A group of students at the University of Bristol successfully sued their landlord for unreasonably taking money from their rental deposit. The six students received a letter from their letting agency informing them that nearly £800 would be deducted from their deposit due to a repaint of the house and over £500 of cleaning costs.

As a result, one of the students involved provided evidence that the flat was left in a cleaner state than what it was when they moved in and found that no painting was actually done to the property despite hundreds of pounds charged to them.

The third year biology student said that “After emailing them countless times it became evident they weren’t going to budge on the money at all, and were simply waiting for me to give up.” After taking the landlord and letting agency to court the group was given a cheque for full costs within the week.

Christopher Tobin