Updating post from Reddit.
I am tenant and tenancy ended 1 week back. House was left in better condition than what was provided. Landlord now claiming numerous small charges stating cleaning, security alarm not working, lights not working, kitchen exhaust not clean etc. No inventory was made when tenancy started. Tenancy agreement was made but there is no mention of house condition etc. Landlord only sent pictures of home on move in date. (Which are worse)
There is no way I can prove the condition of the house I got. I only have pictures of the last day where I left the house nice and clean.
Can I challenge landlord not to deduct money as there was no damage done? Or I have no chance.
Yes, dispute it. The landlord won't have a leg to stand on as they have to prove all these things they are claiming for through adjudication.
Dispute and challenge everything
Provide all your evidence that it was left in a good state,
Stress that no inventory was provided at the beginning and you never signed anything (landlords will lie)
The deposit is your money. The burden is on the landlord to prove that your actions resulted in the damage. If they can’t, they don’t get the money.
Dispute! It’s very easy
Yes. You dispute everything. The deposit is your money and the landlord must demonstrate the need for deductions with evidence, usually a check-in and check-out inventory and/or photos. You should have received information about the deposit protection scheme with which your deposit is protected. Go to the website and read their guidelines. Just remember, it is not you who has to prove that you should get your money back. It is the landlord who needs to prove the necessity of deductions. The third-party adjudicators will make the final decision.
To add. Dispute it through the deposit protection system your deposit is registered with. There is no point arguing with the LL.
If there was no official check-in inventory then the LL will have a hard time demonstrating anything.
If there is no inventory, you will get all your money back.
Deposit should be in a deposit protection scheme. You can challenge this at the DPS arbitration process.
Burden of proof is on the landlord. They have no inventory and therefore no proof. Very easy win for you.
If landlord has not used the DPS, then you can challenge them in court.
Dispute it all. No inventory is a schoolboy mistake by your landlord. You’ll get it all back.
Just to confirm is your deposit protected in a registered scheme?
Yes it's protected in TDS.
Do dispute it.
If I had £1 for every tenant that claims they left it better than what it was given I’d have like £1k.
I’m sure you left it in a very good state and don’t deserve deductions but let’s leave it there.
Landlord was living in the property till the last day and was taking out his own stuff out on the day I moved in. Infact left some of the stuff inside house storage room and collected it after few weeks. It was weird. All the dustbin inside the house were full.
Maybe your case is genuine. Sounds annoying to move in like that.
if i had £1 for landlords in here claiming deductions for absolutely nothing, i'd have 100k.
its a known tactic of landlords to claim for he smallest things, you see it in this post all the time. literally all the time.
"tenant moved out after 10 years, can i deduct for painting and decorating" is a favourite reason why I hate other LL's for the most part, industry is full of slumlords.
This is true as well. Many LLs have unreasonable expectations of what wear and tear means.