Light bulbs deposit reduction?

Chain_reaction

Just a quick question we moved out of our rental property a month ago as the premises was sold, the landlord who still has our deposit and is no longer the owner of the property is is looking to deduct money for two light bulbs which were gone from the spot lights in the kitchen. Is this not seen as wear and tear?

the world wonders

As a tenant I would view replacing blown lightbulbs as part of my responsibilities for the general upkeep of the property, it is certainly not something I would expect the landlord to take care of. How much is the landlord charging you? It can't be much...

Chain_reaction

the world wonders wrote: »

As a tenant I would view replacing blown lightbulbs as part of my responsibilities for the general upkeep of the property, it is certainly not something I would expect the landlord to take care of. How much is the landlord charging you? It can't be much...

Don't know as of yet as he's yet to reply to my email, they're a special type so we expect them to be quite dear, one was already blown when we moved in.

Bigcheeze

Ask him for a copy of the receipt for the two bulbs he replaced. He can't deduct for them if he didn't replace them. Obviously the receipt should be dated after you moved out and before he sold the property.

Scortho

Bigcheeze wrote: »

Ask him for a copy of the receipt for the two bulbs he replaced. He can't deduct for them if he didn't replace them. Obviously the receipt should be dated after you moved out and before he sold the property.

He can't charge to fit either, unless he got an electrician in to fit.

Maybe I dreamt it but I thought landlords were responsible for lights

L1011

Chain_reaction wrote: »

Don't know as of yet as he's yet to reply to my email, they're a special type so we expect them to be quite dear, one was already blown when we moved in.

Most spotlights use "special" GU10 bulbs, which cost about 30c in bulk and can be got in €2 shops individually. Even the LED ones aren't particularly dear.

If you end up paying this, demand receipts. He can't charge for his own time.

johnnyskeleton

Chain_reaction wrote: »

Just a quick question we moved out of our rental property a month ago as the premises was sold, the landlord who still has our deposit and is no longer the owner of the property is is looking to deduct money for two light bulbs which were gone from the spot lights in the kitchen. Is this not seen as wear and tear?

Light bulbs which have come to the end of their natural life = normal wear and tear.

Light bulbs which are actually and inexplicably missing is probably a good ground to withhold some of the rent.

You would also have to question what right he has to claim the replacement cost of such lightbulbs when he no longer owns the property. He would have to argue that the property was diminished by a few euro, or perhaps 0.00005% of its value.

Gatling

johnnyskeleton wrote: »

Light bulbs which have come to the end of their natural life = normal wear and tear.

Light bulbs which are actually and inexplicably missing is probably a good ground to withhold some of the rent

Surely that would be one in the same ,

Bulb was blown when moving in and is removed ,nothing untoward with missing bulbs ,

Now in saying that in my two bed ,

Four blown in the kitchen
Four blown in the sitting room
Three in the hallway
One blown in the kids bedroom when we moved in 3 years ago ,

Certainly won't be putting in replacements either using energy saver bulbs in lamps to cover lighting in the evening and night time ,

Wouldnt like to see our deposit been held to replace light bulbs that weren't working when we moved in

djimi

How expensive can the bulbs be? I replaced all the bulbs in the spotlights in our hall for less than a tenner not so long ago. If the landlord came looking for the price of a bulb Id probably laugh and assume they were taking the piss.

Next theyll be complaining that you didnt leave any toilet roll after you moved out...

ted1

djimi wrote: »

How expensive can the bulbs be? I replaced all the bulbs in the spotlights in our hall for less than a tenner not so long ago. If the landlord came looking for the price of a bulb Id probably laugh and assume they were taking the piss.

Next theyll be complaining that you didnt leave any toilet roll after you moved out...

False economy, LEDs pay for themselves within a year. Then your saving money

Thargor

Cant the landlord write them off against his taxes? I had to spend 18 Euro last week replacing these weird spotlight things I have in my room and kept the receipt for the landlord when he gets back from holiday, I was hoping he'd pay up, do you think this wont be the case?

miezekatze

I recently moved out of a rented apartment as well and got a check out form from the letting agent which specifically mentioned that all burnt lightbulbs had to be replaced or would be deducted from the deposit (bulb and labour). We made sure all lights were OK except for some special ones that were supplied by the landlord whenever they needed to be replaced (they've been a bit slow about this recently though so 2 or 3 haven't been working for the last 6 months at least). It's a bit annoying though as a lot of the bulbs were actually missing when we moved in, I never thought of insisting on these to be replaced at the time.

Valentine1

I think I know the special bulbs you are talking about, they have a 4 (or 6) pin connector and are used in sensor lights in halls and bathrooms in some apartment complexes. They aren't available in normal hardware stores and often aren't in stock in the various electrical wholesalers so they can be a bit of a pain to get hold of sometimes. Having said all that they aren't particulalry expensive, €7 each I think and they are very easy to fit.

I would be arguing that lightbulbs amount to wear and tear and that they shouldn't be deducted under any circumstances. Any LL worth his salt has a box of plugs, fuses and various lightbulbs and batteries that he uses to replace any expired ones before a new tenant moves in.

Thargor

Cant they write them off as business expense though? I dont want to look like an asshole claiming for lightbulbs but this was nearly 20 quid, if it was a normal fitting I wouldnt have mentioned it.

josip

Thargor wrote: »

Cant they write them off as business expense though? I dont want to look like an asshole claiming for lightbulbs but this was nearly 20 quid, if it was a normal fitting I wouldnt have mentioned it.

"Writing them off as a business expense" doesn't mean that they don't cost the landlord anything. It just means that they effectively cost the landlord half as much as a tenant.