Furniture different to what is in the inventory

[cratesl]

Hi all,

The property I moved into mid tenancy as one of the old tenants wanted to leave so we did a name changeover and I took over their room. We have been served notice and are moving out at the start of April however I noticed that the desk that is in my room is different to what was in the inventory and there was also a shelf up. Both of these things were changed before I took over the tenant. The land lord has sold the house and said to one of the other tenants they would like all the furniture to be left, I have tried to contact her and the estate agents several times as to whether deductions will be made because of the desk being different and there no longer being a shelf but they have not replied. I'm just wondering in terms of deductions from the deposit where I stand? The deposit is in the tenancy deposit scheme.

[leaseholder64]

It is very difficult to change tenants properly. The landlord should have terminated the old tenancy and created a new one, with either a new inventory, or all tenants agreeing that the old inventory still stood.

I think you need to gain a clearer understanding of your exact status and whether you actually paid the deposit to the landlord, or simply reimbursed the old tenant's deposit.

In any case you should make sure that you have informed the landlord or the discrepancy, and can prove you have.

[DPT57]

If the landlord tries to make a claim from your deposit for the desk just dispute it. you will almost certainly win if there was no new inventory when you moved in

[cratesl]

We reimbursed the old tenant's deposit and then a name change was done on the tenancy deposit scheme so the deposit is held in there in my name. I've informed them and the estate agents and haven't had a response. From what I understand, the desk was taken out by the land lord before I moved in but they seem to have difficulty recalling these things.

[DPT57]

All works in your favour really.