Hello, so I have a one year old sofa in my flat that has been slightly bobbled/scratched by my cats. There is some pulling of threads but a fabric shaver seems to have gotten most of it. My landlord wants me to pay for an entire new sofa…£949?!? Is this reasonable to expect me to replace it entirely? There is no functional damage to the sofa at all. I rent in a pet friendly block of flats. The other complication is that the new tenant wants a new sofa and the landlord has said she’s already ordered one, without even asking. I asked about repairing the sofa and she said wouldn’t make a difference as she’s already ordered it which kind of doesn’t seem relevant to me to be honest. Is this reasonable? I’ll also add I’m not denying that there’s damage and I’m happy to pay like £200-300 for repair but am I obligated to pay for the entire sofa?
Depends on the cost of the sofa in the first place as it is only a year old it would be the initial cost minus 10%. As you say you know you/your car has caused damage so yes you can be asked to replace. I am assuming the sofa cost over £1k for her to be asking you to pay that amount.
Did the landlord know you kept a cat?
No you dont pay for a new sofa, you pay the original cost depreciated for 1 year less an amount for residual value. Tell the landlord you dispute the cost and ask for arbitration from the deposit scheme.
Well, big thanks to you as I had no idea what a fabric shaver was but just bought one as it looks like a device I have needed my whole life, and very cheap! As a landlord, this just reminds me never to rent to anyone with pets, it is inevitable that this kind of dispute will arise.
Why not get an upholsterer in for an estimate and how hidden the repair will be, if the repair cannot be seen then there should be no problem, then you and the landlord should be happy.