Proportion of deposit withheld

[ubya308]

Hi everyone - I have a question about my deposit being withheld by my former landlord and want to check what my options are.

 

I rented the property for about three years and during that time there was some small damage - particularly a small stain on the bedroom carpet, and three small (about the size of a 10p) burns on two panels of the wood laminate floor.

 

My landlord is trying to charge me to replace the entire bedroom carpet, and have the entire floor re-paneled which pretty much wipes out the entire deposit - she is also charging me for her time to take a few items to the dump and dry cleaning curtains - plus her time (@£20 ph) to do all this.

 

Here is a breakdown of her charges

 

6 miles @ 40p per mile (to dump and back three times!) £2.40

4 hours @ £20ph (going to dump, cleaning carpets, cleaning windows & frames) £80.00

Builder hanging the kitchen doors £30.00

New aqualoc floorboards – 18 packs @ £22.17 – Driftwood Oak £399.06

Beading around edge of floor – 10 packs @ £4.98 £49.80

Builder to relay laminate floor £500.00

Bedroom carpet (originally bought for £13 per meter) for 5m x 5m £312.00

Laying of carpet £100.00

Rental of “RugDoctor” £19.98

Chemicals for RugDoctor £14.98

Stain remover (unfortunately didn’t actually work) £3.98

Curtains dry-cleaned £50.00

Replacement of light bulbs £12.32

The burns are small and the stain is barely noticeable - I would have thought that most of this would appear under fair wear and tear, although I can't deny that they were both my fault.

 

Please help.

 

Thanks

 

Mike

[rebel11]

Hi ubya

 

Welcome to CAG

 

Some of the guys should respond shortly. It does look excessive. Are the replacements like for like?

[MrShed]

6 miles @ 40p per mile (to dump and back three times!) £2.40 - Acceptable

4 hours @ £20ph (going to dump, cleaning carpets, cleaning windows & frames) £80.00 Way OTT - £9 per hour.

Builder hanging the kitchen doors £30.00 Seems cheap - what happened with the doors?

New aqualoc floorboards – 18 packs @ £22.17 – Driftwood Oak £399.06 She cant charge full whack. How old was the floor?

Beading around edge of floor – 10 packs @ £4.98 £49.80 As above

Builder to relay laminate floor £500.00 LUDICROUS cost, how large was the area in question, and where did you live?

Bedroom carpet (originally bought for £13 per meter) for 5m x 5m £312.00 What does she mean by "originally bought"? Again, how old was the carpet?

Laying of carpet £100.00 Seems fair

Rental of “RugDoctor” £19.98 Seems fair

Chemicals for RugDoctor £14.98 Seems fair

Stain remover (unfortunately didn’t actually work) £3.98 Seems fair

Curtains dry-cleaned £50.00 Seems a tad pricey

Replacement of light bulbs £12.32 Explain?

 

Answers (and questions) above.

 

Burns and stains do not come under fair wear and tear, end of.