As a Landlord went to to arbitration after a Tenant left a property completely uncleaned after vacating and several significant stains to carpet etc. We use an excellent inventory clerk who documented the condition throughly before and after the tenancy, so the case was clear cut.

We felt our costs were reasonable and they awarded us over 90% of what we were claiming.


I think it is mainly a fair process.

For repainting a wall we would usually charge £25-£100 depending on what other work needed to be done in the property. The decorator has a minimum they will charge to come out, so the more there is, the cheaper each part can work out. I would say a maximum of £150/£180 would be still classed a reasonable given a decorator day rate and materials.

Yes Douglas N Gordon are awful when you are tenants. So I paid 6 months rent in advance - it was a way of getting a discount - and then after 6 months (with 6 month left on the lease), somebody there called Annabelle Hay kept trying to insist that I needed to pay £200 so they could get a reference to see if I could afford the rent!....which seemed kind of crazy considering I had just paid for the previous six months! I told them to get lost...

It's a shame, but they really were as bad as people say estate agents are.

I also had a nightmare with Douglas and Gordon on Northcote. We rented though them when we had builders in, we paid monthly in advance as is the norm and after the 6 months they tried to charged us an extra £300 ish, the rationale being that February and another few short months fell within the 6 month time period in which we rented and they were trying to charge by the day, multiplying it by 365 and dividing it by 2. Then charging us the difference. I threatened to report them to their CEO at the time because I very much doubt that the tenant initiated that and they dropped it. They give agents a bad name which is a shame because most of the big name guys on Northcote are great, and I've had dealings with many of them.

We had to go to the TDS with a dispute over our deposit a few years ago
They were brilliant - you can call them with any questions e.g. how much you should pay for your wall, and they're really helpful, and will give you honest answers
I'm not sure how much you'd pay for the wall, but if it's the same process we went through, they assess when it was last painted and take into account typical wear and tear - which your pin pricks may well come under

We went through a TDS arbitration too! It is really easy to raise a complaint. Just go to this link:

https://www.tenancydepositscheme.com/check-the-progress-of-a-dispute.html

Put in your Tenant Deposit Certificate Code and then you go from there. You input your evidence (you have a deadline to do so) and then the landlord answers with their own evidence. After that, there is a certain time period where you wait (no longer than a few weeks) and you get a decision from the arbitrator. When you raise your complaint, you include your bank account details and so if the arbitrator finds in favour of you, the money goes back into your account- easy peasy.

For the record, I also would not recommend Douglas & Gordon in Clapham South. We hardly ever dealt with the same people twice. I think there's a lot of turn over in those places.

Yes I went through this process as a tenant. Our landlord was also asking for excessive amounts for things - we were outraged and disputed it. We felt he had maybe $100 of legitimate claims to keep from us...not thousands. It was a lot of work for us as we worked hard on documenting our case and the whole process took us 6 months. well worth it. But is a drag to do to enclose your documentation. PM me with any questions! In the end they ruled in our favour and the amount was almost the same we offered the landlord/agency in the first place!

Thanks for your replies. My landlord is asking outrageous amounts...like £2000 for a wall with a few pinholes in it, this is just one example of many. He only got one quote from a decorator. The decorator started the work before I had even been shown the quote, so I couldn't ask him to get competitive quotes. I just wonder if an arbitrator will require me to get other quotes or if they will know the landlord's request is unreasonable and will assess a reasonable charge?

YES!

We got totally ripped off by Douglas & Gordon in Nortcote road who I would never go near again.

We rented a house whilst we had builders in ours.

Douglas and Gordon deducted money for "[b]dust on the front door mat[/b]" and "[b]leaves in the garden[/b]". (Foreign resident landlord left it to their discretion)

Seriously I am not joking or exaggerating.

When I complained, somebody there basically told me she didn't care as she acts for the landlord not me the tenant and that if I didn't like I should arbitrate.

I wonder if Douglas & Gordon get extra commission when tenants deposits get taken??

Anyway we went to the arbitration and won hands down!

So yes it's worth doing and yes it was easy and quick. Basically all that happens is you write an online statement and send in photos etc and then it all happens in a few weeks.

So do it people, and never, ever rent a house from Douglas & Gordon.

I have as a landlord. My tenant and I had a dispute over the state the property was left in. We both uploaded our cases and any evidence then the decision was made independently with regards to what was due back to the tenants. From memory the decision was final. I had lots of evidence having paid for checking in reports and checking out reports by an agent therefore the decision was mostly in my favour.

It was very straight forward and dealt with quickly - all online.

I also had a dispute as a tenant years ago but the threat of arbitration from me was enough for my landlord to just release the full deposit back to me.

Has anyone gone to arbitration with the Tenancy Deposit Scheme over a dispute with landlord regarding amount deducted from deposit? I am looking for advice about the over process and what was required.