How much cleaning do I have to do before I move out??

~moneysavingnovice~

Hi there,

I'm leaving my rented accomm in a couple of weeks. The landlord has asked that I have the place professionally cleaned.

However, our tenancy agreement only states that we have to return the flat to the same clean condition we received it in. Our LL said the place had been professionally cleaned before we moved in, but it definitely hadn't been (or it was a very slapdash 'professional' cleaner).

Obviously I'll do all the normal things like hoovering etc, and the inventory is full/no damage to the flat.

But, there sealant in the bathroom has gone mouldy (there are no windows, one weak extractor fan, I air it as much as I can but it's hard to keep free of damp), the oven and microwave are both quite dirty but they were like that when we moved in. The garden is a bit overgrown, but it's communal, and our tenancy agreement only mentions the garden where it says we can't remove plants.

Just trying to figure out how much work I have to do??

poppysarah

Did you have an inventory?

Did you take photos before you moved in (bear this in mind for your next place)

Heliflyguy

Try using a mould and mildew spray on the bathroom, if they had used the correct sealant (with mould inhibitor) it might not be such a problem.

Maybe ask the landlord who they used for the cleaning so you can get a quote and see what comes back

I dont know who the onus is on to prove the condition of the property when you moved in but it would be wise to clean the carpets (and windows as this always looks good) you need to get the microwave and oven clean as I presume you have used these while youve been there, print off an invoice pay yourself £100 then its all been done by a "professional".

~moneysavingnovice~

We have an inventory, but it doesn't say anything about how clean the flat is.

We didn't take any photos, hmm.

Our LL has used our deposit to pay our last period of rent (long story- but came to this mutual arangement). He's said that he'll bill us for anything he thinks need cleaning/replacing, but not sure how he can enforce it if we don't agree?

Just want to work out what level of cleaniless he'll be expecting- is he likely to charge for dirty oven/mould in bathroom sealant?

jockosjungle

To be perfectly honest you should have taken up a dirty oven and mould when you moved in if he was claiming it was professionally cleaned. I would say he is most certainly going to charge you for a dirty oven and general cleanliness if you haven't done it. I've never had a rental cleaned professionally but left it to a decent clean standard that nobody could argue with.

Sounds like the deposit to pay your last rental is an informal agreement, he could change his mind and keep the deposit for damage and uncleanliness and then pursue you for payment of rent.

R

LandyAndy

Spray the mould with this.



Very effective in the short term.

NAR

As a minimum you must clean it to a standard that you would find acceptable as if you were moving in.

nomnomnom

I just paid £89 for a full house clean on leaving my rented property. They did a very good job and even cleaned the oven which they said wasn't inc on their website. We used a Vax on the carpets ourselves though and would have done the cleaning as well but simply ran out of time. But if you were to do the work yourself, then as a bare minimum clean the oven/microwave. Skirting boards, radiators, sills, inside of window glass, frames, inside of kitchen cupboards & drawers, vacuum thoroughly, clean light switches, mop any hard floors, and the obvious stuff you'd do regularly anyway like cleaning bathroom/toilet and worksurfaces. Once you've done all that, why not show the LL and see if he still thinks a professional clean is necessary?

Gambit

I'm in a similar situation ~moneysavingnovice~ except our contract does state that the carpet should be 'professional cleaned' although I argued that this should be necessary and luckily my landlady agreed :j

We too have a dirty oven but will not be cleaning it as it was broken when we moved it and didnt use it when it was fixed as it was so discusting and dirty and just carried on using the microwave oven she provided to us.

In regards to the rest of the flat I'll be cleaning it as much as poss but at the end of the day the flat was a lot dirtier when we moved in and I took a video and photos of this in case she argues this when we move out.

Good luck and hope you get out without any extra charges!!

Pee

I would leave it as clean as you can and then not worry as unless you really annoy the landlord he is unlikely to come after you for any further charges. just remember that you may need him as a reference, though.

~moneysavingnovice~

Thanks for all the replies!

We won't need him as a reference as we're buying a place.

I'll get that mould spray stuff. Luckily all wooden floors barred the bedroom (which is cream and grubby when we moved in). I really do not want to go near that disgusting oven, but maybe I'll have to...

The thing is, the LL is moving someone in the eve we move out (he lives in Spain), which is probs why he's asking for a proff clean- would rather do it myself!!

Will I get away with the garden?