How much Deposit should I give back

Hi, I just sold a rental property and am now wondering how much of the EUR1,200 deposit to give back to the outgoing tenants. Things I have found wrong include:
1. holes (big ones) in the walls from door handles
2. rubbish (the house wasn't cleaned at all) and their own furniture left behind which I will have to get a skip for
3. crayon marks on the walls and carpet (from the kids I presume)
4. broken headboards

I believe I should withhold about 300 for a skip but am not sure how much to withhold for everything else considering I have sold the property. Anyone any suggestions, bearing in mind that I think I would have got a lot more money for the house if there were no damaged walls or carpets? Thanks.

Did you repair the damage before selling ?

re the sale you should have changed carpets and got more money from sale and this question would have been immaterial. that said I think others are just wear and tear apart from rubbish disposal (what is in letting contract?) and headboards.

Could some of this simply be normal wear and tear in which case it might seem unwarranted to withhold some of the damage deposit? For example holes in walls from door handles would have been avoided by you installing door stops (?) at the skirting level to prevent the door handle hitting the wall. Some crayon marks when there are kids are surely not to be unexpected? Could the headboards have been broken through normal use?

Post crossed with markowitzman's.

Thanks for the replies. The beds and headboards were just 24 months old, the carpet was 18 months old. If you saw the size of these holes in the walls you wouldn't put them down to normal wear and tear.
I think I'll deduct for a skip, a cleaner and the headboards. Thanks.

Maximus12 said:

I think I'll deduct for a skip, a cleaner and the headboards. Thanks.

Click to expand...

Seems fair to me

You are entitled to have repossession of the property in the same condition as origianally let, but allowing for fair wear and tear. Therefore in the circumstances surely you should deduct the cost of the skip, plus the time for filling it. If the holes are excessive, deduct for filling same in and an amount for redecoration. Deduct an amount for cleaning the property (on the basis that it was clean when they moved in). Also carpet cleaning and a further amount for damage to headboards. TAKE PHOTOGRAPHS IN THE CASE OF THE PRTB BECOMING INVOLVED.
There appears to be some misconception of what is fair wear and tear. Crayon marks on the wall is. Leaving furniture isn't. Dirt isn't either.

I would agree with most of what you said Mercman, but I don't think crayon mark are "fair wear and tear" and whether I would charge someone for this would probably depend on how long they were there. I had a great tenant who moved after 3 years and about 2 months before she moved her daughter used the wall to express her artistic streak!! I didn't charge for this as I needed to repaint the walls anyway....however, if a tenant was only there for 6-12 months after it being freshly painted, I probably would charge.

However, as the property has been sold as is (I doubt he is going to actually repaint before handing over the keys), it probably is unfair to charge.

Samh, Noted, but the ending of a tenancy arrangement and the sale of the property are two completely different transactions arising from completely different circumstances.