How long is reasonable to get deposit back?

FBaby

Was the place professionally clean before your moved in and/or do pictures/inventory stipulates that it was perfectly clean? Did you have it professionally clean yourself/did you clean it/did you leave the place without doing so.

Ultimately, £180 for professional cleaning is not that extravagant and would probably be deemed reasonable only you are talking of a studio flat. The question is whether it was reasonable to have it professionally clean by them. If you dispute, it will be up to them to provide evidence that the cleaning was required. Only you know what pictures were taken/what was written in the inventory and how the place was left, and therefore whether it is worth disputing or not.

greensalad

FBaby wrote: »

Was the place professionally clean before your moved in and/or do pictures/inventory stipulates that it was perfectly clean? Did you have it professionally clean yourself/did you clean it/did you leave the place without doing so.

Ultimately, £180 for professional cleaning is not that extravagant and would probably be deemed reasonable only you are talking of a studio flat. The question is whether it was reasonable to have it professionally clean by them. If you dispute, it will be up to them to provide evidence that the cleaning was required. Only you know what pictures were taken/what was written in the inventory and how the place was left, and therefore whether it is worth disputing or not.

It doesn't stipulate professional cleaning required, but we did it anyway, and have receipts. It was charged at £150 for the professional clean. Obviously things were missed (washing machine was missed and one of the extractor fans was missed) so not great, I guess! But it appeared clean to us and evidently the rest of the property was clean enough as those are the only two things marked on the check-out as unsatisfactory.

I understand the landlord doesn't have to actually get the property cleaned, but I do feel that £180 is unreasonable for those two items requiring further cleaning.

The amount they are charging seems to me like they are charging a full day-rate of a professional clean, which is not required. The carpets, walls, skirtings, both bathrooms, and kitchen are all marked as satisfactory on the check-out. It is just an extractor fan and a washing machine drawer.

Marvel1

The longer you drag it out without disputing with the deposit protection, the more chance you will miss the appeal date, do it now.

bebewoo

Just go straight to dispute, don't bother to negotiate.
On the dispute form say that it has already been cleaned professionally, produce receipts, likely Mydeposits will side with you and you will owe nothing.
It will be quicker too than a drawn out negotiation with the agency and the landlord.
As soon as you start to offer smaller amounts to the agency/landlord that is an admission of some kind of liability on your part. So don't.