Can i hold back some of the deposit for a broken item during the tenancy

[landland]

Hi,


Can i hold back some of the deposit for a broken item during the tenancy?

I rented out a room in my flat 6 months ago

After two months my flat mate said the freezer was built up with ice and
decided to defrost it.

After defrosting the freezer would not work.

I called an engineer who said that the seal had been damaged during the defrosting process and released the gas therefore the freezer was an economical write off.
At the time I asked for my flatmate to pay towards a replacement and which she refused saying there was a fault and dismissed the engineers finding.

I then decided to replace the item to keep the house in order and to not have a hostile environment.

Now 4 month later she has decided to move on, do i still have grounds to hold back some of the deposit?

[Paul_f]

You mean your flatmate is in fact a lodger and not party to any tenancy agreement. If so you can do what you like. As you appear to be a resident landlord then you cannot have a 'tenant'.

[landland]

even if it occurred 4 months ago?

[JK0]

Of course. I suggest to be fair, you make some allowance for the age of the old freezer. Say it might be expected to last twenty years, but had its life cut short by ten years, you should only ask for half of the cost of a replacement.

(This is how us landlords have to justify deposit deductions.)

[Paul_f]

Of course. I suggest to be fair, you make some allowance for the age of the old freezer. Say it might be expected to last twenty years, but had its life cut short by ten years, you should only ask for half of the cost of a replacement.

(This is how us landlords have to justify deposit deductions.)I think that might be pushing it a bit! Old white goods, even freezers which work well have no commercial value after 10 years.

[Ericthelobster]

I called an engineer who said that the seal had been damaged during the defrosting process and released the gas therefore the freezer was an economical write off.As someone who has personally defrosted freezers dozens of times over the years without event - what seal is this we're talking about and how has it been sufficiently damaged as to 'release the gas' and write off the freezer?

(Am thinking the seal is a rubber mechanical strip around the door, completely separate from the compressor etc at the back of the appliance, which contains the refrigerant...)