Thanks for the replies. We have decided to request the deposit ID (solicitor does not seem to want to help) from the DPS and maybe get the ball rolling there, unless the solicitor starts it first. As we have had no answer as to the missing £50 from the deposit and we cannot think of any valid reason why this amount was omitted we are going to send a letter before action to the landlady and see what happens there. As for the photos, well I'm tempted to send the two photos which disprove the main part of her argument, two carpets which can clearly been seen to have the same marks and stains two years ago, so could not possibly have been new. We will see what happens

Hi There was an inventory with 5 items on, a cooker, fridge, electric fire, lawn mower and curtains.

Hi Just looking for a little advice from anyone out there, My family has just moved out of a property rented for 2 years. The landlady has via her solicitor sent a letter claiming that we did not clean, meaning she spent £70 on professional cleaners. She also claims we have ruined the new carpets she put down at the beginning of the tenancy and not maintained the garden. She is looking to keep our deposit (£550) and then some to rectify the issues. Now we're not entirely stupid, we took photos when we moved in and photo and video footage when we moved out, so we can can confidently dispute her claims. The problem is that we feel at a disadvantage dealing with her solicitor, they have legal training and are obviously looking after their client. We have replied to the first letter letting them know we disagree and informing them that we have photos etc to back our position up. The solicitor has asked, quite abruptly, for us to send them copies so they can advise their client fully. Are we doing the right thing sending them the evidence? On the surface there doesn't seem in any harm in this, but we just don't know, it's all very confusing and stressful. It also appears from our search on the Deposit Protection Service that only £500 of the £550 deposit was protected, we asked the the solicitors about this in the letter and asked for the deposit ID, but they failed to mention any of this in the reply. Any advice would be greatly appreciated