Moving out of our rented home. question about carpets?!!

oramgepekoe

Have they mentioned anything about getting the curtains dry-cleaned? One of my friends got stung for that.

Debt_Free_Chick

lmac22 wrote:

Hi,

We are moving out of our rented place in three weeks and have been told by the letting agents today that all the carpets have to be cleaned professionally. There is nothing about this in our contract.

When we moved in, the house and carpets were clean and we were told that the carpets had been professionally cleaned (although we were never shown a receipt for this).

It's a bit naughty not to make this clear, but I think the issue is that the house needs to be left in the state it was, when you moved in. So ... if the carpets had been professionally cleaned when you moved in, then by implication, you must leave the house with the carpets having been professionally cleaned.

£40 doesn't seem that bad. If I were running a business doing this, I would be tempted to have a minimum fee of more like £100 :eek: Otherwise, you would have to be sure of finding two small jobs to do, on the same day, in the same area.

I hope you had an inventory when you moved in - if so, then go through it soon and make sure there is nothing else for the LL or agent to argue about!

Regards

mookybargirl

When I moved out of one flat, letting agent returned by deposit quickly as I had faxed them copies of all of the final paid bills. After their cheque had cleared, they called to say they hadn't charged me the carpet cleaning and that this was £150 :eek: and that my deposit should not have been sent out.

They said they were out of pocket and appealed to my better nature. They then called a few days later and asked if I'd contribute - said I would offer a small token but never did and they never called again - too unorganised to notice I'd imagine. It wasn't in my tenancy agreement so I can't see how they could possibly get away with charging it.

The nect letting agent I was with never charged me for carpet cleaning on moving out.

Manchester_Lucy

pbradley936 wrote:

It is pretty standard. Also make sure you leave the oven clean or they might charge you £60 to clean that. Easiest way with a cold oven is a razor blade scraper for taking paint of windows do not use any water. When all the brown "toffee like" stuff is off the wash it with hot soapy water and a sponge with a hard green bit on the back.

Well when we moved into our rental property (3 yrs ago) There were marks on all the carpets, the kitchen and bathroom were disgusting and the garden looked like it had NEVER been touched. If my letting agents asked me to get everything cleaned professionally before I left, I'd be inclined to tell them where to go!

Surely carpets especially are going to suffer wear and tear and therefore a few marks here and there should be expected??

lmac22

Thanks for all the replies.

Contacted the letting agents today to advise them to arrange it for us for the £40.

Nothing has been mentioned about dry cleaning the curtains although we did get a long list of all the things that had to be done including washing the curtains ourselves.

I guess if we stick to this list we can't go wrong and when we have our check out with the agency I'll go through this list with them clarifying we've done all they asked.

A point about the oven, when we moved in it was ok but far from spottlessy clean. However we never brought this up ( which maybe we should have). Now worried if we don't get it spottlessly clean they'll use this to get more money from us.

Do you think the majority of land lords find something wrong so they can take money out of the deposit or are there actually some honest ones?? Maybe I'm just being cynical!

skaff

I have just started my own cleaning business doing post rental cleans. To professionally (ie steam) clean carpets is £20/room!! A complete clean of a 2 bed house is £125 +20% if furnished. I'd say your £40 bill is pretty good but i see your point on not knowing in advance.

SambaRamba

lmac22 wrote:

Do you think the majority of land lords find something wrong so they can take money out of the deposit or are there actually some honest ones?? Maybe I'm just being cynical!

A friend of mine was charged his full rent bond (£350) to cover the cost of cleaning a patch of carpet where he used to sit and use his computer (apparantly his feet had caused some scuffing)!!! His landlady flat-out refused to let him arrange to get the carpet professionaly cleaned, some people definately try it on!!

I once moved into a groggy looking flat which I did up very nicely, painting and decorating out of my on money, getting rid of mould patches and replacing the completely threadbare curtains. When I eventually bought my own place the landlord took £60 from my rent bond to 'whitewash' the property. I found out from a neighbour in the same building that no redecorating what-so-ever was done in the place and that new tennants moved in more or less straight away. Even now seven years later I drive past and can still see the same blinds and curtains I bought for the place.

If I wasn't so glad to be out of their i'd have taken them with me!