Cleaning deduction from deposit - is this reasonable or not? Feeling v angry

MaebyFunke

We've just received an email from our (former) letting agents telling us they want to deduct £70 from our deposit for cleaning - we moved out over the bank holiday weekend. I am furious and want to dispute it, my husband thinks we should compromise.

They have said the issue is surfaces and skirting boards in the kitchen/diner (its open plan) and the fridge. The fridge is the only thing I'll accept, and it is our fault: we were driving to our new place on the Monday (several hours away) and I hadn't thrown out food yet as I wanted to take some of what was there for the drive, and some I thought would survive the journey. When we woke up it was raining heavily and we decided to get on the road without having breakfast so halfway down realised we'd left food in the fridge and emailed the letting agent to let them know. It means it wasn't cleaned out, but it also wasn't dirty: I don't think throwing out about 5 items should cost 70 quid, but am prepared to accept we might have some liability there.

Other than that: I spent an entire day on Sunday cleaning everything from top to toe. All surfaces were cleaned with Jiff, all floors were mopped/hoovered as appropriate. The house was in an awful state when we moved in and we have 100% returned it in better shape than we got it. It had previously been rented out to students, and we had to get professional cleaners in (at our own expense) when we first moved in. We were happy to do this because we got it at a reduced rate on the grounds we accepted it 'as is' - we paid 550 when a similar place would have got 700/month because they accepted it was in bad shape. The initial inventory describes its condition as 'fair' and mentions obvious issues with ware and tear. They initially said they'd paint it, but because some of the kitchen cabinets were badly put up we said we would do without it being painted if they re-hung those instead. So the main problem with the skirting boards is basically that they need a bit of paint - its a hundred year old house, and they're those short irregular skirting boards that dust seems to cling to. I have tried vacuuming and wiping, but basically it needs to be repainted. Our inventory references the marks and scuff-marks on the walls, but doesn't specifically mention the skirting boards.

I know £70 isn't a huge amount of money, and I know the fridge thing was our fault. But I feel like they're just trying to get us to cover the cost of a professional clean and assume by setting a low-ish amount we'll put up with it, and I'm particularly angry because they made such a fuss about how we were getting a low rent and I specifically remember when doing the initial inventory the letting agent saying 'don't worry, we know its not in great shape, we don't need to record every little thing wrong with it, we're not going to quibble about that.'

We have video from the day we moved out, but sadly I think I deleted most of the pics from when we moved in - we do have some close-up shots of some of the really nasty aspects of the kitchen though (eg broken tiles) that we emailed to have added to the inventory.

What I'm wondering is: is it worth fighting this? And what would be an appropriate amount to accept re: cleaning the fridge? (Btw, the fridge was new when we moved in and according to the receipt didn't cost much more than £70) The last flat we moved out of the landlord specifically thanked us for how well it had been cleaned, so I'm probably also taking this personally. Would be interested in some outside views on our obligations.

G_M

MaebyFunke wrote: »

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The house was in an awful state when we moved in and we have 100% returned it in better shape than we got it. It had previously been rented out to students, and we had to get professional cleaners in (at our own expense) when we first moved in. ................The initial inventory describes its condition as 'fair' and mentions obvious issues with ware and tear............... Our inventory references the marks and scuff-marks on the walls, but doesn't specifically mention the skirting boards.

...........we do have some close-up shots of some of the really nasty aspects of the kitchen though (eg broken tiles) that we emailed to have added to the inventory.

What I'm wondering is: is it worth fighting this?.

I've deleted the rubish and left the relevant bits.

Your obligation is no to leave it clean, but to leave it as you found it (or better).

Frome what you say you left it better than you found it.

Raise a dispute.

You could try negotiating first ("we don't accept that the property is worse than when we moved in so will raise a dispute unless you remove the deduction".)

mubeye

It may cost the landlord about 70 quid in agency fees if you go to dispute, so if you offer 20 quid as settlement they might accept that, which sounds fair for cleaning a fridge.

edwink

I actually do feel for you over the issue you have. We were in rented accommodation some years ago. When we moved it in was actually dirty in several places. This was a family home and it was the first time this couple had ever rented out their home to anyone. The patio was covered in weeds and also the garden was untidy. Yet we moved in and cleaned the house, weeded the patio and tidied the garden over a couple of weeks so we felt happy living in a clean house. When it came to us moving out the inventory stated that the windows had not been cleaned, there was dust on the dining room window sill/skirting boards and the fridge was not clean. I was most unhappy that they deducted £100 off our deposit because of these few tiny issues. So I wrote a letter to the agents disputing what was said in the going out inventory and explained that the couple had a window cleaner and they wanted the responsibility of the window cleaning so the windows were not down to us. I argued that for a tiny bit of dust on a window sill/skirting boards and a fridge which was basically not dirty as such but maybe was wiped out quickly a £100 deduction was out of order. I told the agents to tell the couple that I would fight to get my £100 back if its the last thing I ever do .The agents went back to this couple with what I had said and they agreed that because it was dirty when we moved in they would accept the few little things that were noted on the going out inventory and I was refunded the £100 back almost straight away.

I would email the agents and say that you are willing to take it further and put the ball back in your landlords court and see what comes of it. The agents wont like that because it will mean extra work for them. I am sure the agents managed to smooth things over with my dispute because they did not want the extra work involved for them. There is no harm in trying. At the time my husband told me not to waste my time and move on but I refused and got our money back. And to this day I am so pleased that I threw their dirty house back at them in order to get what we deserved after cleaning their dirty house.

If when you moved out the decor was the same as when you moved in you could also mention that you are allowed 10% (not sure if it is still 10% now)for wear and tear but it is more or less exactly the same because you looked after the landlords place. That might help your case.

Fingers crossed for you.

Edwink

bylromarha

We had this a couple of years back. House was filthy when we moved in and hand over agent was laisse faire compared to the agent who did the check when we moved out.

We argued it and didn't have to pay as much as was first quoted - I did have the pictures still from when we moved in though.