Deposit Nightmare

unreal83

Hi there

Just moved out of my property I rented for 2 years, gave it a good clean but missed some things (am 3 months pregnant and very stressful time).

Waiting on our deposit to be given back, spoke to estate agents who didnt go and view property until 8th January, have now told me last night there are some issues with the flat.

When we moved in the flat it was new cream carpets and walls, now 2 years later they arent in bad condition but obv wear and tear has come into it. They are charging us for the following; and will NOT let us go back in and do it ourselves. Considering we live 2 doors down.



Oven, hob and hood requires full clean. Area around oven needs grease splashes removing (tiles)
Freezer needs defrosting and cleaning, fridge needs further wipe out
Kitchen cupboards/units require cleaning inside and out (fronts).
Washing machine powder drawer requires cleaning.
Hallway carpet requires steam cleaning. (approx size 8 x 6 )
Bathroom sink requires de-scaling
Shower cubicle requires cleaning ( however Landlord is renewing sealant and grout so only shower door needs cleaning.
Flat in general requires (further light clean) vacuum and dust, especially skirting boards in hallway.

Now I agree on the hood cleaning, but the oven cleaning? I oven mated the oven before I left and did the best I could with it, the flat is fresh, unsmelly, clean and livable - I really think they are picking hairs as the flat was in no pristine state when I moved in!

They are charging £180.00 + VAT for this job; considering the actual jobs are probably 3.5 hours + cleaning carpets - what do you think, are we entitled to see a proof of the quote they have? They have offered to let us find our own quotes and get back to them - i just wonder if we are better off cutting our losses and just going with it.

I knew this was going to happen - they have been awful to deal with the whole way through my tenancy.

They are now telling us that the landlord wants to give it a lick of paint anyway so surely he is gonna get it cleaned after that anyway!

Just feel like they are always completely out to stitch you up and not be helpful at all.

Jowo_2

Did you sign an inventory/schedule of condition at the outset?

Be aware that the definition of fair wear and tear is broadly 'natural deterioration under ordinary usage' and excludes all dirt,stains, tears and marks (anything done by accident or through negligence).

A landlord must take into account the age and condition of an item when calculating a deduction.

franklee

Your point of reference is the inventory from when you moved in. You'd need to return the property to the same state of cleanliness as detailed there. If anything was listed as clean in the inventory and wasn't you should have raised that at the time. If the inventory didn't detail how clean each of these items were then challenge the claim based on the standard wasn't recorded and as far as you are concerned you returned it to the same state. It would be down to them to prove otherwise.

Presumably the deposit is protected? That should help in making the decisions and challenging this fair.

Fire_Fox

Were you given the opportunity to attend the checkout? Is your damage deposit lodge in one of the three schemes? Are there any photos of the condition of the property at the start or end of the tenancy?

chappers

does seem abit steep,
We have a cleaner in once a week for 3 hours and they charge us £30, we had our lounge carpet cleaned last year and the guy charged us £25 to come out and £30 to clean the carpet, he would have charged us £20 to clean the small bedroom(10x10) carpet but we decided to do the floorboards instead.

clutton_2

are you saying you did or didn't clean all the items listed in your first post ?

franklee

Jowo wrote: »

Be aware that the definition of fair wear and tear is broadly 'natural deterioration under ordinary usage' and excludes all dirt,stains, tears and marks (anything done by accident or through negligence).

Err I think one could expect a cream carpet to be showing some discolouration with normal use over two years especially in a hallway although I'd agree that dirt in general is excluded from fair wear and tear.

Pitlanepiglet

franklee wrote: »

Err I think one could expect a cream carpet to be showing some discolouration with normal use over two years especially in a hallway although I'd agree that dirt in general is excluded from fair wear and tear.

Carpet cleaner?

Most rental contracts require carpets to be cleaned at the end of the tenancy.

franklee

Pitlanepiglet wrote: »

Carpet cleaner?

Most rental contracts require carpets to be cleaned at the end of the tenancy.

Right but if that doesn't shift discolouration from a hallway with a cream carpet? As a tenant I did keep a hallway cream carpet pristine by asking everyone to take their shoes off on the mats I supplied for by the door, but I don't think a LL who puts cream carpet in the hallway can expect that. It seems daft to put such a carpet in a rental hallway, what do they expect to happen.

Fire_Fox

franklee wrote: »

Right but if that doesn't shift discolouration from a hallway with a cream carpet? As a tenant I did keep a hallway cream carpet pristine by asking everyone to take their shoes off on the mats I supplied for by the door, but I don't think a LL who puts cream carpet in the hallway can expect that. It seems daft to put such a carpet in a rental hallway, what do they expect to happen.

The landlord doesn't dictate how the tenant lives their life during the tenancy, only the condition in which the property is returned to him: wear is acceptable marks are not. It's up to the tenants whether they are strict about shoe removal, or thorough with cleaning (by hand is often very effective) or accepting of deductions from their deposit. You may say it is daft to install a cream carpet, you could equally say the tenant was daft to rent a property with a cream carpet!

Pitlanepiglet

We rented a house with cream carpets throughout, we had door mats as we would do if it was our own house and we cleaned up any mess that was made as we would do if it was our own house. At the end of the tenancy we cleaned the carpets using a (very cheap!) carpet cleaner and they came up fine. We even managed to shift the printer ink stain on the hall carpet with a steam cleaner.

OP, as someone else said can you confirm whether the items listed were items you cleaned or where they items that were missed?

I don't think the LL is under any obligation to allow you in to rectify things, your opportunity to do this was when you were moving out. Did you get any kind of check out visit from the LL or the agent?