Dont expect your deposit back

I rented through Nichols Tyreman 4 years ago. During that period I redecorated, spent a lot of my own money/time on improvements. My Landlord was very pleased. When I told the Landlord I was leaving he said I was the best tenant he had ever had. HOWEVER, the newly employed current staff at NT, in particular the Manager, who had no prior knowledge of the property decided to tell me the property was in an unrentable condition. That it needed completely redecorating throughout (it had been decorated in Jun 21) they used the most expensive commercial decorators in Harrogate for a quote (1450 for a very small 2 bed house), a full house clean (385) and gardening (100). They decided not to give me my deposit back - no negotiation. Fortunately I had kept every photo/email exchange and evidence from when I moved in. I made an application to the Tenancy Deposit Service to get my money back. After 3 months the TDS decided that Nichols Tyreman had no evidence and I had all the evidence to prove I was right and they were wrong. They did the check out without me there. So be prepared to LOSE your deposit if you rent through them, make sure you take photos of absolutely everything if you do rent, and make sure you are there for both the check-in and check-out.