Repairing damage in rented accommodation

Hi all

If you cause damage in rented accommodation and it goes beyond normal wear and tear, what are your obligations? To repair back to brand new at your own cost, or to restore back to the state it was in when your rental contract started?

In my case, some of the rollerblinds on our skylights have got ripped. They're stupid flimsy things, but still, they got torn on our watch, which makes it our problem. They're still usable as blinds but I think the agency would take a dim view if I claimed 'wear and tear', so I don't intend to try.

But is the onus now on me to replace blinds which may be 5 or 6 years old with brand new ones, with no cost involvement by the rental agency? I've only lived here for 1 year, and they were not brand new when I moved in. AFAIK, it's never the tenant's responsibility to improve the state of the accommodation.

Could I ask the agency how old the blinds are, say that I broke them and offer to cover the majority of the cost of replacing them but with a contribution by the agency? Or would they just tell me to sod off?

For the record, I'm not trying to weasel out of coughing up, I just don't want to end up paying more than I need to just because I don't know what the 'rules' are.

Thanks
24lw