Tenant has just ended contract after two-year tenancy. Apartment looks ok/good condition, although window cleaning was not done and although soft furnishings look ok, they have not been cleaned/washed and don’t smell clean. On inventory check damage to the bath was noted (bath was 2.5 years old at beg of tenancy). Tenant had attempted to repair the damage with a resin like substance but did not inform us, and it’s def not acceptable, said it happened early on in the tenancy and they agree with change of bath and all that involves, to be deducted from deposit. Also agreed to have windows cleaned but asked us to organise this and deduct from deposit, as well as to replace bathroom spotlights that don’t work.
What is the correct procedure with regards to dealing with deposit refund (there won’t be much change at the end of it) - leaving us to carry out these works causes extra costs in terms of delay in re-renting. Had it been flagged at the time, the work could have been organised straight away and paid for by the tenant, who is in agreement that they are responsible.
Any advice?
I’m unsure why the tenant would be liable for lights not working, and I’d question they are responsible for the full cost of a bath if this was damaged anyway when they moved in.
That said, if you have both agreed with the deductions, then you will log into the deposit scheme website and the repayment split process will be reasonably straight forward to progress. The deposit scheme will then contact the tenant, and if they agree, payments will be made as requested.
The tenant has admitted that they caused the damage to the bath and forgot to mention it, and are happy to pay for replacement out of deposit.
According to contract, spent lightbulbs should be replaced.
We are agreed between us, but I want to make sure I follow the correct procedure.
Quarterly inspections will catch any issues that need dealing with as they come up and save you the hassle of negotiating all this at checkout, a time which is usually stressful enough already.
You get quotes for the work, advise the tenant of the cost & if they agree, return the rest of the deposit. The time you lose is just the cost of doing business I’m afraid.
You cannot claim for loss of rent whilst the work is being done or any of your time in organising it. What you can claim for is the loss in value of the items. So for example, the difference in value between the bath now and the bath at the start of the tenancy.
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