Clarification of "damage" in tenancy agreement

McPete_2

Hi all,

I was just wondering if someone could answer a quick question for me.

A letting agency is trying to take some of my depoist for cleaning, and to add to this, they are also trying to charge £58.50 as an admin charge. In the contract, it says they can do this to arrange for contractors to "rectify any damages".

Does cleaning count as damage?

poppysarah

Admin? Sounds outrageous.

What needs cleaning? How much are they charging for this?

cats!

Was there a proper signed inventory when you moved in?? If not, no they can't make any deductions!

Is your deposit registered in the TDS?

Did the tenancy place an obligation on you to pay for a professional cleaner when you left? (This could be classed as an unfair contract term though).

I would request a written statement of why the property needs cleaning. Unfortunately their admin fee is probably hidden in the small print, but you could challenge it.

Did you leave the property clean?!!!

McPete_2

Yes, the deposit is with the TDS.

They're trying to charge £125 for carpet cleaning, and £100 for general cleaning.

The property was left in a reasonable state, yes. It wasn't perfect, but it wasn't when we moved in either. There is a checking in (signed) and checking out report. The signing in report shows that the property wasn't perfectly cleaned either, so we assumed we could leave it in roughly the same state without a problem. I can't see how it will cost them over £200 to clean a 3 bed flat which was fairly clean anyway...

I guess I'll just have to go through the TDS...

edit: No, it doesn't say we have to pay for a professional cleaner when we left, just that it needs to be left in a "good domestic standard"

halia

Well £125 is about what it would cost to clean carpets in a 2bd house round here as a minimum!
£100 would cover a cleaning firm (2 people) for 4-5 hrs to include oven clean and steam cleaning of curtains/soft furnishings.

The question of whats clean enough is a very tricky one, and if you are negotiating over 'reasonable' state you may have a tricky time. What proof do you have that you left the flat in the same condition and standard of cleanliness that you moved into it?

Common things that get missed by tenants, appiances - inside of oven, inside of washing machine drum, tops of window frames, cobwebs, rust marks, grouting on bath etc.

I'm not saying you havn't cleaned btw, I'm just pointing out the types of things a landlord may look out for or claim you didn't do properly.

Ask them for a breakdown of what needs cleaning and make sure you do have proof that the house wasn't clean when you moved in.

McPete_2

Yup, you're right.

The carpet cleaning was just for the stairs, and as they weren't completly clean when we moved in, they're only trying to charge for half.

All of the cleaning charges in the check out report say things like requires wipe clean. They have listed things that I know for a fact were clean when we moved out, but their are a couple which I have to admit I forgot...

I have no real proof. The checking in report shows that it wasn't totally clean when we moved in. But as the unclean items don't all match with the unclean items in the checking out report, they're chargeing us for those I guess.

In hindsight, I should have taken photo's. Oh well, you learn from your mistakes I guess

Gorgeous_George

If it is your dirt, the cleaning charges sound about right.

How long it takes to arrange the cleaners, let them in, wait until they finish, lock up and deal with invoicing is anyone's guess but £58.50 sounds a bargain.

If it's not your dirt, it's too expensive by every penny.

GG

redcar_2

I would have thought the agentneeds to prove the state not the other way round.

If your inventory says it wasn't completely clean when you moved in then its difficult to say how much less not completely clean it is now.

Please do up date on this as I have a friend who had a similar dispute with an agent as to what is the definition of clean for carpets however he didn't pursue it with TDS - although his charges were much less than yours.

Captain_Mainwaring_2

halia wrote: »

Well £125 is about what it would cost to clean carpets in a 2bd house round here as a minimum!
£100 would cover a cleaning firm (2 people) for 4-5 hrs to include oven clean and steam cleaning of curtains/soft furnishings.

The question of whats clean enough is a very tricky one, and if you are negotiating over 'reasonable' state you may have a tricky time. What proof do you have that you left the flat in the same condition and standard of cleanliness that you moved into it?

Common things that get missed by tenants, appiances - inside of oven, inside of washing machine drum, tops of window frames, cobwebs, rust marks, grouting on bath etc.

I'm not saying you havn't cleaned btw, I'm just pointing out the types of things a landlord may look out for or claim you didn't do properly.

Ask them for a breakdown of what needs cleaning and make sure you do have proof that the house wasn't clean when you moved in.

Jesus wept, don't people keep the place clean when they live there? It shouldn't need much when you move out.

clutton_2

these charges sound reasonable to me

redcar_2

clutton wrote: »

these charges sound reasonable to me

- but there is still the question should he be liable for this at all or has he returned the place in the same state it was rented given that it wasn't recorded as being clean at the start?

I think if its stated the carpets weren't totally clean before the tenancy then its a cheek to ask for any contribution to them being professionally cleaned at the end of the tenancy.

For wiping clean then I guess if OP didn't do it and it was clean at the start its fair to be charged.

My friend was told the carpets weren't hoovered properly when they said they had hoovered them carefully. How do you settle these types of disputes. On my agreement (pre TDS) it says the agent's decision is final but they are hardly impartial...