Deposit and redecorating/cleaning

clark24

theartfullodger wrote: »

No: See OFT356 page 48
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/unfair-terms-in-tenancy-agreements--2
I had a tenant who was a bit OCD on the cleaning front, returned property in much better condition than they took it- in such circumstances enforcing a cleaning charge just because the tenancy says so would clearly be both unfair & stupid.

Cheers!

On our tenancy agreement it says we must leave our cottage in the same state of cleanliness and tidyness as it was when we moved in, caused us a proper giggle as we would have to spend months living in vile squalor and trash the whole of the inside to get it even close to how it was on the day we got the keys!

Eejay

notanewuser wrote: »

You've damaged furniture and done a bodge job of papering after your cats wrecked it. You couldn't be bothered to find the "couple of hours" you say it would take to paint. It doesn't matter whether the next tenant has cats, giraffes or a Siberian tiger, if the contract you signed states the carpets need cleaning then they need cleaning! I'd be embarrassed to leave a rental property in the way you've described it. You think it's everyone else's fault!

We're paying to have it cleaned and paying towards it being painted. Paying to have brand new wallpaper stripped off and replaced is unnecessary, and the contract doesn't state that the carpets need to be cleaned - it says soft furnishings, which there aren't any. And are you on about the light? It cracked as he replaced a bulb - it's not like he threw it across the room. We did say we'd pay for that but I wish we'd looked into getting a spare for it instead as it's a total waste of a light fitting.

It would take a professional decorator a couple of hours to paint - I'm not a professional decorator and therefore much slower.

Guest101

Eejay wrote: »

It's not filthy, it's just a bit dusty from moving furniture etc. We were more than willing to pay to leave it in the condition that we got it in, but they are expecting it to be better than it was. We've paid up until tomorrow but check-out was this morning - if I'd had time today I'd have gone back to clean it myself.

Anyway, I'm not going to feel bad about this one. We could be horrible and claim the entire deposit back since there was no inventory, but we just want to leave it in the same condition we found it:

- Paint four rooms - but not remove wallpaper because that's ridiculous.
- Cleaned to the same standard it was when we left it.
- Not pay pointlessly for the carpet to be cleaned.

My husband is a landlord and each time a tenant moves out we have to touch up the paintwork where the sofa has been scuffing against the wall (a few scuff marks are understandable but at one point it was taken back to the plaster for about a metre along the wall) and clean where they've not bothered doing anything other than a quick wipe down. He doesn't expect a professional clean (the block doesn't allow pets but I'm sure he wouldn't insist on a professional clean even if they'd had cats) or for the tenants to sort any damage they've caused. We're generally more laid back about things though.

You're husbands a landlord.... No sorry this thread just became a joke.

Guest101

Eejay wrote: »

We're paying to have it cleaned and paying towards it being painted. Paying to have brand new wallpaper stripped off and replaced is unnecessary, and the contract doesn't state that the carpets need to be cleaned - it says soft furnishings, which there aren't any. And are you on about the light? It cracked as he replaced a bulb - it's not like he threw it across the room. We did say we'd pay for that but I wish we'd looked into getting a spare for it instead as it's a total waste of a light fitting.

It would take a professional decorator a couple of hours to paint - I'm not a professional decorator and therefore much slower.

I've done the sums for u, it's atleast £225, ATLEAST.

notanewuser

Eejay wrote: »

We're paying to have it cleaned and paying towards it being painted. Paying to have brand new wallpaper stripped off and replaced is unnecessary, and the contract doesn't state that the carpets need to be cleaned - it says soft furnishings, which there aren't any. And are you on about the light? It cracked as he replaced a bulb - it's not like he threw it across the room. We did say we'd pay for that but I wish we'd looked into getting a spare for it instead as it's a total waste of a light fitting.

It would take a professional decorator a couple of hours to paint - I'm not a professional decorator and therefore much slower.

As I say, keep an eye out for karma.

Eejay

The cats were rescues, we got them when we moved into the flat. We bought them loads of scratch posts but they preferred the paper!

He didn't intend to be a landlord but he couldn't sell the flat at the time. He's had no complaints so far so can't be doing too bad a job.

The deposit was £800, we're looking to lose half of that if the LA has their way:

£160 for cleaning
£100 for carpets
£20 for light
£?? for decorating

I don't think it's fair that we're paying to have the flat cleaned to a higher standard than we left it in - the same standard would be fine, but they aren't going to leave bits in the kitchen drawers etc.

Only a bit of the light is broken so a replacement piece would have been better, but since it only happened last night then there's not much that can be done about it as there wouldn't be time to find out if they have spare parts.

And I can't see the point in paying more than the carpets are worth to have them cleaned. They're not even dirty - it's just because we've had cats.

If we could drive we would have got more done but we rely on buses and have wasted a lot of time travelling back and forth between the house/flat.

kinger101

Are you asking a question, or just describing the poor state you left the house in?

Eejay

Bit of both.

Guest101

notanewuser wrote: »

As I say, keep an eye out for karma.

Karma might strike sooner than they think - they're landlords...

Be interesting to see if they know about deposit protection, gas safety, declaring to hmrc, getting licence, getting consent to let etc etc...

Eejay

Guest101 wrote: »

Karma might strike sooner than they think - they're landlords...

Be interesting to see if they know about deposit protection, gas safety, declaring to hmrc, getting licence, getting consent to let etc etc...

Yup. His flat has been rented out for 6 years now. It's managed for him but he fills out his paperwork for HMRC each year and makes sure everything is legal.