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‘Eye watering’ letting agent check-out bill for £1,071 unveiled on Twitter

Shelter's Head of Policy has published a picture of invoice sent to tenant following check-out by unnamed corporate agency.

Nigel LEwis

letting agent

An ‘eye-watering’ and ‘disgusting’ inventory invoice by an unnamed corporate letting agency has gone viral on Twitter and has been retweeted 49 times over the past 48 hours.

The list (pictured, below) was uploaded by Kate Webb, a social housing activist on social media and also Shelter’s Head of Policy.

Said to have been passed to her by a ‘friend of a friend’ who she says it “definitely challenging” the list, it has been criticised by dozens of her Twitter followers mainly because the agent involved has charge a total of £1,071 to the tenant involved to check out of the property.

letting agent

This included charging £5 for a bulb and £100 for scuff marks on the living room wall, £300 for a professional clean and £156 for the inspection.

People reacting on Twitter have claimed that the scuff marks mentioned so many times on the list should have been excluded under ‘wear and tear’ guidelines.

The tweet by Kate (pictured) prompted several of her followers to recount similar stories and ask why she hasn’t unmasked the agent involved. Kate says she “didn’t want to get into a dialogue with them when the complaint has only just gone in,” she tweeted.

ARLA Propertymark’s advice on ‘fair wear and tear’ is unequivocal about what can and cannot be charged for.

“Many landlords believe that the property should be returned to them in the same condition as at the start of the tenancy however this is not the case,” it says.

“At the end of the tenancy the most appropriate remedy to damage must be considered and proposed deductions must be reasonable, proportionate and in excess of fair wear and tear.”

Read more about inventories.

 

August 9, 2018

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