Deposits and Damp Walls

[Swanny86uk]

I am currently living in a 2 bedroom ground floor flat. We have been living here for about a year. We are now leaving and are worried about certain "Fair Wear and Tear" issues. The main issue is the bathroom walls seem to be very damp, causing the wallpaper to be stained and peel in places. This is also the case in some of the bedrooms.

When we reported this to the letting agency they told us to open the windows (which we do when we are in the property) obviously leaving the windows open when we are out is a serious security risk. The flat is fitted with an alarm which is broken, the letting agency will not fix this. Hence our reluctance to leave the windows opened when we are out of the property. The property is over 50 years old and alot of the other properties in the area have similar problems.

Would a deduction from the deposit for this damp be unfair and contestable? It has been reported numerous times and no work has been completed on the LA side.

[Twenty20]

I think this is quite a difficult one for the landlord or agent to charge for. I think the main thing is that you've reported it but theyve done nothing about it - did they send someone out to view it? Personally, I dont think that wallpaper in a bathroom is a good idea. I dont think you can be expected to leave windows open when youre not there, so long as you have taken care to ventilate the rooms while youre in the house I dont see you could do much more.

If youve only been in the property for a year then your deposit is probably protected in one of the schemes which make it more difficult for the landlord to make arbitrary deductions.

[Swanny86uk]

Yeh, we have our deposit registered with the TDS so if anything does happen with it we can register an appeal. Nobody has been around to view the damage as of yet. I'm just worried incase they start accusing us of not ventilating the property correctly, even though they can't actually prove we didn't open the windows.