End of tenancy, landlord is looking for unreasonable costs?

Pete9501

SerialRenter wrote: »

How much does the Royal Society of professional cleaners charge?

Oh wait, they don't exist.

A tad more than a member of RICS probably especially if its student let :eek:

I didn't question the amount, just the need, if that's what the contract said.

The OP could always put up some photos to show how sparkly clean a group of students kept their flat.

Guest101

Pete9501 wrote: »

I beg to differ. Doesn't matter a stuff what condition the carpets were in when someone moves in, if the contract says "professionally cleaned" on moving out then that is what has to happen.

How could the OP live in house with 7 light bulbs out and not think they would need replacing on leaving :think: if its true then perhaps some of the other points are not quite black and white.
Like why wasn't the garden tidied up properly?

Does it really mean that?

Since all the deposit scheme have said its not enforecable....

Pixie5740

Pete9501 wrote: »

I beg to differ. Doesn't matter a stuff what condition the carpets were in when someone moves in, if the contract says "professionally cleaned" on moving out then that is what has to happen.

It does matter what condition the carpets are in at the start of the tenancy. Tenants must return the property in the same condition it was at the start of the tenancy minus any fair wear and tear.

Adding a clause about carpets having to be professionally cleaned doesn't mean to say it's any more legally enforceable than putting a clause in saying that the bathtub must be cleaned with unicorn tears.

Guest101

Pete9501 wrote: »

A tad more than a member of RICS probably

I didn't question the amount, just the need, if that's what the contract said. The OP could always put up some photos to show how sparkly clean a group of students kept their flat.

Define professionally cleaned then.... Who's a professional cleaner?

Not that im suggesting you're correct, because you're not. But just for the sake of it.

Bart1

SerialRenter wrote: »

Or just use the dispute service? Which does actually work pretty well.

You're method has a pretty high chance of backfiring and you finding yourself in front of a small claims court with no defence.

I pay for any reasonable damages and if there is a dispute it's right for a court to decide. I just won't put myself at the whims of a Landlord. To date my method has worked.

pyueck

Guest101 wrote: »

Define professionally cleaned then.... Who's a professional cleaner?

Not that im suggesting you're correct, because you're not. But just for the sake of it.

This is correct, the court cares about the items being in the same state as the start of the tenancy allowing for wear and tear. It does not care who cleans it. Any term such as 'professionally cleaned' if it went to court would be replaced with the court as simply 'cleaned'. See page 109 https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/284440/oft356.pdf

It is then for the court or the deposit dispute scheme to determine whether the change in condition is reasonable for wear and tear or whether and charges should be made to the tenant (taking into account deductions for the age of the item vs expected life).

pyueck

Bart1 wrote: »

I pay for any reasonable damages and if there is a dispute it's right for a court to decide. I just won't put myself at the whims of a Landlord. To date my method has worked.

While I would certainly have agreed with you before the deposit dispute scheme I think not paying the last months rent normally just creates tensions with your landlord.

The dispute scheme works quite well, although I do think that the time spent disputing leaves a lot of people without this money when they desperately need it for their new place.

I wouldn't recommend withholding the last months rent as does leave you open to a court claim, although I admit so long as you leave the place in a good condition at the end this should not happen.

Personally I think if there is a deposit for the tenant there should also be one for the landlord to be used if they don't fulfill their commitments. But I am getting sidetracked...

StudentPoverty

Hi just to answer a few questions:

We are a professional couple in our 30s - this username and account is very old!

Also, we thought we had a really good relationship with the landlord and frequently let him pop around for various reasons with ten minutes notice rather than 24 hours. We thought we were all quite friendly. When we first met, he told us not to worry about doing anything to the garden because he knew it wasn't immaculately manicured. Stupidly, we trusted this and him. We stated this to the letting agent at both of our house inspections and they said that was fine. But as soon as we moved out they happily told us that as we had no proof that these conversations took place so we should have done the garden.

Re: lightbulbs. I know it was my responsibility but stupidly moved all our furniture out before doing the clean up and then had nothing to stand on to replace them. I apologised profusely for this at the check out and provided replacement bulbs which they decided to ignore.

jjlandlord

Guest101 wrote: »

Since all the deposit scheme have said its not enforecable....

It depends...

RAS

You may not have had anything to stand on, but it seems to me that they have even less; the content of the message claiming unreasonable costs would support your assertion that they were unreasonable when dealing with you.