Unusual query regarding a rent deposit return

Mr Bump

Mr Bump

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Sophia aka Paul
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I recently stayed at a house for just over 3 month in a spare room with an on suite shower.

I am working away in Erskine so just been using Spare rooms website to find ad-hoc accommodation.
I paid a £350 deposit and stayed there from just after Christmas to last Saturday 18th.

In a nut shell when the owner returned on Saturday late I had already left I left him a note and popped the keys through the door.

I had attempted to give the carpet a hoover but his machine was broke so I write that on the note and also gave the shower a good clean and to me it was fine.

However later that day I got a proper sarcastic text about how disappointed the guy was with the condition of the shower cubicle and how he also thinks the bottom of it will have to have the silicon replaced to get it back to how it was. Now I have no before or after pictures as it looked fine to me when I cleaned it. He hasn't refunded my deposit as yet and I haven't got back to him as I have been busy this weekend moving into new digs. Anyone any thoughts, I do need to drop him an email or something as he is a bit of a miserable man and will just sit on my deposit ranting to himself.
 
Im not 100% sure Paul, but I think all landlords need to be part of the deposit Protection Scheme these days. Have a Google around and it might shed some light.
 
I can't imagine what you could have done to damage silicon to the point of needing replacement in 3 months ... were you developing & printing in the shower? :D
 
Nikon_Nick said:
Im not 100% sure Paul, but I think all landlords need to be part of the deposit Protection Scheme these days. Have a Google around and it might shed some light.
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I don't think the spare room thing is that well policed Nick, its kind of good will and honesty. I have stayed in 3 three places up to now and its been sweet and a very enjoyable experience.
 
gramps said:
I can't imagine what you could have done to damage silicon to the point of needing replacement in 3 months ... were you developing & printing in the shower? :D
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absolutely and giving I haven't been there at weekends as I go home to Huddersfield I have probably only had 40 showers tops. I know he is just being miserable its more what do I say to close this down.
 
Unless you've decided to pick at it with a knife, silicon should be fine if it was applied properly in the first place

Even if you can't prove that you haven't damaged it though it's less than a tenner for the silicon so you should be getting an absolute minimum of £340 back imo!
 
Thing is I know the guy is a bit of a muppet its why I just moved on as the house was a bit my way or the high way so I politely bowed out and moved on.

I suspect he will insist on a professional coming in to clean and a plumber to do the replace even if its not required. I think he is just angry because he liked my money and I chose to move on without giving him much explanation. I gave him a full months notice and he seemed happy.
 
Demand proof of the work being done and he's not just pocketing the money himself beforehand. Some landlords can be extremely fussy, others just rip you off.
 
Unless I've missed something, you haven't said he is withholding the deposit until some work has been done. Until he does just contact him and ask for your deposit back within 7 days and take it from there.
 
A thing to remember is a lodger is NOT a "tenant", they are just a "paying guest" - this means they don't have anything like the deposit protection rights of a tenant.
 
beyond the blue said:
Unless I've missed something, you haven't said he is withholding the deposit until some work has been done. Until he does just contact him and ask for your deposit back within 7 days and take it from there.
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All i am doing at the moment was asking advice as to if I do have any rights.
Nothing has been said at all at the moment I am waiting a few days and then i will ask hime th question
 
Did you have a tenancy agreement of any kind?

If he should have protected the deposit and didn't then it's pretty serious - you could be entitled to your rent back.
 
Was he living there at the time? If not, then he had a legal obligation to use one of the recognised deposit schemes. If he did then all and good because the arbitration system is pretty good and IMO biased towards tenants. If he didn't give you written notice of which scheme he was using within 30 days of receiving the deposit then basically he's screwed. You can apply to the county court to get up to 3 times the deposit refunded. And that's even if he protected it properly and just failed to serve the correct papers.

Renting is heavily biased towards tenants now.

But first questions: was he living there and did you have a tenancy agreement of any kind?
 
Well its all been resolved without me even saying owt.
A refund has appeared in my account for £300 which is £50 down.

humm, its a bit annoying but chasing £50 is not worth it for the hassle so I guess thats that
 
Mr Bump said:
Well its all been resolved without me even saying owt.
A refund has appeared in my account for £300 which is £50 down.

humm, its a bit annoying but chasing £50 is not worth it for the hassle so I guess thats that
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See above. it may be about a grand ;)
 
JonathanRyan said:
Was he living there at the time? If not, then he had a legal obligation to use one of the recognised deposit schemes. If he did then all and good because the arbitration system is pretty good and IMO biased towards tenants. If he didn't give you written notice of which scheme he was using within 30 days of receiving the deposit then basically he's screwed. You can apply to the county court to get up to 3 times the deposit refunded. And that's even if he protected it properly and just failed to serve the correct papers.

Renting is heavily biased towards tenants now.

But first questions: was he living there and did you have a tenancy agreement of any kind?
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Paul would have been a lodger renting a room. Lodgers aren't tenants, unfortunately for him the regulations you mention are for tenancies, not lodgers.
 
Dave1 said:
Paul would have been a lodger renting a room. Lodgers aren't tenants, unfortunately for him the regulations you mention are for tenancies, not lodgers.
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yeah thats pretty much it, oh well
 
boliston said:
You would need exclusive use of the whole property to be classed as a tenant - he rented a room
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Well, the OP seems happy with the outcome so this is only semantics, but that just ain't true ;) The key difference is generally whether the landlord lived at the same property or not (there are some exceptions). Basically if I rent a room in a building where other people rent rooms then I'm probably a tenant and get all the protection of tenancy law. If I rent a room in a building where the landlord also lives then I'm probably a lodger and am in an iffy area that the law really needs to catch up with very fast. Spare Rooms and similar sites are making this an urgent area for reform as it won't be long before there are some horror stories in the press.

That's why the important questions are "did you have a tenancy agreement" and "did the landlord live there" not "how many rooms did you rent".

Bobsyeruncle said:
As him for a breakdown of how he arrived at the £50 deduction.
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Why? There's really very little law covering this so the money is lost anyway.
 
I am definitely classed as a lodger and it was organised via spare rooms I am not overly impressed with the result but onwards and upwards.
 
Understand it's a niggle, but it looks like this only works out at about a fiver a week, which really isn't worth getting worked up about.
 
Peter B said:
Understand it's a niggle, but it looks like this only works out at about a fiver a week, which really isn't worth getting worked up about.
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'xactly that. It's basically back to the old system where landlords kept deposits to supplement rent - but it's not a whole pile of money so it's easier to walk away.

FWIW if this had been a protected deposit then the landlord would first have had to prove that the silicon was in better condition when you moved in than when you moved out AND that any deterioration wasn't fair wear and tear. THEN he would have had to work out how long silicon lasted, how old it was and by what proportion you had shortened its life. It's unlikely he could have stopped more than a tenner even if you'd deliberately carved it up with a chisel.

But 50 quid over 3 months it's not worth bothering about.
 
JonathanRyan said:
But 50 quid over 3 months it's not worth bothering about.
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TBH I probably wouldn't argue the toss over it either.
But maybe thats what the "landlord" is betting on.
If you do that a few times over the course of a year, there is a nice little Christmas bonus ;)
(Declared or otherwise)
 
Cobra said:
TBH I probably wouldn't argue the toss over it either.
But maybe thats what the "landlord" is betting on.
If you do that a few times over the course of a year, there is a nice little Christmas bonus ;)
(Declared or otherwise)
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No reason to declare money taken in for repairs that goes straight out. I mean, you record it in your numbers but it will make a zero sum for tax ;)
 
JonathanRyan said:
No reason to declare money taken in for repairs that goes straight out. I mean, you record it in your numbers but it will make a zero sum for tax ;)
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I think that pretty much covers what Chris was 'suggesting'; money in the pocket disguised as repair costs.
 
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