We rented a flat 3 years ago and our Washing Machine (it comes in our contract with white goods and furnished) stopped draining out water by end February. After a week, we gave our notice and our move out date is first week of June.
3 weeks back, the engineer was sent by landlord and as per him the motor needs replacement and as the machine model is 15-20 years old, they are unable to find the same. Now, since 3 months we have been using this faulty machine where I am unable to wash clothes properly, I need to drain water out by squuezing each one of them separatey and drying them takes a week!! I have 2 school going kids, with dirty clothes everyday, how can we take this up at the time of moving when landlord is trying to deduct amount for regular wear tear too?
Unfortunately it will not be used as a defence in deposit claims. Deposit services look at the terms of the property.
I think you may have to go on his good graces, if there are any…
In Warren vs Keen wear and tear is defined as ‘If the house falls into disrepair through fair wear and tear or lapse of time, or for any reason not caused by him, the tenant is not liable to repair it.’
avoidable damage such as a child’s scribbles on the wall or any ripped furniture, that were not there at the start, is damage and not wear and tear and will therefore be a cost that the tenant is responsible for.
What do you want to happen? Are you hoping the landlord will fix/replace the washing machine? White goods are not part of a landlords S11 repairing obligations, so you would need to show that it was an integral part of the let, (in the advert text or pics; mentioned on the inventory; part of the description of the property when you viewed etc) and sue him under the Consumer Rights Act. This could be tricky and I don’t know of any successful cases. It would also take a long time and if you won it would only benefit the next tenant.
If you are hoping for financial compensation then I doubt the landlord will be willing to offer it, although again, you could sue for your launderette costs if you have any.
There is nothing stopping you asking for compensation or a reduction in the deposit deductions, but it will be difficult and time consuming to press your claim legally.
If you think the deductions Landlord is making for wear and wear are unfair you can disagree via the deposit scheme.
It will go to their Arbitration scheme and burden of proof is in the landlord to show the damages he is claiming for are justified.
Not sure what you can get for the faculty washing machine and inconvenience as it would appear you are leaving soon.
Just an idea - have you tried clearing the filter/letting out the water (into a container) to check for blockages, assuming all you want is a working washing machine?
Thanks you for your response. Yes Anne I have done that, the engineer to repair it was here twice and the motor needs replacement which is no longer available in the market! So I guess they wont do anything until we move out, which is 2 weeks from now.
Thank you very much everyone for taking your time out and sharing your views. We are vacating the property next week so guess they will have to do it for the next tenants. Cheers! Aditi