He has docked near enough our entire deposit claiming it "was for building work to cover damages that we caused" which is crap because we didn't cause any damages. We were a nice laid back house the only broken thing was the lock on the door which I fixed, buying the parts I needed with money out of my own pocket. I did a good job of it too.

In fact it was in better condition when we left than when we arrived. When we first arrived we had to fix all the taps tehy were in such a bad condition and re-hang half the doors.

Anyway, I'm going to ask for invoices to proove the work was done and see how fast he backs down.

I hate university landlords, they try to dick students out of every penny they own.

I hate my university landlord. A metal bar was stolen out a lift, and we got charged 600 quid for it! Bastard

Just be smart about moving into a place. Take pictures when you move in and right before you go to drop off the keys the day you move out. If there is nothing that requires repair and the pictures show it, then tell them you have pictures and you expect your full deposit. If you don't get it, small claims court is cheap and you don't need a lawyer. Also, when you take the pictures the day you leave, do it with a disposable camera (film) and include a picture of a newspaper with the current date at the beginning and end of the roll. This is inexpensive and gives you something to show a judge. If a landlord knows you have that, they will probably not want to hassle going to court with you.

I give this thread a 9.6.