[geniegee2003]

We moved out of our rented property nearly two months ago.
After chasing our landlady for several weeks we were told that out of our £700 deposit we would only be receiving £100 back out of that. The property was left in the condition that we took it on in, when we took over the property it was in a poor condition and very dirty. The flooring was coming away and the walls were dirty and stained.
After kicking up a fuss a check popped though our door for £300. We don't agree that £400 is a reasonable amount to take out of our deposit especially considering the condition we took it on in. We were expecting £150 at the very very most to be taken from the deposit. The landlady said she was charging us for cleaning materials and "her time". The landlady lives 100 miles away from the property, maybe she is charging us for her petrol costs and childcare fees! We have tried contacting her, several times politely asking her to provide us with a breakdown of where she has taken money from our deposit and what for. She has ignored all our messages and attempts to contact her. We suspect that she has taken money to replace the washing machine that broke down due to it being old. She had refused to replace it during our tenancy. We have a young baby and had no washing machine for nearly 6 months. We are sure she can't take money for that, by her ignoring us, that makes us suspicious that she is being deceptive and trying to pull a fast one.
We just want to know what a landlady is legally allowed to take money from our deposit for and what she is not allowed to charge for. We also want to know how we go about trying to dispute this and get an itinerary from her.
Any help would be greatly appreciated