Carpet damage - what are our rights?

[sammy01]

Hi

Our tennants have just moved out after two years and we've a couple of carpet issues.

1. Bedroom carpet was brand new when they moved in (we have receipt) but its got a huge stain (coffee or red wine) on it - no chance at all it will come out with cleaning plus a fair amount of dirt (the bed space is obvious by the colour marking!!)

2. Downstairs + hall carpet was a year old and had a couple of marks on it which were all noted on the inventory (we did a massively detailed inventory ) It is also has some more stains and marks and despite cleaning hasn't come up that well. (it was a shoe free house but looks like they've worn shoes in it 24/7!)

Also the downstairs carpet is continued up the stairs and upstairs landing - but this part looks ok.

We would accept wear and tear for downstairs and hall for some of it but to be honest we don't think its really been looked after and its gone past that and basically needs replacing (though not sure we'd replace the stairs and hall OR should we????)


Wondering what the collectives thoughts were on the options / percentage. Can we claim the full 100% for the bedroom as its damaged and how much percentage would be valid for downstairs?

Thoughts, help please as we want to ensure we're being fair and reasonable.

Thanks

[Snorkerz]

The first question is what quality was the carpet - and what would it's expected lifespan be? Normal 'rental' carpet would be lucky to last 5 years.

The amount to charge your tenants is the proportional cost of the amount of lfe that should have been left at the end of the tenancy.

Example:

Hall carpet, original cost £150, life expectancy 5 years - value £30pa. 2 years life left, therefore charge to tenant £60.

alternatively, original cost £500, life expectancy 15 years - value £33.33pa. 12 years life left, therefore charge to tenant £400.

[Jaybee542]

Normal 'rental' carpet would be lucky to last 5 years.

Can I ask what a normal 'rental' carpet is? For example, I rented out my home where the carpet was already more than 5 years old but still in very good condition (no stains and no evidence of any part of it becoming threadbare). The carpet is a moderately priced wool carpet with medium grade underlay.

Now if my current tenants were to leave a burn mark in the middle of it such that I had no choice but to replace the entire carpet, would they not be responsible for any of the cost since the carpet is over 5 years old (even though it was in very good condition when they moved in)?

[Snorkerz]

I may be getting out of my depth here - so bear with me.

I would consider £3.99 carpet-right stuff to have a life expectancy of no more than 5 years. By that time, under normal wear-and-tear it would be worn out. I had tenants manage to trash the stuff in 6 months.

I am sure that, if by some miracle, the carpet was till pristine after 5 years, the tenant would be liable to contribute to the cost of replacing the carpet - ie they should refund the value of a 5 year old carpet in that condition. How you (or more importantly a deposit arbitrator) would work out that value, I am not sure.

My original post was a generalisation which seems to echo a number of threads I read on the subject when I first joined the forum. I guess there are exceptions to every rule eh?

[Jaybee542]

I would consider £3.99 carpet-right stuff to have a life expectancy of no more than 5 years.

OK - I think you just explained a whole lot right there! Didn't mean to push you out of your depth - just curious to hear views