Minor damage to rental property - how to deal with fairly?
Discussion
I bought a B2L about 18 months ago. It was a brand new flat about 18 months prior to that (so three years old now). When I bought it, it was pretty much in brand new condition. No works required for the tenant to move in.
It has been tenanted by one person for my entire ownership however she is due to move out at the end of the month. I was showing a prospective tenant round the other day and noticed a small amount of damage to the worktop. I would guess a hot pan has been placed directly on the top and caused a ring to appear in the laminate. The surface is still smooth to touch so it is purely cosmetic. The tenant has kept the rest of the flat in excellent shape.
I'm a little disappointed with what's happened, especially as I provided grids to place hot pans on to prevent this happening. The schedule of condition states that the worktop is "Clean and undamaged".
I stupidly forgot to take a photo of the damage at the time so can't share it here.
I'm not sure how to proceed so would like some advice on how to deal with it fairly. I don't think it's fair wear and tear but I'm not going to replace the worktop so wouldn't feel comfortable charging her for that.
The only other time I have had a similar situation was in another property where the tenant knocked over a 2l bottle of coke on the centre of the living room carpet. Despite him trying to get it professionally cleaned the stain wouldn't come out. I charged him half the cost of a new carpet as I wasn't going to get it replaced.
It has been tenanted by one person for my entire ownership however she is due to move out at the end of the month. I was showing a prospective tenant round the other day and noticed a small amount of damage to the worktop. I would guess a hot pan has been placed directly on the top and caused a ring to appear in the laminate. The surface is still smooth to touch so it is purely cosmetic. The tenant has kept the rest of the flat in excellent shape.
I'm a little disappointed with what's happened, especially as I provided grids to place hot pans on to prevent this happening. The schedule of condition states that the worktop is "Clean and undamaged".
I stupidly forgot to take a photo of the damage at the time so can't share it here.
I'm not sure how to proceed so would like some advice on how to deal with it fairly. I don't think it's fair wear and tear but I'm not going to replace the worktop so wouldn't feel comfortable charging her for that.
The only other time I have had a similar situation was in another property where the tenant knocked over a 2l bottle of coke on the centre of the living room carpet. Despite him trying to get it professionally cleaned the stain wouldn't come out. I charged him half the cost of a new carpet as I wasn't going to get it replaced.
Thanks for the replies. I will of course talk with her and will try to come to an agreed approach. However I wanted to get some perspective beforehand.
God knows how much it'd cost to replace - if I couldn't find a match then the upstands and splashback would have to be done at the same time.
God knows how much it'd cost to replace - if I couldn't find a match then the upstands and splashback would have to be done at the same time.
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