LL charges from my deposit?

Hannah85

My old landlords are trying to charge £225 for cleaning the house. Now to me this seems like rather a lot considering how we left the house when we moved out. We're also being charged nearly £40 to replace the door to the boiler, which again sounds like a lot (especially considering the landlord installed it himself).
Am I entitled to see what they spent the money on? And can they have used a professional cleaning company without informing me first or giving me an estimated price?

EDIT: the bathroom was fairly mouldy, but it was mouldy when the last tennants moved out coz we were told they had to replace the ceiling. They installed an extractor fan but that didn't work (we told them this) and they said to just leave the window open all the time we were in the house. Which we did the whole time, there was physically nothing more we could have done. Can they charge for cleaning the mould?

jamie11

Mould is almost invariably caused by lack of ventilation and failure to deal with it quickly, so it's a fair deduction in my opinion. Just because there was some there when you moved in was no excuse to ignore it. You saw the place before you moved in and took it. now you've moved out is a bit late to start complaining about it.

sequence

If there was mould there when you moved in, you're entitltled to leave it with mould when you move out. You have to leave it in the same condition as when you moved in.

Was there a detailed inventory taken out when you moved in ?
Is your deposit in a protection scheme ?

Yorkie1

What was the problem with the boiler door? If you didn't do any damage to it other than fair wear and tear then that's not a deduction the LL can justify.

Hannah85

The boiler door snapped off, not from us doing anything, just from when we had to open it to turn the heating on etc.

With the mould, the landlords have been aware of it the whole time. They came round to the house a few times to look at it and said the thing about the window - which we did. Also just to clarify, because I'm not sure I was clear, the mould isn't something the landlord has said, that's just me speculating on what they could be charging for. My question is about whether £225 seems reasonable and whether I have the right to ask to see what our money's been spent on.

BitterAndTwisted

You have no right to see evidence of what the landlord has spent. What you do have is the right to decline to accept the deduction from your deposit if the landlord has no evidence to prove that the property was less clean on check-out than it was when you moved in. Some agents and landlords see cleaning charges as an additional revenue-stream: they think they can get away with charging for it even if it doesn't need to be done. What is important is the documentary evidence

Hannah85

BitterAndTwisted wrote: »

You have no right to see evidence of what the landlord has spent. What you do have is the right to decline to accept the deduction from your deposit if the landlord has no evidence to prove that the property was less clean on check-out than it was when you moved in. Some agents and landlords see cleaning charges as an additional revenue-stream: they think they can get away with charging for it even if it doesn't need to be done. What is important is the documentary evidence

So does it only matter that they can show some cleaning was necessary, not how much? Like, if they came up with proof saying we had to do X, Y and Z, but no evidence it would have set them back £225, I have to accept it?

RAS

Hannah

How about answering the important questions you were asked?

Was ther an inventory done and signed when you moved in?

Was a proper inventory done when you moved out?

And with respect to the mould, do you have any records in writing regardign the problem?

Hannah85

RAS wrote: »

Hannah

How about answering the important questions you were asked?

Was ther an inventory done and signed when you moved in?

Was a proper inventory done when you moved out?

And with respect to the mould, do you have any records in writing regardign the problem?

Oh! Yes, an inventory was done and signed when we moved in, and they had copies of that which they went around the house and checked while we were moving out. They didn't seem to have any problems at the time which is why I'm wondering how we're being charged as much as we are.
Regarding the mould, I'm not sure we do have anything official - kicking myself now because I'm guessing this now means it's our word against theirs so we can't prove they knew?

Can I ask to see a recipt for cleaning, or ask for the company they used?

RAS

Did the inventory list the state of the individual items and the property?

What you have to understand is that the landlord is entitled to have the property returned to him/her in the same state as you took it on save for wear and tear. If it was grubby, then you are entitled to return it grubby. BUT if you signed the inventory saying it was immaculate, then the LL has evidence to show that you should return it immaculate.

So what was on the sign in inventory?

The best way to go forward if you think you returned it in the same state as you took it on is to dispute the deductions. At that point the LL has to prove that you left it in a worse state than when you took it on.

The LL has to prove his case, not the other way round.

Just that if the deduction is for mould, then evidence that you had tried to address it would be useful to you.

And if the boiler is 10 years old and the door fell off, then fair wear and tear. If it was installed last year, then he probably can charge you.