Ahmed’s story

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Ahmed’s story

Ahmed and his friend had rented a flat for their final year of university. They both graduated and moved out, and both are moving to new flats and starting full-time jobs. They are seeking the return of their tenancy deposit, which the landlord is refusing to pay. Ahmed takes their complaint to be decided by adjudication through the Tenancy Deposit Scheme.

My problem
I’ve just finished uni and I’m starting a new job down in London later this year. Very exciting! For the last year of my course my friend and I were living in this small flat in the town. We took good care of it – we were working hard in our final year, so not many parties. That’s why we couldn’t believe it when the agent said the landlord wasn’t going to pay us the deposit back. We paid £950 as a deposit back in September and the deal was we’d get it back at the end of the tenancy, as long as the place was OK when we left. I really need that money to get started in London. I’ve got a flat share arranged with four other guys, so I’ve got to pay a new deposit. Plus I need some furniture.

Landlords are allowed to keep part of a tenancy deposit for damage, lost items or cleaning, or if the rent has not been paid. They are not allowed to keep any part of the deposit for general wear and tear.

We gave our notice to the agent a good month ahead of time, and we cleaned the place really well. We checked everything against the inventory the guy gave us when we moved in, and it all seemed fine. The agent said he’d come around after we were gone and check the place out, then arrange for us to get our deposit back. We didn’t hear anything for a few weeks, so I rang the agent. He just said the landlord refused to pay the deposit back because of damage and the cost of cleaning the flat. I was outraged – how could he say that after all our effort? The agent said I should write to the landlord with my concerns, which I did right away, but I didn’t hear anything back.

My options
I went to see the student union adviser, and he told me about how I could take the landlord to court. It didn’t sound too bad, but I would have to pay out some money for the court fee.

In England and Wales claims for unpaid tenancy deposits can be made through the small claims court if they are under £5,000. Claimants pay a fee to issue the claim: the fee for Ahmed would be £80. If the court judgment needs to be enforced because the defendant doesn’t pay what he owes, then another fee is payable. The judge can order these fees to be paid back as part of the order if the claimant wins the case. A judge can also award interest – 8% from the time the deposit should have been returned at the end of the tenancy. A small claim will normally take about three months to get before a judge.

The adviser said I had another option, but it was something he hadn’t tried before. If the agent who handled the tenancy was a member, I could make a complaint to an independent adjudication scheme called the Tenancy Deposit Scheme. The adviser said the procedure looked pretty simple to use, and it didn't cost anything. He thought it might be worth trying, anyway. If it didn't work out I could still go to court afterwards. Mind you, he said I probably wouldn’t get the interest on the deposit if I went for the adjudication scheme, but it still seemed worth a go.

From April 2007, it is a government requirement that all landlords and letting agents who take tenancy deposits are members of one of three approved tenancy deposit protection schemes. There are links to the scheme websites at the foot of this page. If your landlord is not a member of a scheme, he may have to pay you compensation of three times the deposit you have paid. It's worth checking! Each scheme has an independent dispute resolution service if there is a dispute about the deposit at the end of the tenancy. Only tenancies begun after 6th April 2007 are covered by this requirement. Before that, only landlords and letting agents who were members of the voluntary Tenancy Deposit Scheme offered this option. You can find out more about the three schemes and how they work on the Tenancy deposit disputes page on this site.

I said OK to the adviser, and he started the ball rolling. It turned out our agent was a member, so that was lucky. I really wanted this out of the way so I could concentrate on my new job, and I didn’t want a lot of hassle to get the money back.

The advisor told me I could get the agent to put together the claim for me. At first I thought this was a great idea, as it would save me time, but then I started worrying about whether I could trust him to do it all properly. After all, it wasn’t his money! I asked the adviser how I could go about making a claim myself. He said to send the Tenancy Deposit Scheme any photographs I took of the flat; any receipts we had for repairs or replacements; letters to and from the landlord; and statements from any of our friends who could be witnesses to the state of the flat.

What happened

Disputes are normally referred to the Tenancy Deposit Scheme by the managing agent, but evidence can also be submitted by the tenants. The landlord is then invited to submit his own information. An independent adjudicator is then appointed from the TDS panel. Both sides will be shown a copy of what the other side has said, and can reply to that. But note that the adjudicator does not investigate or ask for any more information: a decision will be made on whatever the two sides send in.

I wrote to the agent to say that we wanted to make a claim for the deposit through this scheme. The student adviser then helped me fill out the scheme’s form online and print it out. I had to spend some time looking for the photos and receipts and also getting some friends to write something about how we’d been great tenants and really looked after the place. The adviser sent this stuff and the form to the Tenancy Deposit Scheme.

Four days later I got a copy of what the landlord was saying – basically that we had caused some damage to the hob in the kitchen and that the carpets needed cleaning. The hob was already messed up when we moved in, so I was pretty sure he was just trying it on. I thought the carpet should count as wear and tear, which the adviser said the landlord couldn’t charge us for. I wrote a letter saying the landlord was making this up so he wouldn’t have to pay us back.

The outcome
I didn’t hear anything for about five weeks. Then one day I got a letter with the adjudicator’s decision. He had ordered the landlord to return £650 to us. The decision said that the landlord had claimed we had damaged the hob and it had to be replaced at a cost of £300. Because there wasn’t any evidence of how it was when we moved in, the adjudicator decided that it might already have been damaged and so he split the replacement costs, £150 from the landlord and £150 from us. That seemed unfair, and I wish I'd taken a picture of the hob when we’d moved in. The adjudicator also decided that we should pay £150 towards the cost of having the carpets and curtains professionally cleaned because there were several stains that weren't just wear and tear. So in all he cut down the amount of our deposit by £300.

I wasn’t very happy with his decision, but on the other hand I just want to get on with my life. I knew going to court was still an option, but it would take another three months, and cost me more money. And even if we won, there would be no guarantee that the landlord would pay up. Life’s too short for all that. So my flat-mate and I accepted the adjudicator’s decision, and a week later we got the cheque in the post. At least it’s enough to cover my share of the deposit on the new place. And I now know to check and double check the condition of everything when I first move in and make sure I’ve got photos or notes to prove it. Live and learn.

May 2006
Updated July 2007