Just 22 insane reasons Notts students didn’t get their deposits back

The end of the second semester can be a stressful time of year. For all students, it means anxiously waiting for examination results. But for some, it also means starting negotiations with landlords in order to keep their full deposit. It’s a rite of passage for student landlords to make deductions for the most insane and outlandish reasons. So we decided to ask Notts students for the reasons they didn’t get their deposit back and some of them are just plain petty.

1) Charged for a chair that was broken before we moved in

That’s just unlucky. Make sure you’re taking pictures of everything that’s slightly damaged, because your landlord will definitely place the blame on you if they can.

2) £50 for a bike no one owned

No student house is complete without a mystery item.

3) Cleaning fee for a condom wrapper found under my bed

You shouldn’t be punished for having safe sex.

4) One of our flatmates didn’t pay their deposit, so no one got their deposit back

There’s always one.

5) A singular hair on the bathroom floor

They probably needed a magnifying glass to see that.

6) They tried to charge us £350 for the grass being too long even though we cut it the week before

Was your garden Lenton Rec by any chance?

7) I repainted the walls in the house the same colour because the landlord did a shit job

It’s likely they were jealous because you did a better job than them.

8) My housemate stole my deposit

How does this even happen?

9) Didn’t wipe the ‘dust’ out of an empty drawer

At least the final inspection was thorough.

10) Cobwebs

They would have been great for Halloween.

11) Charged £50 to remove an empty storage box we left behind

Inflation these days.

12) £200 cleaning fee for a single hair grip on the floor

World’s most expensive hair grip.

13) Left some bean bag chairs for the new tenants and we were charged £50 to have them removed

The new tenants would have loved those.

14) Pipe burst under the carpet and left a water stain

Guess the insurance didn’t cover that.

15) Housemate didn’t pay their rent back during covid, so we all lost our deposits

Covid was a tough time for all of us.

16) Charged £75 for a missing chair that wasn’t there when we moved in

Always pay for missing items, even the ones that didn’t exist in the first place.

17) I was charged £40 to remove a chair that I left for a friend who hadn’t moved out yet

Acts of kindness will cost you.

18) £255 bill to hoover and dust a clean room

I wonder how long they spent cleaning that.

19) The landlord kicked in the furniture

Rule number one of being a landlord – never take accountability.

20) My housemate didn’t pay rent all year and used his deposit to fund their inter-railing trip. Our landlady took everyone’s deposit

I feel like this is a lesson to select your housemates very carefully.

21) We got charged for a bag of hedge trimmings our landlord left in the garden

We’ve all paid for our landlord’s mistakes.

22) Got charged for a tiny hamster grave

The landlord was just jealous they weren’t invited to the funeral. RIP hamster.

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