Inspection by letting agent, purely to inspect cleanliness and tidiness

wantsajob

Letter states...

Following inspection on ...., we are concerned that proper care and attention is not being paid to general cleanliness and we would draw your attention to the terms of the tenancy agreement in this respect.

Please attend to the following:
The whole of the flat needs a good thorough clean in particular the flooring. The carpets need hoovering.
The bathroom suite at the property needs to be thoroughly cleaned.
There is an odour at the property - please air and clean to remove this.

Whilst we do not wish to dictate the manner in which tenants live, it is our duty to manage the property on behalf of the Landlord. We do know from experience that where a property has suffered from lack of general cleaning and care during a tenancy it can be very difficult to bring it back to a good and clean condition at the end of the period

This can result in tenants incurring charges for cleaning and in the worst cases, dilapidation costs to recover redecoration and replacement of any damaged items. This is an outcome we would wish to avoid and we hope that by bringing it to your attention now, it gives you a chance to rectify the matter.

In order to satisfy ourselves that the situation has improved we will be carrying out an inspection on.(1 month away)... Please note if you are not at the property we will use our office keys to gain entry and carry out the inspection.

To address the issues in turn...

Fair enough, the carpets would benefit from a vacuum. However, that's pretty much it. Vacuum and it will be gone.

The bathroom suite is a chocolate brown colour and shows marks easily. Any marks present would not have been obvious in a white suite. The toilet itself is white, and was as clean as when we moved in.

Regarding odour, there's none I can detect. Although I know once you live with a smell you tend to get used to it. The only odour I can think she may be referring to is the one from the kitchen bin, which as the wheelie bin was full and the collections are twice weekly I opted to keep the rubbish in the bin - particularly as the bag was not yet full. The lid was on and was closed. The windows are regularly open now to reduce condensation on the single glazed windows, and have been during the warm weather - so airing out the property would not help. It would be helpful to know what the nature of the odour was considered to be and where it was strongest. The only way to address this issue from my perspective is febreeze, coipious quantities of air freshener, and perhaps shake n vac type products used on the carpet when hoovering. The other thing is people's homes do tend to have distinctive smells, I wonder if this was the odour to which she refers?

She's made it sound like it's a case of "How Clean is Your Home" (the Channel 4 programme) when it's nowhere near as bad - although I admit it is not perfect and Hyacinth Bucket standards.

theartfullodger

See my earlier post..

In your shoes I'd feel very p***d off.. In addition to my earlier suggestion, think I'd write a calm & polite letter, thanking them for their contribution and declining any further visits or inspections without your prior written agreement, which you note you are not giving in that letter.

appreciate LL/agent may issue S21 notice for no reason at all...

How you live is your affair.. you can have the bath full of coal, sink full of mouldy dishes, vinyl floors filthy, curtains always closed, floor strewn with dirty clothing... as long as when you hand the place back it is as-it-was less fair-wear-'n-tear....

Cheers!!

wantsajob

theartfullodger wrote: »

appreciate LL/agent may issue S21 notice for no reason at all...

So that would be a case of no renewal of contract?

If the property is a reasonable price and in a good location, and it would be difficult to find something as good/same level of value, might I be best playing ball and putting up with it?

DVardysShadow

wantsajob wrote: »

That's an interesting one as when we asked previously they insisted we give them a copy of the key if we ever change the locks ourselves.

This is one of those things you do and then tell them. Not one of those things you ask permission for.

theartfullodger

wantsajob wrote: »

So that would be a case of no renewal of contract?

If the property is a reasonable price and in a good location, and it would be difficult to find something as good/same level of value, might I be best playing ball and putting up with it?

Two points....

If the tenancy is still in the initial fixed term (or fixed term of a renewal..) then a S21 notice cannot apply before the end of the fixed term. Thereafter LL has to give Tenant at least 2 months notice via S21. S21 simply is notice that LL may (note, may..) start legal proceedings for possession - probably get evicted 4-6 months after valid S21 issued. No reason is required (A present from Thatcher..).

A tenancy does not have to be renewed anyway. Usually the only people wanting renewals are agents wanting to charge both T & LL for doing so. An AST is not ended (eg by S21..) carries on, month-by-month, as a periodic tenancy anyway, of same terms.. Many agents claim this requires LL permission - b****ocks...

Yes, if you want to hold onto place maybe play ball but, it would stick in my craw. Might be worth contacting LL direct.. ??

wantsajob

My thoughts now are to write stating... (bits in blue, probably best left out as a bit sarcy).

Thank you for highlighting these issues (take on board etc). We fully accept that the property was not up to scratch at the time of inspection. However, we do not feel it is left in such a state that causes damage as you suggest. The bathroom suite is chocolate colour and easily shows marks. However, in future we will endeavour to clean it shortly prior to inspections, to ensure it meets your standards.

Please could you state the nature of the smell and its strongest location, so that we may more fully and directly address the issue? I am unable to detect any obvious bad odours, other than that from the kitchen bin, which had rubbish in, as any bin would. The lid was on and closed. Please note we already do air the property regularly. Note that at the time of inspection, of the 8 windows in the property, all vents provided were open to allow air circulation, 3 windows were marginally open, and 2 were open (leaving 3 windows shut). We regularly keep the windows open, even in cold conditions, in particular single glazed to avoid condensation and damp problems - in order to meet the terms of the tenancy agreement. We are uncertain how we could further air the property. We are therefore, concerned that in addition to cleaning, opening the windows as you suggest will not help - and that our only means to address the issue is to spray air freshener prior to inspection in order to mask it.

I was also thinking of highlighting lack of issues at previous inspections, and refusing to allow the same person to do the inspection, but would be more than happy to permit someone else. I suspect she's a bit of a Hyacinth Bucket type looking at other people's properties and thinking it's not up to her standards. We could also point out that we're under no legal obligation to permit the inspection. This would show we are willing to comply with the inspection.

Another thing I was thinking is to mention long standing issues we have mentioned in the past and request repairs, as opposed to workmen's phone numbers which go unanswered.

Yet another thing that crossed my mind was to mention smells from downstairs flats do come upwards, as we noted when previous tenants were smoking cigarettes and cannabis. Although probably best not to as then they might write to them, and they'll find out when they get their 6 monthly inspections if there is an issue anyway.

clutton_2

where is the common sense in this thread.... this laqndlord tenant business is not a War ... lets have some calm rational responses for goodness sakes.....

Landlords, like myself, want to inspect a property for two reasons - firstly to find out if there are any repairs issues which need addressing before they become major works; (many tenants are quite poor at reporting repairs) and secondly to find out if a new tenant lives decently, or lives like a slob - in which latter case they wont be offered a renewal of their contract.

If a new tenant lives decently i might not then inspect for another year.

But with tenants who dont live up to a decent standard, it is only common sense that they need to be informed as to what is expected, and a letter such as the one sent by the letting agent above, explains why the LL/LA is inspecting. I do not agree with inspections without tenants permission tho - utterly wrong.

issuing refusals for entry, and refusal to share keys is a really dumb thing to do... When faced with this sort of intransigence, landlords understandably become paranoid when they are not allowed into their property and begin imagining all sorts of dire stuff happening... cannabis farms, nasty pets, filthy house, damaged doors/floors/walls and on and on. The odds are none of this is happening, but these scenarios are a LLs worse nightmare.

If there is an issue - talk to the LL or agent - then at least you are not living in fear of receiving a S21 notice any day soon... Living under such a cloud is a really awful way to live - especially if there is a conversation that might prevent it.

Communications - not confrontation

wantsajob

clutton wrote: »

(many tenants are quite poor at reporting repairs)

There was a leak outside from the boiler and we tried to get this addressed. We called the letting agent and were given a mobile number. We called, left a few voicemails, and had no reply. As far as I was concerned we did our part in reporting the issue and following up by calling the number provided numerous times and leaving voicemail messages. Obviously nothing happened, noone came. Then an inspection happened a bit down the line, and they said they would get it sorted. However, what seemed to get it sorted in the end was an inspection by the Council under Houses of Multiple Occupancy legislation. During the Council inspection with the council representative with them, they also said you have their number, give them a ring, in front of the Council representative - and didn't want to say what I knew to be the truth about how useful that phone number is. They seemed extremely quick to act once the Council were involved. The workman replaced the safety valve on the boiler which significantly reduced the water flow - but the issue is ongoing, if not as bad as previously. I suspect the issue might still be unresolved had the Council not intervened.

The lack of action on part of the letting agency/workman has led to a big nasty orange/rust coloured stain on the wall outside and the drainpipe. If I was the landlord/owner of the property I would be fuming about that.

So from my perspective as a tenant, perhaps if people are poor at reporting issues, past experience tells them it's too much of an effort when previous requests are ignored, even if lots of time and effort is put into reporting the issue?! Past experience tells me they're only bothered if water is leaking through to the property downstairs, or the Council tell them to do something. Otherwise a leak on its own they completely disregard and fob you off with a phone number as useful as the talking clock. It's common sense a leak on its own has the potential to cause damage and needs sorting. I am sure the letting agent knows that calls and messages to the numbers they give go with no response and they're just getting rid of you.

Have had no prior contact with landlord themselves, though have their details from Land Registry. Seems they are a business operating as a buy-to-let venture.

My main gripe really is there have been 3 prior inspections and this one seems to have been done in an overly picky manner as if Hyacinth Bucket was walking around.

Oh and if they let themselves in, is it illegal if I am naked within my own property?!

wantsajob

Ah excellent http://www.lidl.co.uk/cps/rde/xchg/lidl_uk/hs.xsl/index_25499.htm ladders £60 from thursday.

dawyldthing

wantsajob wrote: »

Oh and if they let themselves in, is it illegal if I am naked within my own property?!

This made me smile as one of my old landlords did walk in when one of my housemates was stark naked in bed with his girlfriend, he wasn't impressed in the slightest as he hadn't even told us he was coming round and he did this quite often!