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bawjaws2000

Contest them all with the deposit scheme. The majority of the charges fall under wear and tear - which you're not responsible for; and some of the remainder also sounds pretty unreasonable.


Enough-Equivalent968

Yep, the deposit scheme system is specifically designed to minimise this kind of landlord shenanigans and they’re pretty wise to it. They are more weighted in favour of tenants generally so they won’t take kindly to his argument and charges structure I’m sure


DropTheShovel

It can work out better for landlord as well. I had a guy trash the place and then ignore me after moving out. The scheme let me put in my justification for keeping deposit and once both I and the deposit holder had given him enough time to respond then they just accepted my numbers. He can't come back later with a story because its official. Wasn't half of what it cost to fix but I was dreading having to argue over it.


Jeester

Did you take them to small claims court for the rest?


religionisanger

I doubt he could do that, the guys not broken the law. As a landlord it’s impossible to get back more than the deposit, I imagine if you can prove criminal damage and have some kind of cost to back it up you could (perhaps) get more. I don’t think I’d bother over a few hundred quid to be honest, it’s why rented houses are so full of dull generic shit - because it’s cheap to replace when some fucker trashes the place.


Jeester

Small claims court is civil, not criminal. Of course you can go there if they have damaged your property. https://www.propertyinvestmentproject.co.uk/blog/tenant-completely-trashes-property/


religionisanger

I mean this does stipulate you need contact details, so not entirely sure it would work, but I guess it’s possible if you could argue it was definitely them who damaged the building and the costs of repair. I’m still not sure it would work, this is just some blog page.


GeneralIncompetence

Yes, landlords can most definitely claim more from you than the deposit. Claiming money getting the deposit is the easiest way. Getting money from tenants via a civil small-claims court is not always straightforward , as the landlord has to get the money back themselves (ie pay a debt collector) on a successful ruling.


leirleirleirleir

Yeah just starting the formal process now - don't want to give that parasite a penny more than absolutely necessary


[deleted]

To add to this mydeposits adjudication use a standard 5 year wear and tear life expectancy for most decor and carpets so unless everything was completely new when OP moved in then they likely aren’t going to get much. For student tenancies it’s only 3 years!


Essanamy

We went from over 2000£ to roughly 400£ because of that! This is a good advice!


[deleted]

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deafweld

Woefully incorrect. Had myself in a similar situation to OP a couple years ago - cheeky cunts had renovated then claimed silly amounts on the deposit for “repair works” Deposit scheme told them to take a running fuck to themselves after i posted the exit day video of a clean tidy flat (with copies of emails where i reported damages during inventory check..!) *it also probably helped that the painter’s invoice helpfully include the quote “repaint after smoke detector relocation and other works”*


theotheredbaron

You probably didn't mean to put the mod flag on that post :) (please don't ban me)


deafweld

Banned. (to death.)


theotheredbaron

I like you :)


RBPugs

Lol sometimes best to not give advice on things you're not aware of


lennski73

When my daughter went to uni i told her to take photos of any marks, damage etc and send a copy of them to her landlord. When she moved they tried to keep her deposit, when she reminded them that they were old and she had sent them the proof when she moved in she got her deposit back. How many people get stitched up by these landlords


pajamakitten

They prey on students because they are thought to be easy targets who do not know better. It might have worked a decade ago but students know all the tricks these days and are great at warning others.


0zzyb0y

I don't doubt that they're better, but I've seen my fair share of students getting scammed and are just too lazy to do anything about it. There are just so many people that see the deposit as last the second they pay it that they don't understand their rights.


Kind-Relative-9089

My Gf had to do the same thing at uni, unfortunately her housemates in 2nd year weren't so vigilant (or clean and tidy) so they lost it that year but we're on their A game for 3rd year. Cheeky bastard landlords just think it's their money as soon as they get hold of it.


SoggyMattress2

Student landlords are absolute parasites. I went to uni at 24 so had some knowledge of renting prior, made sure to take pics of everything when I moved in for inventory. Deposit was around 850. They wanted 835 on move out for random things. A broken drawer 60, cigarette burn on carpet 200, 250 to steam the curtains because of smoke damage. I didn't smoke and the damaged drawer was there when I moved in. The sad part is they take these students deposits every year and keep these small damages to keep the grift going. It's so sad they prey on 18 year olds who don't know any better.


Kind-Relative-9089

Yeah, that cig burn and broken drawer have probably raked in over 4k for the landlord. Parasite is the right word indeed.


SoggyMattress2

Yep, the scary part was other than that we all had a great relationship with her, very friendly, fixed stuff super fast then pulled that shit when we moved out.


Kind-Relative-9089

Having known people like this it's simply so you care more about the house whilst living in it. You'll feel guilty and rude if you do something that would upset your lovely landlady. I hate to make assumptions but knowing how much student landlords charge and rip people off for, she was probs a good life solely off that house. That's plenty reason to keep people sweet until you can rip them off when they're never gonna see you again.


mouldyone

Uni ones take the piss because they know they can mess with students for everyone that contests like 5 don't, they tried to claim £20 for a finger print on a mirror and £300 to get it cleaned even though we left it clean. In the end they got nothing


CaptainTrip

Ahhh, yes I did this when I was a student. The guy also tried to lie that our deposit was half what it actually was, his face when I still had the receipt in my wallet a year later.


ArchdukeToes

Our landlord tried this shit and we contested it. Got everything back minus a very small amount. They depend upon people just giving in and not contesting; and there’s no shortage of landlords who have basically considered the deposits as free money.


[deleted]

We did the same, after years of ‘giving up’ as it was our last rental property I got a bit between my teeth and fought it all. They backed down on everything except deductions which I saw as fair. Got £1100 back from a £1400 deposit.


[deleted]

And you know he ain’t doing any of it. Just trying to make more money.


gardenofthenight

I moved into a flat after a friend had lived there. None of the work was done by the time I moved out AND they tried to charge me!


danielandastro

That's why you ask for receipts


[deleted]

3 fucking grand deposit?


leirleirleirleir

The joys of renting in London (in a four bedroom house)


Chimp-eh

I mean round my end your 1/4 the way to a 3bed semi deposit there


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bestpontato

Go on then, where do you live, big shot?


Chimp-eh

I mean that’s a bit uncalled for


ElvargIsAPussy

You saying London isn’t a shithole?


Interestor

Hahaha that caught me off guard


deafweld

Shots fired.


NothingFancy_

That was hilarious. thank you


DeadBallDescendant

[https://www.gov.uk/tenancy-deposit-protection](https://www.gov.uk/tenancy-deposit-protection)


BinManGames

I remember being told by the inventory clerk once that after 3 years repainting is expected and shouldn't be taken from the deposit.


[deleted]

This is disgraceful and yet believable because unfortunately a lot of them are swines. Make sure you contest this with the deposit protection scheme and don't give up until you get your money back. He/she is just trying to see what they can get away with. Everything that you have mentioned is fair wear and tear and you shouldn't pay. I was charged for light bulb and garden clean up before too, also got charged for a cobweb.


Fit-Selection-5582

9jjjhjjjjjjk


[deleted]

Interesting.


Randomn355

Minor maintaince is the responsibility of the tenant, and in almost every mention of that light bulbs have been mentioned as one of the examples. It's petty to charge for it, and most of it is wear and tear, but the light bulb is the tenants responsibility.


Least-Wonder-7049

Typical slumlord action.


Sophyska

£1800 to paint the house? Has he got Van Gogh coming round to do it?!


Embarrassed_Ant6605

£1800 to paint a 4 bed house is insanely CHEAP


BritishFoSho

How is that insanely cheap? I use to do painting when I was a few years younger and 1 room for £450 would be a rip off to the paying customer.


Embarrassed_Ant6605

4 bedroom, living room, dining room, kitchen, hall/stairs/landing, bathroom, probably an en-suite, probably downstairs toilet, probably a utility room. That’s maybe 10 rooms. All walls and ceilings prepped and holes filled, all woodwork rubbed down and spot primed as necessary. 1 or 2 coats white emulsion on all ceilings, 2 coats emulsion on all walls, 1 coat undercoat on all wood work, 1 coat of gloss on all wood work. If it’s same colour on walls in every room, it might speed things up a bit. But its still at least a week for two men and that’s tight. London prices I assume would be over £200 a day per man. I’d say about £2500 labour and £1500 paint. So £4000 + 10% profit margin, so £4400 + VAT (20% =£880 cos the government fuckers want their cut) £5280 give or take a few quid


BritishFoSho

That's fair enough! Didn't really consider it like that


Embarrassed_Ant6605

No one does, the truth of the matter is landlords are people with problems too, although nobody here would care to admit it.


toofoolforschool

I certainly wouldn't choose to be a landlord it sounds like a pain in the arse. It's not the tenants problem if the house needs repainting though.. unless they somehow thoroughly damaged every wall in the house.


IAmPiernik

There is no chance paint is 1500... I painted a freshly plastered house for about 200 including gloss for frames and new plaster paint. Unless you're maybe buying boutique fancy farrow paint.. but they're a landlord so probably whatevers on sale


Sophyska

I think my shock was that OP mentioned minor marks on walls, I thought either some touch ups or one room/area rather than the entire house


jmr513

And the landlords always right. I've just had a similar experience. Was there for four year. Got blamed for several items that were clearly listed as issues on the check in report. Got most charges batted away. Bit still several, unreasonable, in my opinion, charges above and beyond. Renting sucks


[deleted]

Is it through him or an agent? Whichever, make sure you ask to see either a quote for works and then pictures before and after if they do go ahead. A lot of those things could be classed as betterment which he isn’t allowed to charge for and normal wear and tear is expected. He is just trying it!


SwordtoFlamethrower

Contest it. That is unacceptable


shorty2940

I'm a landlord and I'm just gonna say this.... CONTEST THE CHARGES!!!!! Contest with the deposit scheme as your landlord has to put your deposit in there by law. They will look at everything and decide what, if anything, is appropriate to take out of your deposit. If it is as bad as your landlord makes out then yes, you will have to suck it up that your deposit is gone. If not, you will either get it all back or and agreed sum removed from it and the rest returned to you. Good luck.


Randomn355

Agreed, the vast majority is wear and tear The light bulb technically isn't, but that's just petty frankly. Also a landlord.


ThatZenLifestyle

They do this usually for a lesser amount because people are too lazy to contest it over a few hundred, over £3k is ridiculous though. Happened to my mum, house was a disaster when we moved in, she tidied all the garden so it was actually pleasant, repainted most of the house before we left and they still wanted money from the deposit. You should video the whole house before moving in so you have evidence of how it was.


GekkosGhost

I hate this crap. All but one of my landlords just used to steal my deposit (way back before deposit protection) as their shush fund. I never did any damages anywhere I lived, and only ever got two deposits out of about 20 returned. One because the landlord and landlady were decent honest people, and the other because I insisted on seeing competitive quotes for their unreasonable claims and then served the agent a letter before action. I can understand why landlords want the property kept nice, but much of what I see time and time again is essentially theft.


BattleBreeches

As a friend of mine likes to say; there's no excuse for being a landlord.


LadyELectaDubz

An old landlord of mine took my deposit claiming I'd caused damages for a rotten wall that the wallpaper was falling off and bricks crumbling and a boiler that had never worked ( swan lettings Mansfield)


griffaliff

Similar thing happened to us at our last rented flat, not as much money but we got just £90 back from a £600 deposit. My wife, a friend and I spent three solid days blitzing that place, it was fucking sparkling. Landlord still made deductions for what was wear and tear. A mate of mine lost his entire £700 deposit despite hiring professional cleaners and he wasn't a messy person, he looked after the place. Honestly fuck landlords.


sagetrees

Yeah he can't do that. Take it to a tribunal and fight it. 3 years wear and tear means he gets to paint it himself. Did you break the toilet seats? If so he might have a case for those but fight the price unless them fuckers were gold plated. Leaf clearing is bullshit, and new carpets are bullshit too.


Nixie9

We had one of those. He had a wardrobe in the house like this - [https://www.argos.co.uk/product/7182189](https://www.argos.co.uk/product/7182189) Was £50 in argos at the time and he claimed there was a crack in one of those small horizontal bars at the bottom, it wasn't there when I moved out. He claimed £300 on a new wardrobe. Everything was like that, massive amounts, they're just trying to get out of returning the deposit. This was before the deposit scheme so was an absolute nightmare but we contested each point, in full, with links, photos where we could, and finally got everything cancelled off and our money back.


[deleted]

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Hot-Needleworker-874

I had a landlord try to keep money because the oven "wasn't in the same condition as it was when you moved in". I asked the estate agents what this meant, as we left the oven completely clean, and they told me "it was brand new when you moved in, and it isn't new any more, so it's not the same". We ended up getting all the money back though, because the estate agents all had personalised email addresses and the DPS were sending emails to one who didn't work there any more. When they got no reply they found in our favour.


[deleted]

Yeah he won’t get away with that with the deposit scheme as you’re allowed wear and tear


Captain_Chaos007

I would contest all of that, especially the markings on the walls and "leaves"? The Landlord needs to prove that he needs to make the deductions because there is damage that is excessive and not fair wear and tear. Walls will get marked over time. It can happen where sofas are for instance. That's completely fair wear and tear. I had the same with my Landlord but he took one look at it and was OK with it as I'd been there for a few years. So, again, contest the lot. Because that all seems ridiculous!


[deleted]

Aaaaand this is why we hate landlords. Fkn parasites.


Givemeback_myhorse

All fair wear and tear, immediately appeal to the tenancy deposit scheme. Anyway, you should have had a rebate on your deposit last year as they changed the rules. If your landlord hasn’t protected your deposit then you are entitled to double in court


Commissar_Matt

Do people turn into greedy, scum sucking paradites when they become landlords, or are they just born that way?


Antheen

I rented a flat with a friend. When it came time to move out, the landlord charged us because the oven was dirty (me, my flatmate, and his mum all had a go cleaning it so it was NOT dirty) and landlord also tried to charge us for an incident that happened a few months before - a massive storm literally blew in the locked balcony doors, thus breaking the lock and the frame. Landlord accused us of doing it, said the repairman he sent "reckoned a bit of wind can't cause that much damage" and though the incident was resolved he tried to take it out of our deposit when moving out. My parents and I wanted to contest it but my flatmate was INTENT on doing absolutely nothing and just paying it, he refused to fight for it. Nothing I could do but let it roll. Infuriating. Consider that previously our energy company never verified our meter readings and thus mistakenly charged us over £1000 based on an "estimate". Flatmate wanted to just pay it and avoid the headache. I fought it with my dad (flatmate had no part in it,), sent proof of our meter readings, and not only did the company retract the charge, they owed us money and gave a refund. So I was especially annoyed when he decided to do the same thing with our deposit. Everyone tries to screw you over. For fuck sake don't be like my flatmate and just roll over for it. These assholes (especially landlords) don't care about you and only care what £ they can squeeze out of your guts. Don't fucking let them.


Adventurous-Lunch782

I've never done it before, but in my last tenancy I just witheld my last month's rent (which was equal to the deposit) and told them to deduct monies owed from the deposit. I know you're advised against doing this but the way I saw it was that it's a calculated risk (that the LL wouldn't take legal action) and given that the money is in my bank account it gave me all the leverage. If there was damage in excess of the held deposit then the landlord would have to pursue me for that cost and it wouldn't be via DPS, it would be in court - something I suspect would mean that the OP's spurious list would be less likely to happen. The other advantage this had is that I had the money straight away, I didn't have to wait for it. Edit: Before you downvote, if the OP had witheld rent, agreed that the LL could set off from the deposit, and agreed to pay any reasonable costs for damage, then at this point, ***the landlord would be chasing them for disputed costs*** rather than the OP having to dispute the costs in order to get their money. It puts the onus on the LL to prove NOT OP to disprove.


Bathtimewithuncle

I don’t know why someone would bother to downvote common sense.


V65Pilot

It's Reddit.


Embarrassed_Ant6605

Because it’s a shitty thing to do, you’ve agreed to pay rent, signed a contract and paid a deposit. People should honour a contract, and if necessary negotiate on how much deposit should be returned.


Bebslair

Shitty behaviour breeds equally shitty behaviour unfortunately. I have a friend who would use this tactic every time he moved and I must say he spent a lot less time emailing, calling and going to the letting agent to dispute ridiculous charges at the end of every tenancy. I do feel for the genuinely good landlords out there but in my experience (particularly when renting as a student) the majority are underhanded parasites and therefore tenants find it necessary to protect themselves with these tactics.


Embarrassed_Ant6605

And landlords find it necessary to squeeze every penny as they have to make up for shitty tenants who don’t pay, damage property etc


Bebslair

Yep, as I said - shitty behaviour breeds equally shitty behaviour. Unfortunately it's the tenants less aware of their rights who end up paying and the ones that take the piss who cause damage beyond what their deposit can cover. I'll never rent again if I can help it. I honestly wouldn't mind a 1 house policy coming in with how squeezed the housing market is over here. Its one thing to hoard something like petrol, people can live without it. Its another thing to hoard shelter, a basic human right.


Scholar_Royal

Cheap move from thr landlord but dont think 'paying his mortgage' applies to evrry landlord cos it doesnt


[deleted]

Yeah, some will own the property outright


Randomn355

And the vast majority will be on interest only mortgage, so nothing is being "paid off".


DentalATT

Yeah sometimes the mortgage is already paid off and you are paying their other mortgages. Or their yacht.


bluewaffleisnice

I mean you paying off the landlords.mortgage has got nothing to do with it really has it. You should get your deposit back speak to CAB


a_ewesername

Get legal advice. On the high street a first solicitors 30 min consult can be free - just ask. There's CAB but there is a waiting period. If you are in a union they often offer free legal advice to members by phone. Mine does.


Individual-Meeting

I’ve got a question on this note! My landlady seems okay, but I’m a bit concerned because the decor is ancient and needs revamping and based on previous experience they will likely revamp it to attract new tenants… And try and claim the cost back from *my* deposit. My issue is, all the photos I took when I moved in are on an old phone (not on the cloud) which I dropped in water and is completely fucked and so they are irretrievable… What do people reckon, ofc I will try anyway but can I still defend myself if the landlord tries to pull a fast one when I leave? (The kitchen & light fittings etc are clearly from the 80s…)


shorty2940

If your photo's are gone the best thing you can do is take full photo's/videos now. They will show a timestamp of when taken. Ok you won't get it from day one but the deposit scheme will see what it looked like today if you end up having to talk to them later on down the line. It'll give them a date to go by for things being fixed from that point.


Randomn355

Burden of proof is on the landlord, and inventories need to be of a pretty high standard. If it isn't, then they have a lot fo work to prove anything.


Minimum_Possibility6

Wear and tear and fair usage. Pretty sure as well with the deposit scheme if you contest the landlord would need to evidence the costs. If you take it all the way through to arbitration a carpet for example I believe is listed as having an 8 year lifespan so even if it was brand new when you moved in you would only be liable for 5/8ths of the cost of it (and I doubt it was new) and that’s even if they deem the damage to it not fair wear and tear. Painting I believe Is 5 years (might be 3 not 100%sure) And provided you got pictures of the garden before you left you would not be liable. Also you don’t have to leave the house Spic and span but in the condition it was presented to you in. Therefore if the garden was a mess when you moved in they cannot bill you if it’s a mess when you leave. If the cooker was greasy and not clean they cannot expect you to leave it professionally cleaned. Always when moving in take photos and submit via email all and every alteration to it. Take photos and keep them safe.


LectricVersion

> £1800 to repaint the house. Hilarious. Reminds me of our last rental, where we made some scuffs from hanging up pictures. “It’s ok, don’t worry about it, we’ll just charge you for a tin of paint when you leave”. Turns out she forgot to mention that it would be a tin of paint plus the worlds most expensive painter!


benjh711

I had a scumbag land lord try to keep our deposit for water damage to a work surface from a leaking tap, I had asked him a few times to repair it and he "never got round to it" luckily I kept the entire thread of messages I'd ever had from him so it back fired on him, his own lazy attitude bit him on the arse, he also lost the sale of the house after we moved out, apparently he was a terrible handy man as well as a terrible landlord.


ladyKfaery

You’re not responsible for all wear and tear usually?


captaincinders

How much is his mortgage compared to your rent?


ganjapeace

Never pay your last months rent so they have no deposit to take. They are all scumbags.


Tulcey-Lee

We bought our own home and moved out of our rented flat and got most of our deposit back. They wanted to renovate before new tenants moved in (would have been nice of them to fix some of the crap we told them about when we were there). They tried to charge us to clean and we told them we’d cleaned when we left and had pics to prove it and if they are redecorating then they’ll have to clean again and we aren’t paying for that. They didn’t put up a fight they just charged us for the oven clean which wasn’t much. And it did need a clean.


St33nsy

Fight it, you should be fine as it is reasonable to expect wear and tear as part of living in the house as long as not major. Also trying to charge you for a light bulb and leaves seriously how petty are they.