End of tenancy - Cleaning responsibility?

pmlindyloo

Your obligations are from when you tenancy started.

If the landlord/letting agent was foolish enough not to do another inventory when you moved in then they have no evidence of the state of the place when your tenancy began.

Before you go to dispute you could try raising this issue with your LL and point out that you are happy to go to arbitration for the disputed amount.

But please check exactly what your tenancy agreement says about your being responsible for the cleaning charges. Does it refer to a specific inventory?

JonJL86

I think it's a case of the first tenant signing a contract taking responsibility for cleaning/repairs, the next tenant signing a contract stating they are taking over responsibility, and so on until 5 years and 3 tenants later, it's now my responsibility.

Thanks for your replies, definitely makes me feel slightly better about the whole thing.

pmlindyloo

JonJL86 wrote: »

I think it's a case of the first tenant signing a contract taking responsibility for cleaning/repairs, the next tenant signing a contract stating they are taking over responsibility, and so on until 5 years and 3 tenants later, it's now my responsibility.

Thanks for your replies, definitely makes me feel slightly better about the whole thing.

If you could quote what it actually says in the contract it would be helpful.

Pixie5740

When the previous tenants left, and their tenancies ended, that was the time for the landlord to access the condition of the property and make any necessary deductions from their deposit. You are not responsible for any damage caused be the previous occupants, you are only responsible for the time you lived there. Yes you were responsible for cleaning leaving the place in at least the same condition as it was in when you moved in but no more. You cannot be held responsible for what previous tenants have/haven't done, and I don't see the deposit schemes siding with the landlord over this.

The landlord and/or an agent acting on his behalf has been lazy and now it's going to cost them.

LittleMax

JonJL86 wrote: »

I think it's a case of the first tenant signing a contract taking responsibility for cleaning/repairs, the next tenant signing a contract stating they are taking over responsibility, and so on until 5 years and 3 tenants later, it's now my responsibility.

Thanks for your replies, definitely makes me feel slightly better about the whole thing.

So do you have anything in writing...

LittleMax wrote: »

What do you have in writing about this? Did the letting agent say that you were agreeing to take over the property at the condition it was in from the out going tenant but 2011 inventory applied?

LittleMax

Are there any original tenants remaining?

AdrianC

JonJL86 wrote: »

It's been cleaned to a domestic level but not a professional level (as it was in 2011).

It doesn't matter whether the person doing the clean is an amateur or a professional. What's important is the standard of cleanliness. "Domestic standard" varies widely, according to the householder's idea of domesticity. Some people think that a house is clean if you can walk right through it without needing tetanus jabs updating. Others would regard your average magazine photoshoot standard as unforgivably slovenly.

As far as the landlord and letting agent are concerned, this property was very clean, to the standard you would expect professional cleaners to achieve, when it was let in 2011. Since then, it's been on a single let - albeit to people who have changed over the years, but that's not really their problem.

It now needs to be as clean as it was at the start of that single five-year letting, in 2011.

It sounds very much as if you've agreed to that when you signed a contract stating it, so any more detail than that is pretty academic.

missbiggles1

What sort of figure are you talking about, split three ways?

LittleMax

As a matter of interest did you try to clean it to a 'professional' standard, and now they have said it's not good enough you are trying to see if you can still get your deposit back by saying it's as good as when you moved in. Or did you set out to only clean to as good as it was when you moved in?

mrsmazza

Bit unfair to expect you to pay as you weren't there from the beginning. But if you don't want the hassle you should pay an 1/8 of the cleaning charge.

Do you know how much the cleaning charge is ?