Professional Carpet Cleaning - Tenancy Agreement

ollyver27

Hi there,

Another tenancy agreement question, would appreciate it if someone could help.

In my tenancy contract it states:

'It is COMPULSORY that at the end of each tenancy - the tenant must have the carpets professionally cleaned. If this is not carried out - then there will be a deduction from the bond for this job to be carried out. The minimum costs are as follows: - £200 for two bedroom properties or less.....' (then goes on for larger properties, but mine is 2 bed)

I have only lived in the property for 8 months, and don't think this is fair. I have had a look at the Tenancy Deposit Scheme's guidelines (which my deposit is registered under) and it doesn't make it specifically clear (as far as I can tell).

On Shelters website it just quotes:

"Tenancy agreements often state that carpets and curtains must be cleaned to a professional standard before the tenant moves out. This does not mean that they have to be as clean or cleaner than when you moved in.

You are only required to clean any items soiled above normal wear and tear. Keep records and receipts for any cleaning you do or pay for."

I have had a quote myself for £80-£90 from local carpet cleaners, but really, it would be returned to its original condition if I just gave it a thorough hoover.

I'm not trying to get out of paying justified charges here, I just think this is unjustified.

My options (as far as I can see them):

1. Give it a thorough hoover and shake and vac and hope they don't ask/tell them I've had it done - but I'm guessing they ask for proof and invoice
2. Don't do it - accept charge
3. Don't do it - raise a dispute with TDS (but no idea where I stand with this)
4. Get the £80-£90 quote done myself with invoice etc (saving £110-£120, but also - in a way - losing £80-£90 as I don't believe they need shampooing to be returned to original state)


Can anyone help me please?

Thanks

_Andy_

If you thought it was so unfair, why did you agree to it when you started the tenancy?

grifferz

ollyver27 wrote: »

Another tenancy agreement question, would appreciate it if someone could help.

In my tenancy contract it states:

'It is COMPULSORY that at the end of each tenancy - the tenant must have the carpets professionally cleaned. If this is not carried out - then there will be a deduction from the bond for this job to be carried out. The minimum costs are as follows: - £200 for two bedroom properties or less.....' (then goes on for larger properties, but mine is 2 bed)

I have only lived in the property for 8 months, and don't think this is fair.

They can only deduct from your deposit if the carpets are not in the state they were in when the property was rented to you, plus allowance for wear and tear.

If you aren't in a rush for the £200 portion of your deposit then disputing the deduction with the deposit scheme, when armed with photo evidence of the state of the carpets at the start of the tenancy and at the end of the tenancy to back you up, I believe would end up in your favour.

The poster makes a fair point that really you should have questioned this term before you agreed to it, although I do sympathise that this would likely have ended up in you being penalised (rejected as a tenant) over someone else's unfair term.

Let us know what you decide to do and how it works out!

ollyver27

grifferz wrote: »

They can only deduct from your deposit if the carpets are not in the state they were in when the property was rented to you, plus allowance for wear and tear.

If you aren't in a rush for the £200 portion of your deposit then disputing the deduction with the deposit scheme, when armed with photo evidence of the state of the carpets at the start of the tenancy and at the end of the tenancy to back you up, I believe would end up in your favour.

The poster makes a fair point that really you should have questioned this term before you agreed to it, although I do sympathise that this would likely have ended up in you being penalised (rejected as a tenant) over someone else's unfair term.

Let us know what you decide to do and how it works out!

Thank you, and yes I should have questioned at beginning.

I don't have photos at the beginning of tenancy. Will this impact significantly? Should I just cut my loses and get it professionally cleaned myself?

Angelicdevil

ollyver27 wrote: »

Thank you, and yes I should have questioned at beginning.

I don't have photos at the beginning of tenancy. Will this impact significantly? Should I just cut my loses and get it professionally cleaned myself?

Did you have a dual signed inventory when you moved in?

Does this detail the condition of the carpet?

ollyver27

Angelicdevil wrote: »

Did you have a dual signed inventory when you moved in?

Does this detail the condition of the carpet?

Yes - but this just states that it is in good condition. Just like it is now?

Angelicdevil

If you're confident that you're leaving the place as received (or better) and there's no damage that could warrant deductions then I'd leave it to TDS to arbitrate should the LL/LA tried to deduct money.

I'd also take pictures of the state you're leaving it in too, just in case.

spacey2012

Place a newspaper front cover for that day on the floor and take high resolution images of each carpet in each room.
Something tells me they would say your cleaning was not up to scratch.
Detail everything, expect them to send pictures to the DPS of a dirty carpet elsewhere so do not inform them you have your own pictures until you send them to the DPS.

N1AK

ollyver27 wrote: »

My options (as far as I can see them):

1. Give it a thorough hoover and shake and vac and hope they don't ask/tell them I've had it done - but I'm guessing they ask for proof and invoice
2. Don't do it - accept charge
3. Don't do it - raise a dispute with TDS (but no idea where I stand with this)
4. Get the £80-£90 quote done myself with invoice etc (saving £110-£120, but also - in a way - losing £80-£90 as I don't believe they need shampooing to be returned to original state)

Can anyone help me please?

Thanks

When we moved out of our first rental, where we had been a for a couple of years with light carpets (new or as good as) we hired a carpet cleaning machine and did it ourselves. There was no issue.

In our second rental, the carpets were darker and obviously not already new or perfect. We also found various poorly cleaned cupboards etc and documented these when we moved in. When we left we just vacumed thoroughly and reminded them of the condition when we moved in. Again no issues.

If you genuinely get things back to where they were when you moved in and document it then even if your landlord does decide to try his luck they'll probably back down if you push back.

ollyver27

Thanks for all your helpful responses. I don't think I will clean the carpets as your comments suggested, as they will be the same as when I entered the property.

Next question then would be whether I should inform my letting agent at this stage I won't be adhering to this and if they disagree to return the money in my deposit I plan to raise a dispute with the TDS.

OR

Keep quiet, see what happens, and when/if they minus from the deposit, then raise the dispute.

I know the TDS states in the dispute process that both parties need to have made a reasonable effort to resolve before we go to the TDS.

Thanks again

Perelandra

This document:

http://www.oft.gov.uk/shared_oft/reports/unfair_contract_terms/oft356.pdf

Makes for interesting reading. This particular wording:

We therefore commonly object to terms that could be used to make the tenant pay for the property to be cleaned to a higher standard than it was in at the start of the tenancy, or that require cleaning regardless of whether or not this is necessary for the tenant to comply with their normal obligations with regard to the state of the property

on page 50 would apply- they "commonly object to terms... that require cleaning regardless of whether or not this is necessary".

Having said that, when I moved out of my last two rented properties which did have clauses on cleaning the carpets, I did comply with them (even though I probably didn't need to). Both landlords had been very good. Had they been bad landlords, I might have felt differently.