Then we will see if he counter-claims and at least we will be able to see any 'evidence' he has. Won't hold my breath though!!

I am going to take him to Court re deposit and we will then see if he counter-claims for £14k. Can't wait to see his evidence.

I honestly don't know what he is doing. I an confused as to why, if there were all these alleged damages why he returned part of the deposit almost straight away, then sent us a letter stating the 'damages' were £5000 and then it went up to £14,000 and said if we didn't pay the £5000 by 28 February 2019 he would start court proceedings. Incidentally, we have an email from him, from last year, stating that he was planning on selling the house when we left and would be spending £5000 on renovations. Strange that was exactly the second amount he claimed!! I think he may be trying to intimidate us into not taking him to court for not putting deposit in scheme and not having gas certs etc

I have not seen any photos or evidence of water damage from the LL. There was no water damage before we left.

Having re-read the last 'damages' claim from the LL I am a little confused. He states 'Flood damage to kitchen units under window. Independently assessed by Invisio on 31st December 2018 on behalf of Simply Business Landlord Insurance. Claim repudiated as issue has arisen as a result of Tenant negligence and not caused by a burst pipe.' but then goes on to ask for £1,420.' Would the assessors give him a figure for damages after repudiating an issue?

I know. Can't understand it either..... LL clearly thinks that all he has to do is put down some 'damages', make up some costs and the judge will just say "ok". Don't think it works like that though!

Having re-read the last 'damages' claim from the LL I am a little confused. He states 'Flood damage to kitchen units under window. Independently assessed by Invisio on 31st December 2018 on behalf of Simply Business Landlord Insurance. Claim repudiated as issue has arisen as a result of Tenant negligence and not caused by a burst pipe.' but then goes on to ask for £1,420.' Would the assessors give him a figure for damages after repudiating an issue?

He maintains that he tried to claim off of his insurance and apparently had the 'damages' assessed by a company employed by the insurance company. However, he has never had a gas certificate which, presumably, is a normal requirement for a valid LL insurance. If that does make the insurance invalid - bet he didn't mention that to the insurance company!

No regular inspections. He only came last July to take measurements so he could make changes when he sold the house. Nothing all mentioned about anything wrong in the house. This was backed up I think by him giving us some of the deposit back. The initial 'damages' list is shown below. We totally disputed these items and wrote him a letter in a Letter Before Action as he had not protected the deposit which meant we could not get free arbitration under the scheme. Strangely enough he said he planned to spend £5000 on the renovations which was the exact amount he mentioned in the second, subsequent, 'damages' update. 1 Deposit 14th March 2014 £700 2 CPI adjustment 15/09/14 to 14/03/15 [2.4% rent increase as per second schedule of lease dated 14th March 2014] (£100.80) 3 Tiles in kitchen by window (Special Condition 4) (£50) 4 End bath panel – Tavistock Milton (£35) 5 Side bath panel – Tavistock Milton (£70) 6 New track for bathroom door (track spring has been distorted and mechanism keeps popping out (Special Condition No. 4) – Wickes (£25) 7 Oven clean and remove grease from Kitchen Carpet (Special Condition No. 12) (£50) 8 Charges for transferring services (Special Condition No. 5) Tennant to notify suppliers and details of any agreements for gas and electricity 9 Repair to dishwasher Quotation for fixing to be obtained Total to be returned £369.2 less 7 and 9 above TBA

Handed the keys back on 15 December. Strange he didn't notice a flood when he walked round then! I think you are correct about him realising he needs evidence. Probably thinks all he has to do is say something, put down any cost and the judge will just agree.

I do not believe he had an insurance inspection or they would have confirmed there was no flood. He is acting like this because we said we were taking him to court for not protecting the deposit. Also no initial or annual gas checks or prescribed information given.

Thank you King12345. There was never a flood and we did not damage the walls as he states. If there was that much damage surely he would have noticed in the time between us handing him the keys in the house and when he sent the initial 'damage' report and returned £307 of our £700 deposit - which was a few weeks. He is clearly very angered at us stating that we will take him to court for not protecting the deposit etc. We have a message from him stating that he was planning to spend £5000 on renovations when we left. We walked around with him during the key handover and he only mentioned a few small issues. So small that I did not feel it necessary to take any photos of any alleged damage. If he does take us to court do both his and his wife's names have to appear on the court documents as they are joint LL's on the tenancy agreement?

Thanks for feedback. We never had Sky or any service that required use of the satellite dish so would not have known if there was a problem with the dish. He is still threatening to take us to court and if he does we will counter claim for him not protecting our deposit. This is the Inventory detail from the Tenancy Agreement: Inventory of Furniture Effects and Fittings Loft Room Spot lights, steel desk, printer table, steel bookcase, and glass fronted bookcase. Bedroom 1 Antique style curtain pole and curtains, secondary double glazing, curtains to fitted wardrobe hanging space, 3 light, bronzed chandelier. Bedroom 2 Fitted cupboards with wood stained louvre doors Landing Original fitted cupboards, brass curtain pole and tie back with curtain, 3 bulb spot light fitting. Hallway Meter cupboard, antique style glass ball light fitting. Sitting/Dining Room Reclaimed maple solid wood floor, antique style curtain poles (x2) and curtains, 2 seater sofa, electric log effect fire, bench seat with storage to bay window. Antique medieval style chandeliers (x2) with matching double wall lights (x2), mirror, clock, mobile door bell audio/visual alert Kitchen Fitted units, integrated dishwasher, central heating boiler and controller, electric halogen cooker, extractor hood, hand drier, digital clock, digital scales and digital/analogue TV with remote. Back Yard Locked shed, sun flood light, canopy and weatherproof electrics, TV, DAB aerials, sky satellite dish and 60cm Hotbird 130E satellite dish.

If he does decide to take us to court, he and his wife are joint landlords on the tenancy agreement. Do both their names need to be on the court papers?

Thank you for the responses so far - very helpful. I am particularly interested on thoughts as to whether this is an Assured Short Term Tenancy (AST) agreement as the LL states it is a non-assure agreement. We would meet all the requirements of an AST ie only property, LL not living in house etc. Additionally, would like views on Special Conditions Para 13 which states 'At the end of the term, repayment of the deposit, shall be payable by the Landlord'. It refers to a previous paragraph in the agreement which in turn states 'On the signing hereof to pay the Landlord the sum of £700 in respect of and as security for the payment of rent reserved and compliance with the terms of the said letting which said sum subject to such payment and compliance shall be refunded on the expiration of the said Tenancy.' What exactly does the above mean?