neutral wallpaper but in light of them doing neutral decoration in the hallway and fencing the yard, I’d just let it go.
your husband sounds very mean and you sound lovely. No need to show him this thread, a quick google throws up what counts as acceptable wear and tear in tenancy and he’s wrong. Tell him to stop being a tight arse

It would be extraordinarily tight of your husband not to return the deposit. You seem to have got away without having to do much maintenance on the house for 13 years; it sounds as if you've got it back in good condition with an entirely acceptable level of wear and tear.
Your DH is being unrealistic about what a good tenant is, and I hope he sees this thread and realises that he's out of step with current best practice in being a landlord.
I'm glad that the tenants will get their money back anyway; you sound like a very fair person.

The deposit should be given back in full immediately. All of those things are wear and tear.
Some rental contracts state something about decorating and having to return the property with neutral decor/original colour scheme/whatever at the end of the tenancy. I had a contract like that once. So in that case the peppa pig and zoo wallpaper would have to be replaced
BUT even if you had some kind of clause like that I think I'd just leave it because you've never had to redecorate once in 13 years and it shouldn't cost you that much to do easily and quickly. You've had 10s of 1000s in rent over the 13 years and the tenants have been no bother whatsoever so give them a break!

Your DH is very mean - deposit should be repaid fully. Replacing carpets and fences was not their expense to incur. Those poor tenants!

Situations like this show people's true colours

Your husband is more than unreasonable, he's a mean git. I'd tell him to move into the house and live in it on his own.

DH sounds like he's being overly emotional about his mother's home. So I get it in some ways but the majority of what's been listed is wear and tear and so not deductible. And 13 years without a problem? That's a good run.

13 years = 13 years of wear and tear, if you've not replaced anything or decorated at cost to you then I'd say your dh is being very unreasonable.

You have a husband problem - is he always this mean. Give them their deposit back with no hassle.

For gods sake shit like this drives me nuts! I was asked to deduct money because I had replaced their light fittings, I went from those ghastly paper ball things from Ikea to expensive lighting in three bedrooms - I had upgraded their lighting and they wanted money for it! I then got charged for repainting a shelf inside a cupboard so I said fine I’ll do it, no they wanted £50. It was bordering on a joke.
Then I found out after I moved out from the neighbour that they had asked for a full report on me as they thought this would help their case as I was a single mother!
Give them the the deposit!

All these issues in your OP are actually things you as landlords should have sorted out and be paying for

NOT your tenants

It's YOUR job to maintain a property and pay for it

You are very very lucky your tenants put up with your lazy attitude as LL

This being the case, I bet if you try to grab their deposit they will point out all the laws you've broken as as LL over 13 years, and you'll owe them far more than £700.

(Eg. And off the top of my head, have you had the electrics tested in this time? gas safe certificate every year for all gas installations? Fire/smoke alarms fitted? ...).

Give them their money back, and sell that property. And, unless you're willing to pay to get it up to current legal required standards, dont rent to anyone else...even a relative!!

This

Your husband is the type of LL that’s give the rest of them a bad name.

Don't don't don't refuse to give it back - imagine how you'd feel if you'd been a model tenant, had a small baby and were being evicted from your family home of 13 years and the landlords were quibbling over something like this. Make it as easy and pleasant as possible, and thank them for being great tenants. It doesn't sound like you desperately need the money and while it might be a business transaction for your husband, it was their home and they treated it well.

£700 is nothing compared to all the costs you would have incurred over 13 had you done your obligations, i.e. to decorate, replace carpets, repair defects etc which would have been needed over 13 years. Your tenants seem to have done far more than they needed to to keep your property in good condition. Give your OH a slap and tell him not to be so stupid, then happily repay the deposit in full and write a gracious "thank you" letter to your ex-tenants thanking them for being such good tenants for all that time.