Here is a question to the blog clinic  from Louise who is a landlord

Since my last quarterly inspection, my new tenant has disposed of the white goods I provided ( all in good working order and just over 1 year old) and replaced them with her own without asking me. Can I keep the ones she has bought as her deposit will not cover the cost of replacing them if and when she leaves?

Answer

This is a tricky one. As the items were purchased by the tenant they arguably belong to them meaning they can take them away when they leave.

So if the landlord does not want the replacements they can certainly insist on the tenant removing them and then taking the cost of replacing the original items from the deposit.

However, can the landlord keep them? It is arguable that as they were purchased as a replacement for the landlord’s own items, they actually belong to the landlord. Indeed I recall that at least one landlord telling me he succeeded on this basis at court.

What is your experience? Have you been able to keep white goods and other Replacement Items Purchased by tenants?