Deposit deductions

fluff82

Hi all,

I posted on here a while back about handing in notice and leaving dates etc and had some good advice so here goes again.

I've just been given my checkout report and they want to charge me £190+VAT for end of tenancy cleaning inc marks on walls and internal windows and £96+VAT for carpet cleaning.

They stated that I hadn't left the place very clean - even though I spent 2 days hard at it, I'd been there 4 years so some of the scuff marks weren't interested in coming off the walls and the cooker was a little tough so not brilliantly done but all in all I would have been happy walking into it as a new tenant.

Also, the check out inventory says that as the carpets were new at the start of the tenancy I need to have them professionally cleaned. Now, I need to go home and find my copy of the inventory and the check out appointment letter but I'm sure there was nothing in there to that effect - the most I remember was a 'suggestion' to get the carpets professionally cleaned.

Anyway, my question is are the charges a little steep for cleaning when I have already cleaned once so it's not a complete state and also can I challenge the professional carpet cleaning (if I have nothing that says it should have been done? Will have to check when I get home and find all the paperwork)

Thanks
Fluff

Judith_W

Not sure about the charges being too steep but I do know they can't make you get the carpets professionally cleaned - even if they state it on the contract - only to a professional standard. See Shelter.co.uk somewhere.

clutton_2

you admit to not cleaning the cooker thoroughly.. that can cost up to £100 to get a professional oven cleaning company in to get an complete cooker clean

fluff82

Thanks for the replies - one other thing (this isn't going to make me sound good either).
Is this report their full and final deduction list ie, if I contend this can they come back with other things that they want re-imbursing on?

I only ask because I had to make good some holes in the walls, I filled and painted over but they are noticable.

Is there any reason why they wouldn't have requested money to put right this?

I probably would have been ok if they had wanted to knock off £300 for my rubbish filling and paint matching work but not for cleaning and carpet cleaning which they didn't tell me I had to do.

I would like to challenge the carpet cleaning but don't want them to stick more money on top. Guess it's the principle more than anything.

I've been there 4 years and they want almost a third of my deposit for cleaning.

lee636

Id say just pay it, its a cheek yeah to some extent, we will get the same crap when we move out but when you say about the making good of holes and painting etc. just cut your losses and move on, they may pick up on it next time and try and charge you even more.

clutton_2

did you sign an inventory when you moved in ? if you did then i am at a loss to understand why you should say

""but not for cleaning and carpet cleaning which they didn't tell me I had to do.""

if you move into a clean place.. you leave it clean when you leave... common sense.

fluff82

I did clean the carpets, I just didn't get them professionally cleaned - ie I didn't get them cleaned in a way I could prove - lesson learned for next time.
This is the bit I don't recall seeing in the inventory but I will have to check it when I get home and I am fairly certain the check out letter making the appointment only suggested that I get them professionally cleaned.

<sebb>

How did you clean the carpets? Did you hire one of those machines or just use a home vax or something similar?

What evidence is there that the carpets still needed additional cleaning after you had cleaned them? Are you sure you did a good enough job?

Cleaning is never a wear and tear issue, and if there is evidence from an independent third party (ie check out inventory) that the carpets were not properly cleaned then I don't think you have much of a case. You shouldn't need proof that you paid someone to do it because if you'd done it well enough the check out would have just stated that the carpets were clean. The carpets don't NEED to be professionally cleaned because they were new on arrival, but they do need to be cleaned properly. Alot of home solutions just won't match up to a professional clean. If you'd used a professional company and the check out inventory had stated they still weren't clean then you could have taken it up with them.

As others have said, you don't need to get a professional carpet clean provided you are capable of doing the job yourself to the proper standard. The problem with carpets is that it isn't all that easy to do it yourself.

After many years of renting I have now accepted carpet cleaning as part of the costs and factor it in. If I owned the place I'd be getting the carpets cleaned every 12-18 months anyway (which I also do in my current rented place).

Where I've moved into a place where the carpets were already dirty, I don't always make sure the last clean ties in with the time I leave (as long as the carpets are at least as clean as when I moved in), but if the carpets were new, or cleaned just before I moved in, then I make sure I get them done on leaving.

vaporate

clutton wrote: »

you admit to not cleaning the cooker thoroughly.. that can cost up to £100 to get a professional oven cleaning company in to get an complete cooker clean

To clean an oven?

SCAMMERS

clg86

I have just started a thread on pretty much the same thing. I have requested an invoice from the cleaning company they used and th one they have sent me is obviously made up by them. The company they suposedly used isn't even a company!

Ask for a break down of the cost of everything you are paying for and an invoice to match.