Deposit deducted for professional clean, but inventory states average domestic clean

wangbadan

greatcrested said:

wangbadan said:

Wanderingpomm said:

Professional clean isn't really a thing, there are no cleaning qualifications so anyone can do it. What matters is the results. In order to claim for cleaning the LL needs to demonstrate that the property is in a worse state than the inventory. They can then claim to bring it to the same state as check in (minus wear and tear) 

So would the best way to dispute this  be just to highlight the check in vs the check out inventory? And do I need to go through them both point by point, or can I just indicate the overall condition as assessed by the inventory checker??

Dear Mr Landlord,

Further to your letter/email/telephone conversation in which you propose deducting £220 from my deposit for cleaning, I refer you to the condition of the property when I ended the tenancy as compared to the condition as described in the check-in inventory.

I therefore donot accept the deduction.

Kindly return my deposit in full within the next 5 days. Failure to do so will result in the matter being referred to the deposit protection scheme for arbitration.

Yours sincerely

wangbadan.

This is good, but I thought the first point of call was to initiate the dispute via the deposit scheme? I first heard news of the deduction via an email from the scheme, not from the agency or landlord.
Do I need to also email the agency with something like what you said above? Or is it enough just to begin the dispute?

greatcrested

No.

First try to resolve direct with landlord (or his agent).If that fails, go to arbitration.

The LL is legally responsible,so post it to him at the address provided "for serving notices on the landlord".  Copy to the agent. See also

Post 3: Deposits: Payment, Protection and Return.

Having said that, if the scheme has contacted you regarding the deduction, what response did they say you should make?

Wanderingpomm

AdrianC said:

Wanderingpomm said:

Professional clean isn't really a thing

Professional clean certainly IS "a thing".

It's a clean done by anybody being paid to do it.
"used to describe someone who does a job that people usually do as a hobby"
https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/professional

In the world of deposit protection you cannot insist on a professional cleaner. You can do it yourself if the results are of the required standard. 

AdrianC

Wanderingpomm said:

AdrianC said:

Wanderingpomm said:

Professional clean isn't really a thing

Professional clean certainly IS "a thing".

It's a clean done by anybody being paid to do it.
"used to describe someone who does a job that people usually do as a hobby"
https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/professional

In the world of deposit protection you cannot insist on a professional cleaner. You can do it yourself if the results are of the required standard. 

If the tenant doesn't do it to an acceptable standard, there is certainly an expectation that the landlord will have to pay a cleaner.

wangbadan

greatcrested said:

No.

First try to resolve direct with landlord (or his agent).If that fails, go to arbitration.

The LL is legally responsible,so post it to him at the address provided "for serving notices on the landlord".  Copy to the agent. See also

Post 3: Deposits: Payment, Protection and Return.

Having said that, if the scheme has contacted you regarding the deduction, what response did they say you should make?

Below is what the email from the scheme said I should do. I have received no other instructions, only this email. Should I go ahead and dispute it, as the email says?

• Log in to your account and select the relevant tenancy (if you have more than one);
• Select the option 'Respond to repayment request'
• Complete the online form to:
  • agree to the deposit repayment set out above; or
  • dispute it, in which case you will need to tell us how you want the deposit to be repaid.
• If you do not do this by 6th July 2020, we will write to any other tenant to give them the opportunity to replace you as lead tenant.

bouicca21

Dispute it, get youR evidence together (check in, check out, photos etc) ready to upload.  

jonnygee2

Should I go ahead and dispute it, as the email says?

• Log in to your account and select the relevant tenancy (if you have more than one);
• Select the option 'Respond to repayment request'
• Complete the online form to:
  • agree to the deposit repayment set out above; or
  • dispute it, in which case you will need to tell us how you want the deposit to be repaid.
• If you do not do this by 6th July 2020, we will write to any other tenant to give them the opportunity to replace you as lead tenant.

Yes, I would. I always just disputed my deposits with the deposit scheme instead of trying to negotiate with the landlord, I rarely had any problem and the scheme seems to favour tenants, particularly when there's no evidence or insufficient evidence (assuming you didn't sign any checkout documents saying it was in an unclean state? So the landlord is likely to be light on evidence).

wangbadan

jonnygee2 said:

Should I go ahead and dispute it, as the email says?

• Log in to your account and select the relevant tenancy (if you have more than one);
• Select the option 'Respond to repayment request'
• Complete the online form to:
  • agree to the deposit repayment set out above; or
  • dispute it, in which case you will need to tell us how you want the deposit to be repaid.
• If you do not do this by 6th July 2020, we will write to any other tenant to give them the opportunity to replace you as lead tenant.

Yes, I would. I always just disputed my deposits with the deposit scheme instead of trying to negotiate with the landlord, I rarely had any problem and the scheme seems to favour tenants, particularly when there's no evidence or insufficient evidence (assuming you didn't sign any checkout documents saying it was in an unclean state? So the landlord is likely to be light on evidence).

In the past, when the scheme asked how much you wanted to repay, did you just put zero and state that you wanted the full deposit back? Some people have suggested that I could offer like £25 or similar, for one hour of cleaning. Does this make sense or is it better not to complicate matters?

bouicca21

Claim the lot - if you allow £25 for cleaning then you are admitting it was needed.

DoaM

Don't complicate matters would be my suggestion (caveat: I have no direct experience of having to do this). If the property was as clean (if not cleaner) as at check-in then the LL doesn't have  a leg to stand on. This is a common LL ploy to maximise revenue.