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Cleaning Charges from Letting Agency
Options
HANDCJJ
Posts: 4 Newbie
I am writing to about some charges being demanded from myself and my partner by our letting agency as I would like to know what our options are.
We have been renting with a letting agency for just over a month but have had a few problems with them so far. We were due to move into our flat at the start of July however, due to lack of communication between themselves and the previous tenant, our move in date was delayed as the previous tenant believed he was not moving out until mid-July. Therefore, the letting agency put us into a short term flat for a week with a 1 week lease. Despite the letting agency claiming the flat was cleaned to a professional standard before we moved in, we found it to be quite dirty, particularly the kitchen area where the bins hadn't even been emptied. Because we didn't want to cause anymore fuss we finished cleaning the flat on our own.
The next week, we were then able to move into our new flat and didn't have any issues for the next few weeks. However, last week we received a letter from the letting agency claiming that the kitchen floor of the short-term flat needed cleaned, as did the kitchen counter. They also noted a milk lid left on a table. They claimed that because it was professionally cleaned before we moved in, we were now liable to pay £123 to have the flat professionally cleaned again. We offered to finish the cleaning ourselves but because the new tenant had now moved in, we were told this was not an option.
They have since provided us with a receipt from the cleaners which states our temporary flat was cleaned on 10th July and have also given us a check-in report from when we moved out of the flat, which describes the condition of the flat when we left. However, they have been unable to produce a check-in report which describes the condition of the flat before we moved in.
Our issue is that we feel £123 is a large sum of money to pay for a job that would likely take one person half an hour. Are we really liable to pay this?
Our contract does say that the flat should be left clean (which it was, apart from what they noted) but doesn't state what the outcome would be if it wasn't done to their standard. We also only paid a deposit for our 12 month contract, not the 1 week lease which was a separate lease. Would they be legally able to take the money from our deposit if it isn't for the same flat?
If anyone knows anything about charges like this, or has had a similar experience, I would be really grateful for any advice!
We have been renting with a letting agency for just over a month but have had a few problems with them so far. We were due to move into our flat at the start of July however, due to lack of communication between themselves and the previous tenant, our move in date was delayed as the previous tenant believed he was not moving out until mid-July. Therefore, the letting agency put us into a short term flat for a week with a 1 week lease. Despite the letting agency claiming the flat was cleaned to a professional standard before we moved in, we found it to be quite dirty, particularly the kitchen area where the bins hadn't even been emptied. Because we didn't want to cause anymore fuss we finished cleaning the flat on our own.
The next week, we were then able to move into our new flat and didn't have any issues for the next few weeks. However, last week we received a letter from the letting agency claiming that the kitchen floor of the short-term flat needed cleaned, as did the kitchen counter. They also noted a milk lid left on a table. They claimed that because it was professionally cleaned before we moved in, we were now liable to pay £123 to have the flat professionally cleaned again. We offered to finish the cleaning ourselves but because the new tenant had now moved in, we were told this was not an option.
They have since provided us with a receipt from the cleaners which states our temporary flat was cleaned on 10th July and have also given us a check-in report from when we moved out of the flat, which describes the condition of the flat when we left. However, they have been unable to produce a check-in report which describes the condition of the flat before we moved in.
Our issue is that we feel £123 is a large sum of money to pay for a job that would likely take one person half an hour. Are we really liable to pay this?
Our contract does say that the flat should be left clean (which it was, apart from what they noted) but doesn't state what the outcome would be if it wasn't done to their standard. We also only paid a deposit for our 12 month contract, not the 1 week lease which was a separate lease. Would they be legally able to take the money from our deposit if it isn't for the same flat?
If anyone knows anything about charges like this, or has had a similar experience, I would be really grateful for any advice!
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Comments
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If there was no check-in report they are on very shaky ground. However you admit to leaving the property in the state they claim it was, so I think it's fair that you should pay for it. Lots of commercial cleaning companies charge a minimum call-out fee: it's very difficult to engage a contractor for just a one hour charge.0
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Stand up for yourselves otherwise these chancers are going to walk all over you.
If there is no signed inventory from when you moved into the temp flat then they can't take any money. Write to them stating that you moved into a dirty temp flat for one week due to their fvck up, there was no signed inventory and since they have no record of the state of cleanliness when you moved in they cannot demand money now. If anything you should be billing them for your time.
This does not bode well for your 12 month contract. Is your deposit being held in a protection scheme? Hve you signed an inventory for this place?0 -
Thanks for your advice. It's really appreciated.
I do understand this point but the kitchen in this flat was incredibly small. I don't see how it would actually take more than 15 minutes to clean the floor and counter top and it is not mess that is worth £123. All that this refers to in the pictures is a few crumbs!BitterAndTwisted wrote: »However you admit to leaving the property in the state they claim it was, so I think it's fair that you should pay for it.
"This does not bode well for your 12 month contract. Is your deposit being held in a protection scheme? Hve you signed an inventory for this place?"
Thankfully, we have signed an inventory prior to moving into this flat so I don't think we will have a problem with this one. Most of our communication for this flat has been directly through the landlord who has been very pleasant and helpful, which is more than I can say for the letting agency.0 -
Jeez.
OP: it's the cost of calling out the contract cleaners. Yes, it was probably a small job but there's a cost associated with employing the services of contract cleaners. Try calling a plumber out who might suck in air through his teeth and leave you with a £240 bill.
Pay the costs and move on. You've got much more important things to worry about.Everyone is entitled to my opinion!0 -
I wouldn't pay them. You're only obliged to leave the property in the state you received it, which by the sounds if it you have.
I'm with Dannyboy - put in writing that the property was actually left cleaner than when you moved in, and that you are not prepared to foot the bill for the cleaning. If you did not receive a 'professionally cleaned' flat then you are under no obligation to return one...
Not to mention the fact that you only moved in at great personal inconvenience due to their failure to provide you with your chosen tenancy on the date agreed! Who wants to move twice in a month?
I don't suppose you took any photos of the temp flat before you cleaned it?0 -
The question is not what state it was when OP left it; the question is whether it is in a poorer state that when OP moved in. If the bins hadn't even been emptied, it's hardly likely to have been professionally cleaned first, is it? And the LA have no proof of its condition when you moved in. It's their mess-up and if you choose not to pay it, the LAs are on shaky ground as previously said.0
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Same thing happened to me once too. Basically, we told them drop it or they'd be hearing from our solicitors (we dont have a solicitor
).
Anyway, they shut up pretty quick after that. Matter closed.0 -
Thanks very much again for all your replies.
Even though there was no inventory/check-in before we moved into the flat they have given us a receipt from the cleaners to say it was professionally cleaned (even though I think it's been a pretty bad job). That's the only thing that is worrying me about our stance on the whole situation.
Think we both feel pretty hard done by the letting agency as it was their fault that we had to move into that temporary flat in the first place.0 -
Ask them what documentary evidence they have that the flat was clean, professionally cleaned or otherwise, when you moved in. According to your memory "the place was quite dirty, particularly the kitchen area where the bins hadn't even been emptied"so mention this is your correspondence to them.
Just because they paid for someone to do the cleaning when you left does not mean that the charge to you is justified. Sounds to me like the previous tenants should have picked up this bill when they left.0 -
BitterAndTwisted wrote: »Ask them what documentary evidence they have that the flat was clean, professionally cleaned or otherwise, when you moved in.
More to the point, ask them what documentary evidence they have which shows that you agreed with their assessment of the cleanliness before you moved in - i.e. an inventory signed by both them and you.
If, as it would appear, they have none then they can whistle.0
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