Landlord and Deposit Issues on Leaving Property

[Ed999]

My comments only apply if the premises are entirely within England, and you were granted a shorthold tenancy (under which you have exclusive use of a separate dwelling, and the landlord does not live in the same building), and you were over 18 years of age when the tenancy was granted.

 

This posting is supplemental to the information in this forum's "sticky" threads and is NOT to be read in isolation.

 

Only a Court can decide what the legal effect of your tenancy agreement is.

 

 

Deduction for Dilapidations at end of tenancy

 

If the landlord alleges damage, he must prove it.

 

If there is no check-in inventory, the landlord really doesn't have a leg to stand on; so the tenant is in a stronger position where there is no check-in inventory.

 

The landlord isn't allowed to improve the premises through "betterment" (replacing an old or worn item with a brand new one).

 

Likewise, the tenant is not liable for the cost of cleaning or repairing an item which was already soiled or damaged before the tenancy began. A check-in Inventory can be evidence that an item was already in bad repair before the start of the tenancy.

 

 

Read this document - Fair Wear and Tear

 

And read this document - Wear and Tear Guide

 

Those documents explain some aspects of the law regarding fair wear and tear, applying the principle that a tenant is NOT liable to pay for the cost of remedying ordinary wear and tear.

 

This link gives examples of what is fair wear-and-tear, and what is not:

 

• http://www.rta.qld.gov.au/print_page.cfm?menuItemId=510.00

 

 

Also, the landlord can't ask the tenant to pay (i.e. out of the deposit) for the cost of repairs which the law requires the landlord to do. What those repairs are is explained in this FAQ -

 

• Disrepairs in privately rented accommodation

 

A detailed analysis of the landlord's repairing obligations, prepared by a Barrister, is set out at -

 

• Interpreting Repairing Covenants

 

 

Any deposit paid at the beginning of the tenancy belongs to the tenant. So the burden is on the landlord to prove that any deduction from it is justified.

 

Read the FAQ about what deductions the landlord can lawfully make from the deposit -

 

• Unfair deposit deductions

 

 

There is a vast amount of additional information about the tenant's legal rights in cases of disrepair on the website of Shelter, the housing charity -

 

• Repairs and Bad Conditions

 

 

Reasons given by the TDS for resolving a dispute in the tenant's favour, in similar cases, have included:

 

1. Grossly inflated charges for the repair work.

2. No receipts produced for the cost of work supposedly carried out.

3. No competitive quotes sought for the cost of the work.

4. No mention in the check-in inventory of the condition of the item.

5. No opportunity given to the tenant to put right damage, despite the tenant offering to do so.

6. The item claimed falls under maintenance, for which a tenant is not liable.

 

The Dispute Service puts great emphasis on the initial inventory if it mentions not only the items in the property, but also quite specifically their condition.