A teenagers unhygienic, untidy and unliveable bedroom can give you more than a nightmare. The piles of dirty and dump clothes lying on the floor attracting all sorts of insects, the daily sight of a messy room, junk, and the unbearable smell that goes with it, may prompt you to just drop your child in the wheeling bin on your way to work if you could.
Your teenage child knows that mummy will always be there to put things right. You can have asked several times and even grounded you child in an attempt to get their room clean and tidy but to no avail.
Then you decide to take matters into your hands and give the room a good clean. You put the clothes in the washing machine, clean and disinfected the carpet, fold the clean clothes and put them nicely on the shelves, replace the rubbish bag, move the washing basket to the washing room, make the bed and give the room a spray of jasmine scent to freshen it up. As you are about to leave the room you notice several holes in the wall just underneath the bed headboard, and the cupboard doors detached from their hinges.
Looking at this damage, you know that your deposit is at risk and you may not be able to recover it in full.
If you are happy for the landlord to use your deposit for the repairs, then do nothing and wait at the end of your tenancy. This may lead to the following scenarios.
Your landlord may refuse and ask you to repair the damaged if it is not wear and tear, which may be part of his responsibility as listed on the tenancy agreement.
Your deposit may not cover the damage and the landlord may refuse to repair the damage at a loss to himself.
If the landlord does agree to repair the damage, then you must make sure that he tells you how much the repair will cost. Never let the landlord repair the damage without knowing how much the cost will be.
In any case it Is advisable to repair the damage yourself. They are lot of handymen who will charge you less.
Remember that leaving the accommodation in the condition you found it will save your deposit.
Before the end of your lease or if you chose to leave, make sure that you repair what is broken if it is part of your responsibility as a tenant in the tenancy agreement.
Always check your tenancy agreement to see where your responsibilities lie.
As for your teenage child, you need to have a serious discussion.
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