Cleaning of a vacating property

GaryMaguire

10 days after I have left the property now and still no sign of a deposit being returned. How long does the LA have to file a claim / give deposit back etc... There is a lot of information online but nothing that appears definitive.

Regards

Gary

GaryMaguire

Ouch, £850 they are wanting!

BitterAndTwisted

Have they given you a breakdown of how they have arrived at that £850? Carpet cleaning and some simple weeding in the garden wouldn't come to anything near that. Query it and then contest the deduction if you don't think it's fair. In fact I'd claim the whole of my deposit now and let the deposit scheme's arbitrators look at the agent's/landlord's proof.

Loretta

GaryMaguire wrote: »

Ouch, £850 they are wanting!

Is you deposit in a tenancy deposit scheme?

GaryMaguire

Yes my deposit is in a scheme

Loretta

GaryMaguire wrote: »

Yes my deposit is in a scheme

Raise a dispute with the deposit scheme, that is what it is for

Mind_the_Gap

I agree that £850 seems excessive for remedying the damage/cleaning which the agent claims needs doing. Definitely dispute the LL's proposed deductions via the scheme and let the adjudicator decide (or a court if LL refuses scheme adjudication).

However, OP seems to have a different idea of 'fair wear and tear' and 'being 'tenant-like' from most LLs. If the carpet by an entrance is soiled from 5 years of people coming in and out, that is still soiling/dirt, not 'wear and tear' and it is the T's responisbility to have it cleaned. (Perhaps put a doormat down next time). If contractors do not clean up after them, that fact needed to be signalled to the LL at the time, not ignored.

I so agree with poster above about Flash 'wipes'...I am a painter & decorator and my heart sinks when someone tells me that the place will be all nice and clean ready for decorating because they've 'got lots of cleaning wipes in specially'. There's no substitute for real cotton rags/cloths, real bleach, real flash gel and real elbow grease!

And the way to tell if a property has been left squeaky clean is to check plugholes and the oven first. If they are gungy, you can bet your bottom dollar the rest won't be up to scratch, either.

GaryMaguire

Mind_the_Gap wrote: »

I agree that £850 seems excessive for remedying the damage/cleaning which the agent claims needs doing. Definitely dispute the LL's proposed deductions via the scheme and let the adjudicator decide (or a court if LL refuses scheme adjudication).

However, OP seems to have a different idea of 'fair wear and tear' and 'being 'tenant-like' from most LLs. If the carpet by an entrance is soiled from 5 years of people coming in and out, that is still soiling/dirt, not 'wear and tear' and it is the T's responisbility to have it cleaned. (Perhaps put a doormat down next time). If contractors do not clean up after them, that fact needed to be signalled to the LL at the time, not ignored.

I so agree with poster above about Flash 'wipes'...I am a painter & decorator and my heart sinks when someone tells me that the place will be all nice and clean ready for decorating because they've 'got lots of cleaning wipes in specially'. There's no substitute for real cotton rags/cloths, real bleach, real flash gel and real elbow grease!

And the way to tell if a property has been left squeaky clean is to check plugholes and the oven first. If they are gungy, you can bet your bottom dollar the rest won't be up to scratch, either.

I totally understand what you are saying but if you move into a property that has new carpet, it is physically impossible to return the carpet in new condition 5 1/2 years down the line. we did have a mat down as you entered the property but after the mat is where the dirt gathers. you end up with a patch that looks new and everywhere else looking used. There are no burns or wine spills on the carpet but there is marks from 5 years of use that clearly can not be avoided.

DVardysShadow

GaryMaguire wrote: »

I totally understand what you are saying but if you move into a property that has new carpet, it is physically impossible to return the carpet in new condition 5 1/2 years down the line. we did have a mat down as you entered the property but after the mat is where the dirt gathers. you end up with a patch that looks new and everywhere else looking used. There are no burns or wine spills on the carpet but there is marks from 5 years of use that clearly can not be avoided.

Almost an argument for NOT having a doormat down, because you would not have a patch of new showing up all the rest!

You need to see the breakdown of the costs before you can go much further. I wonder if what they have actually done is replaced all the carpets and they are trying to charge you for a substantial part of this? Definitely see any cleaning invoices. And if you can discreetly find out if carpets have been changed ...

It may be better for you to be charged for carpet renewal - when all you need to pay for is maybe the last 6 months of life.

PheoUK

I'm tending to agree with you here; you cannot expect the carpets to look as new after 5 1/2 years. There is bound to be some worked in dirt/ marks no matter how often you Hoover/clean. In addition, I do not believe that carpet cleaning will necessarily resolve this.

I would have a look at this link:

http://www.arla.co.uk/information/deposit-protection/betterment-and-apportionment/

Gives you some idea. Perhaps you could do some research into the likely life of the type of carpet and then refer to the above in your correspondence.