The life expectancy of fixtures, fittings and interior décor continues to be widely misunderstood by agents, landlords and tenants, according to the Association of Independent Inventory Clerks (AIIC).

Working out the correct shelf life of various items in a rented home can be quite complex due to agents, landlords and tenants valuing them differently and also the time that said item has been in the property.

There are many different calculations for compensation, depending on the item in question, for example, if a tenant burns several large holes in a lounge carpet, someone will need to calculate the solution, which could be a compensation allowance to the landlord towards replacing the carpet. Landlords can’t have ‘new for old’, as this would be classed as betterment.

Pat Barber, Chair of the AIIC said: “If a carpet cost £500, was new at the start of the tenancy and two ‘twenty something’ professionals lived in the property for two years, the carpet would have had an approximate life expectancy of around five years. The £500 original cost must be divided by five (the life expectancy). This will give an annual depreciation figure of £100 per year. The carpet, now two years old, should have a further three years of life left before the landlord could expect to replace it. This means that the current value of the carpet is just £300.  This is the amount of compensation the landlord can claim against the tenant.”

“Unfortunately, compensation issues can cause the most arguments between landlords and tenants. We had a recent case where one landlord had received complaints from the owners of the flat below his rented property, about water leaking from above. He arranged to meet his tenant to inspect the en-suite bathroom from which the water leak has seemed to originate. The laminate flooring was badly water damaged and the edges of the panels were bubbling and lifting, indicating a serious water leakage problem. The bedroom carpet adjoining the en-suite also had a large discoloured water stain. 

“It appeared that some sort of water leak had occurred and this was a normal wear and tear issue. After checking all pipes and areas under the shower and bath, he could find no problem. Then the landlord had a light bulb moment.  He asked the tenant how he cleaned the flooring and the tenant pottered off, returning a couple of minutes later, with a bucket of hot soapy water. He stood at the door way and simply threw the bucket in the air, emptying the complete contents all over the floor - definitely not fair wear and tear!”