Tenancy clause requiring redecoration of a flat "immediately before the end of the tenancy" (England)
Hi, I’m posting on behalf of an elderly relative with dementia who has just moved in to dementia care, from a flat in sheltered/retirement housing run by a small local non-profit organisation. I hold power of attorney for her and am handling the end of the tenancy.
She has been a resident for around 10 years.The flat was freshly redecorated by the landlord immediately before she moved in. The current written tenancy agreement dates from 2021 and replaced an earlier agreement. It began as an assured shorthold tenancy. The agreement contains a clause requiring the tenant to “decorate the inside of the flat in every fifth year of the tenancy and immediately before the end of the tenancy.”
On giving notice, the landlord sent a letter requiring the flat to be redecorated, all carpets removed, and the flat "given back to us as we gave it to you when your tenancy began" In other words, returned to the same condition it was let in, with no allowance for fair wear and tear.
My main questions are about whether that decorating clause is enforceable at all:
Requiring a return to the initial condition, with no allowance whatsoever for fair wear and tear. Does that make the obligation unfair or unenforceable? My understanding is that tenants are generally not liable for fair wear and tear.
Is requiring this “immediately before the end of the tenancy”, an unfair term under the Consumer Rights Act 2015? The tenant derives no benefit whatsoever from redecorating on the way out. The benefit goes entirely to the landlord and the incoming tenant, so it seems to load the obligation entirely onto the party who gains nothing.
Although the landlord is a limited company with the words Housing Association in its name, as far as I can tell is not actually registered as a provider of social housing, so I would guess is just classed as a private landlord?
For completeness: after we gave notice, the landlord also sent a separate “decoration policy and specification” requiring professional decorators only, and inspection by their committee, with a claimed right to redo the work at our cost. We had never seen this document before, and it isn’t referenced anywhere in the signed tenancy agreement, so I’m assuming it has no contractual force.
Thanks in advance for any insight.