When a tenancy comes to an end, we send a member of our team to the property to complete an Exit Inspection. This is essential to ensure the property has been left in an appropriate and liveable condition for the next tenancy.

 

Our team members will thoroughly check the property and assess the condition that it has been left in. If our team identify any damages outside of normal wear and tear, that can reasonably be associated with the tenant, we can claim the cost of repair against their deposit through the DPS.

 

It is important to note that we, the managing agent, do not hold the tenant's deposit. As such, we cannot directly deduct from their deposit. We must follow the process set forward by the Deposit Protection Service (DPS), meaning that once we have quoted for the cost of repairs we will submit that to the DPS for consideration to deduct from the deposit.

 

This creates two additional considerations that must be acknowledged by the DPS:

 

If either of the questions cannot be answered "Yes", there could be grounds for the tenant to dispute the claim against the deduction. From our experience, we have found that the DPS are more inclined to rule in favour of the tenant. We will always claim for the value that you request to be deducted from the deposit, we cannot guarantee that it will be approved 100% of the time. If the request is denied you may end up getting less than if you had requested a lower amount, or even end up not being awarded any deductions.

 

There is a strategic benefit to claiming 70-80% of the total value you may wish to claim to improve the chances of being awarded the deduction to help fund the cost of repairs. Again, we support any claim requested by our landlords but given the nature of the claim procedure, we would rather encourage a tactful approach to claims to ensure a value is awarded rather than being denied.

 

If you have any further questions, or if you would like to seek advice on a claim against a tenant's deposit you can speak to our team.

 

Call us on 01482 562 562.

For quotes & repairs email: jack@ultralets.co.uk

For DPS advice & queries email: alice@ultralets.co.uk