It might be worth advising the tenant that the rent may be increased if interior fittings are to be upgraded in the future.
Also it depends on how good your tenant has been and if it's worth keeping the peace with a new carpet.
I would have thought it would be classed as decoration of which is the tenants resposibility on AST and AT.

Well I thought I was getting closer to the end but the Tenant turned up late(Saying they had been sat in the wrong court) so my granted possession was overturned to delayed as the Tenant brought a defence letter in from the CAB Solicitor. Dated the same day as the hearing she couldn't understand how neither the Judge or Myself had received a copy!
Having left the court (Being advised by the Judge to take immediate advice from a solicitor) I went for a coffee to digest the defence letter the Tenant had given me, As alarm bells had started ringing.
I noticed it wasn't signed by her Solicitor, The address where it came from was incomplete, Questions I had already replied to in March this year to the CAB Solicitor were on it as not replied to.......
To cut a long story short i went to the CAB as it was only a couple of hundred yards away from the Court just to get the letter verified as correct only to find out the CAB Solicitor was on the second week of his 2 week holiday. So it's looking very unlikely it has come from them and has been cobbled together by someone with a word processor and a legal type layout program for it.
I am seeing a Solicitor tomorrow (My Sister stepped in and paid for this. I'm very grateful as I lost my job recently) and handing it over to them.
I will also contact the CAB next Tuesday as the Housing Solicitor is back then to validate the defence letter.
It's no wonder the Judge wouldn't let me read the defence in court. I had only got down 1/2 the page and he said "You have probably got the gist of it" as he had flicked through thoroughly unimpressed!. I guess he saw it wasn't as lawful as it looked.......
I'll let you know how I get on.

I go to Court on Tuesday 21st August after a long battle (Now standing at 41 weeks)
I would advise any Landlord not to make this easy mistake I made with the paperwork.
1) A "Section 8" and an "Accelerated Possession Procedure" can ONLY be used if the agreement is still running eg: within the 6 month period of the written agreement.
2) If the agreement has run past its initial period it becomes a "Periodic Tenancy" of which you can either serve a "Section 21" notice or a "Section 8" notice but you can only use an "N5 Claim Form For The Possession Of Property" as it is beyond the initial 6 months of an Assured Shorthold Tenancy Agreement. You will also require an "N119 Particulars Of Claim For Possession(Rented Residential Premesis)" All these forms apart from the "Section 8/21" notice are available form your local court.
Please Note: Your claim will be quashed if you use an "Accelerated Possession Procedure" after the initial tenancy agreement has "Run Out" In other words you will have to lay out another £150 court costs and at least another 8 weeks delay.
I would also advise you to go the the CAB before your tenant does as if the tenant gets there before you, You can no longer get any advise from them a it is classed as "Conflic of interest".
I will let everyone know how I get on.

Heavens, It makes my possession order look quite straightforward.
I really hope the court sees sense.
For instance,
A) Why would a tenant take on a derelict property and pay rent?
B) Having that many animals can only be seen as a business of which planning would be required and benefits agency need to be informed plus it is illegal to run a business on a residential tenancy.
C) A business tenancy agreement signed by you and the tenant would be needed at court to allow them to stay there of which doesn't or hasn't ever existed.
D) From the 28th of February 1998, Any tenancy after this date is automatically Assured Shorthold under which gives the Landlord the right to evict via the County Court after a section 21 notice and relevant Court Hearing and granted possession order in place.

I will keep my fingers crossed for you. I have had no rent from my property since November last year and I am struggling to keep the bank happy. I have finally managed to secure a hearing on Tuesday 21st. A full 41 weeks after all this started. Very costly indeed.

This link might help. It is for tenants initially but gives basic advice.
http://england.shelter.org.uk/advice/advice-7513.cfm

I hope you get both possession and a "Money Judgement" as this will give you back your costs and any unpaid rent as it is taken at source eg: Working wage, Any benefits so you will get your cut before the person recieves the rest.

I'm afraid they no longer need to offer appliances but do need to offer a suitable connection for a cooker if not provided.
This is due to the stringent testing each year which has put many Landlords off.
As far as I am aware they only need to supply a form of hot water.
If you do bring your own cooker make sure you have it connected professionally as it is an offence not too. 

I would guess it will be unlikely you will get much as Winter months are exceptionally hard to get service engineers.
It might be worth you signing up with British Gas on a private basis as Landlords cannot use this service as the house is rented and deduct the charge off the rent either yearly or monthly so you are more guaranteed a quick service.
If you had rung for an engineer yourself you will find it can take up to 2 weeks to get anyone to come out.
The Landlord does have an obligation to provide you with an alternative heat source if no other heating is available within the property.
Best of luck.

Hi there,
I recently gave my tenants notice after issues regarding non payment of rent. Their circumstances changed and had to be re-assesed by the Housing Benefit as one of them had returned to work.
This has been ongoing since last November. I issued them a section 8 possession notice in February and then an Accelerated Possession notice in March on the basis of a) Non payment of rent and b) I now need the property for myself to live in as I am unemployed.
I have since recieved a letter from the CAB (Who they are using) that the correct notice hasn't been served and my court proceeding invalid owing to "Housing Benefit Delay".
I am aware that as one of my tenants is working that they have to pay half so my case is valid.
At present the rent owed stands at 26 weeks.
Also the CAB tried to say the tenancy is an "Assured" tenancy and I have agreed to let them rent the house indefinately. The rent book is an "Assured Shorthold Tenancy" and was agreed in December 2000.
Are the CAB trying delay tackticks? There has never been an "Assured" tenancy ever agreed or written up. Are they being fraudulent in trying to get the tenancy changed from "Assured Shorthold" to just "Assured"?
Also all the fair rent and housing benefit forms are clearly stating "Assured Shorthold" as the tenancy type.
Can anyone help?