tenants in house

Apple45

If a tenant who has a (private agreement with the landlord) is moving out. Will they have to have the house and carpets cleaned when they depart?
Thanks guys

McKneff

Of course, was there a deposit involved, an ingoing inventory or just a quick move in.

G_M

Were they clean when you moved in? They (and everything else in the property) should be in same condition as at the start, less wear and tear.

Apple45

Er, dunno. The tenants have dogs and my lawyer is suggesting an inspection before we complete.

RAS

Sorry confused?

Are you buying a house that already has tenants in it?

dgtazzman

Generally agents expect the property to be in the same condition as when the tenants moved in, i.e. if the carpets had been cleaned professionally before they moved in, they would also have to do this. With pets involved, most agents/landlords add a clause that the carpets and curtains be professionally cleaned when tenants move out. We are in a rented house and will be getting a cat, the landlord agreed on these conditions, though he was happy just to take our word for it, without actually adding it to our contract.

G_M

Apple45 wrote: »

Er, dunno. The tenants have dogs and my lawyer is suggesting an inspection before we complete.

Don't understand. I assumed you were the tenant.
Are you the landlord?
Or buying a property with tenants?

Please explain!

However, answer is the same:

Everything should be in same condition as at the start, less wear and tear.
This is proved by comparing the check-in inventory/inspection, which should have been agreed/signed by tenants and landlord, with the check-out inventory/inspection.

Then the deposit is released from the approved deposit scheme by mutual agreement between landlord and tenant.

The issue is not whether they have dogs, it is the condition of the property!

If there are dog hairs/fleas everywhere, then unless there were also dog hairs & fleas at the start of the tenancy, the condition of the property is worse, so needs cleaning!

Apple45

Thanks. Price agreed on a house where tenants are living in. Think the neighbours are OK!!

HappyMJ

Is it specified in the sale? Are the carpets even included? It can be left by the owners in any state so if it's infested with fleas it's up to the purchaser to remedy it and not the vendor unless you have it specified in the contract of purchase.

So yes if tenants move out and they want the deposit back they will have to return it in the state they got it in but as you say it's a private agreement between landlord and tenant I'm assuming they know each other and therefore the cleaniless doesn't matter.

RAS

So you are buying a house that is currently tenanted?

In which case, do not exchange (I am not saying complete, exchange) on this property until

1. The tenants have vacated.
2. You have done a full inspection of the house.

Why? Because the seller is not required to ensure the house is cleaned before selling to you. And the seller can retrieve any costs from the tenant but may not leave it in the state you want.

And the tenants may not leave anyway and it could be months before you can move in.

mikey72

We were in the same position. The tenants finally left on the day we should have moved in.
We instructed our solicitor not to pay until we phoned him on the day, and we sat outside until they had left, then we went to the estate agents to get the keys.
Then we phoned our solicitor to instruct them to release the money.
We did get a couple of calls in the morning to ask where the money was, but it was late afternoon when the tenants left, so that's when we paid.
Cleaned?
Hmm, luckily we weren't actually moving in for a couple of weeks.
The carpets looked more like an allotment.
The oven I swear had a four week old chicken in it. (dumped)
The hob caught fire (honestly) there was that much grease under it (dumped)
The toilet cistern top was cracked.
Now it was a doer upper, and a very good price, so it was expected, still.......
Oh, then we had about six months of debt collectors.
To give them their due, they were all pleasant, and all apologetic when we told them we had just moved in.
And gas, electric, and water were quite nice about the bills too.
It's quite funny looking back........