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Original poster

how often should carpet be changed? rental property

74 replies

Mumt02 · 11/08/2024 20:14

hi everyone 😊

we moved into our rented home in 2018! we have carpet through the landing on the stairs and in the two bedrooms upstairs! i’ve found the property on right move from 2013 when it was last sold and it’s all the same carpets so they are 11 years old probably even older as the previous owner had put them in!

i just feel like they should of been changed by now 😂

OP posts:
mouseyowl · 11/08/2024 23:21

I guess your LL could change them, but as an ex-LL (v short term, I hated it!) I would re-decorate/change carpets/up-grade kitchens/bathrooms/any other works other than repairs, in-between tenants not while they were in situ.

Get the rug doctor out, and buy cheap rugs to cover any areas that are looking manky.

blackcherryconserve · 11/08/2024 23:25

My carpets date from 2002. I have no intention of changing them!

ForGreyKoala · 11/08/2024 23:31

Glitterbiscuits · 11/08/2024 21:15

Throwaway society.

This makes me so sad.

This. No wonder the planet is in such a state if there are people who think carpets should be replaced every decade!

NewName24 · 11/08/2024 23:36

im not expecting him to change it, i asked a question wether they “should” of been changed as they are old IMO!

But what people are explaining to you, is that they aren't old.
Carpets last until they are destroyed by the people walking on them.
Have you damaged them ?
As there is no 'expiry date'.

MackintoshGalore · 11/08/2024 23:41

Never really thought about it before, but the carpets and rugs in my parents house must be about 60 years old, and still going strong. I guess if the landlord started changing the carpets every few years the rent would have to go up significantly to cover it. Carpets are not cheap.

cozycat1 · 11/08/2024 23:43

Im just redocrating and recently had a conversation with long established and trusted local carpet shop man,how long I should expect a mid price carpet to last .He said about 12 years.

ZippyDenimBear · 11/08/2024 23:54

What is everyone answering on?!

A rented prpoerty is highly unlikely to have high quality carpets to start with.

A tenant needing carpets replaced after 12 years is not to blame for the world's woes.

She should put rugs over the worst? Happy days. Sick of this mealy mouthed race to rhe bottom.

Of course a tenant shouldn't ne expected to buy new carpet. They could be asked to leave 6 months later.

Glad to hear aunt Ethel has carpets from 1978- wouldn't want to be how I want to live...

circular1985 · 11/08/2024 23:59

They should get changed when they need changed. Threading, stained, bubbling, lifting from the sides.

We had carpets for 15 years before we moved house and they were cleaned (by my dh with a proper carpet cleaner) at least twice a year. They still looked good when we sold the house and they were cream. We were a no shoes household though.

TiredAndAwakeStill · 12/08/2024 00:08

My next door neighbour remarked, rather incredulously to me, that his girlfriends carpets, which were getting replaced were over 10 years old ( her house not his)

Ours are also the same age, and still in place.

A little worse for wear but no money to replace them

BluebellsareBlue · 12/08/2024 00:17

My dad lives in the house of my maternal grandparents, the stairs and upstairs hall carpet is the original that they put in in1965! It's now back in fashion, is pure wool and isn't damaged in any way. The house. Since mums death 7 years ago is mine and , god forbid, when dad goes, I'll move in. I'll NOT be changing the carpet until it needs to go through wear or damage. Things used to be made to last.

Mum2GirlSs · 12/08/2024 00:25

My landlord did new carpets when we moved in -2011

He then replaced the hallway & stairs as they were dangerous in 2021 - carpet coming away from the stairs and fraying at door entrances.

They are all beginning to lift in other rooms now & are fraying where they join the door bars.
I doubt he will change them anytime soon - usually he waits for tenants to move out or replace them by themselves ....

JC03745 · 12/08/2024 00:36

My grandparents built their home in 1957 and had cream coloured, wool carpets put in. The hall was changed to tiles in the 90's, but the original carpet was still there in 2018 when nan moved to a care home.

Unless its moth eaten, mm's thin then no need to change it. The amount of cleaning and maintenance can make a huge difference too.

RogueFemale · 12/08/2024 00:46

Mumt02 · 11/08/2024 20:14

hi everyone 😊

we moved into our rented home in 2018! we have carpet through the landing on the stairs and in the two bedrooms upstairs! i’ve found the property on right move from 2013 when it was last sold and it’s all the same carpets so they are 11 years old probably even older as the previous owner had put them in!

i just feel like they should of been changed by now 😂

The legal position is that your landlord doesn't have to replace the fitted carpet during your tenancy, except in the unusual event it becomes a health and safety risk. Which doesn't sound like this is the case here.

You sound really young, maybe in your 20s? And you 'feel' that carpet that's older than 11 years old is somehow too old to be okay? Or something. You don't describe anything actually wrong with the carpet. Weird.

TeaOrCoffeeOrHotChocolate · 12/08/2024 00:46

The OP clearly is on Mumsnet too much because according to Mumsnet towels should be changed twice a day and bedding should be changed every two days and you should also wash your bra once a day! 🤣

So 11 years for a carpet must seem like a bloody long time for her if she is abiding by the mumsnet rules ! 🤣

But to be fair if you don't know something you don't know something!

For example, if you've only ever lived in rented houses, then you move into them and they are clean and the walls are all painted and the carpet clean, etc. If you have a problem with your boiler, the landlord replaces it. So it might seem like carpets should be replaced every 'x' amount of years.

If the OP has never owned her own house then she might not realise that you live with things until you have no other choice because you can't afford to do otherwise.

My last house we never changed the carpets. We didn't have the money to when we moved in so we just used a carpet washer on them. Some of the steps were almost threadbare when we sold it!!

The house we bought after that one had no carpets. So we had to buy some. They're still doing okay after 6 years. We hire a carpet cleaner once a year.

Winter2020 · 12/08/2024 01:02

It's worth knowing OP that if your landlord tried to charge you for any damage to the carpet via the tenancy deposit scheme, and you disputed their claim citing the age of the carpet then the landlords claim will probably be denied as they are likely to rule that an 11+ year old carpet has no value. The claim doesn't replace new for old (not entitled to betterment) but like for like. So save the old pictures of the carpet as they might come in handy one day.

mathanxiety · 12/08/2024 01:32

I don't like the idea of carpets in a rented home at all, but if I had them, I'd hire a carpet cleaning machine and clean them if the landlord hadn't done that before I moved in.

Carpets can be really nasty.

mathanxiety · 12/08/2024 01:34

ZippyDenimBear · 11/08/2024 23:54

What is everyone answering on?!

A rented prpoerty is highly unlikely to have high quality carpets to start with.

A tenant needing carpets replaced after 12 years is not to blame for the world's woes.

She should put rugs over the worst? Happy days. Sick of this mealy mouthed race to rhe bottom.

Of course a tenant shouldn't ne expected to buy new carpet. They could be asked to leave 6 months later.

Glad to hear aunt Ethel has carpets from 1978- wouldn't want to be how I want to live...

I agree.

FindingMeno · 12/08/2024 02:42

Our carpets are about 25 years old.
The landlord would be incredulous at any suggestion of replacement!

Sweetteaplease · 12/08/2024 03:27

TeenToTwenties · 11/08/2024 20:16

We own our house. Our carpets are over 25 years old.

This. How often would you change the carpets in your house OP? The house I'm in now carpets are about 30 years old, and previous house about 25 years

ForGreyKoala · 12/08/2024 04:55

mathanxiety · 12/08/2024 01:32

I don't like the idea of carpets in a rented home at all, but if I had them, I'd hire a carpet cleaning machine and clean them if the landlord hadn't done that before I moved in.

Carpets can be really nasty.

Really? I must have led a very sheltered life, as in all my 65 years I have yet to see a "nasty" carpet!

What on earth do you think people do with their carpets? (sorry, that is probably a silly question - I daresay you belong to the shower three times a day, wash a towel after every use, and wash your clothing if you have so much as breathed on it brigade).

Galoop · 12/08/2024 05:20

I wouldn't want brand new carpet in a house I was renting as I would be so worried I might damage it! I would expect a rental to be replaced maybe every 15 years, it's likely to not last as long as people don't tend to treat rentals as they would their own home I've found. But obviously replaced if worn, damaged, stained etc

TappyGilmore · 12/08/2024 05:30

My mother’s house is 25 years old and still has the original carpet, and it’s not even particularly good quality stuff. I’d agree that as she owns, she probably looks after it better than a tenant would, but she has always had cats and they’re not particularly kind to the carpet!

Original poster
Mumt02 · 12/08/2024 07:54

RogueFemale · 12/08/2024 00:46

The legal position is that your landlord doesn't have to replace the fitted carpet during your tenancy, except in the unusual event it becomes a health and safety risk. Which doesn't sound like this is the case here.

You sound really young, maybe in your 20s? And you 'feel' that carpet that's older than 11 years old is somehow too old to be okay? Or something. You don't describe anything actually wrong with the carpet. Weird.

Show quote history

don’t really understand what my age has to do with this.

no i didn’t describe that anything was wrong with the carpets other than saying they aren’t the best.

Was just a genuine question as i maybe thought they should or would be changed more in a rental property as to me over 11 year old carpets are old 😂

its not weird at all 😊

OP posts:
Original poster
Mumt02 · 12/08/2024 07:57

Winter2020 · 12/08/2024 01:02

It's worth knowing OP that if your landlord tried to charge you for any damage to the carpet via the tenancy deposit scheme, and you disputed their claim citing the age of the carpet then the landlords claim will probably be denied as they are likely to rule that an 11+ year old carpet has no value. The claim doesn't replace new for old (not entitled to betterment) but like for like. So save the old pictures of the carpet as they might come in handy one day.

great to know! thank you 😊!!!

OP posts:
NewName24 · 12/08/2024 23:50

Was just a genuine question as i maybe thought they should or would be changed more in a rental property as to me over 11 year old carpets are old 😂

its not weird at all

I think a lot of people think replacing things that are perfectly functional is weird.
That is what people are trying to explain to you.

Plus, there is the point that it is a real pain for the people living in a house to replace a carpet, as you have to completely empty the room - so wardrobes and beds, or 3 piece suites, etc. It's quite a challenge finding room to store those things, even if you are physically able to move them yourself.