Help! New home is filthy beyond belief

Indigo_and_Violet

I've been here before and it's horrible. You have my full sympathies. A few hopefully helpful responses.

1) Responsibilities. How the flat was left at the end of the previous tenancy is between previous tenant and landlord. How you received the flat is between you and landlord. It is up to LL to chase the previous tenant if they are unhappy with state it was left in. It's up to you to chase the landlord if you're unhappy with how you received it. It is not on you to chase the previous tenant.

2) Document everything. You've already been told this and in the mad rush to clean may have forgotten to take photos but get as many photos as you can, particularly of any areas you haven't already cleaned. Store them somewhere safe (have backups!). Also keep copies of receipts/invoices for cleaning etc. 

3) Decide strategy. You can either try to get the landlord to fix this now (via money or cleaning) or decide you'll deal with it now and have no pressure to clean at the end of the tenancy. Benefits of option 1 are that you sound like the type of person who will keep a clean house anyway so you might not get much benefit from being able to leave it a tip. Also if you are short on cash now you might need reimbursing for the cleaning etc. Drawback is that you become the 'problem tenant' and that chasing the landlord to do things might end up taking as much time and energy as just cleaning them yourself. Benefits of option 2 are that you get things fixed how you like now and you avoid paying for professional cleans at the end of the tenancy. The LL sounds a bit rubbish anyway if they didn't check place, so may well be evasive ("you paid £200 for a cleaner! My mate would have done it for £50 and that's all I'll reimburse you for!" type thing). Risk of strategy 2 is that they might dispute condition of flat and try to withhold deposit. That's why it's important you have evidence from point 2. 

Practical help: on the bins front, worth contacting the council on Tuesday. Depending on who you get they are sometimes sympathetic. A friend moved in to similar (wrong waste in wrong bins, council refusing to collect) and was allowed to bag the waste up (sorry, it's a horrible job) and book it in as a bulky waste collection. It cost maybe £15 but it was less than the fine for the wrong bin use and meant they could start again right. Particularly useful if you don't have a car to take stuff to the tip. Good luck!

[Deleted User]

You do not seem to know what you are doing when it comes to renting. You viewed the property and noticed it was unclean but I suppose the filth was actually apparant as you could easily see this on the shower or oven which was not covered by furniture. You chose not to look any closer which was unwise and signed for a tenancy. I find it rather odd that you were hiring a professional cleaner at the start of the tenancy, nobody owes you for this. You need to stop harassing the previous tenant, who owes you nothing and who has been caused to block you. Suggest you familiarise yourself with the governments How to Rent booklet, and for the most part your solution to having a sanitary living environment will be to get cleaning.

ChewyyBacca

getmore4less said:

What was it like when you viewed it?

Viewed it late night, in and out in 7 mins, due to covid. More than half of the lights were switched off. There were packing boxes everywhere so couldn't see mould and damp on walls. Also some of famp and mould was conveniently hidden behind small furniture.

There was limescale on all the taps, but I thought they will do a clean before leaving for the sake of their own bloody deposit.

ChewyyBacca

teachfast said:

I would video with a commentary if I were you.

i didnt think of doing that.. i should have.. though I have taken lots and lots of high def time stamped pics

ChewyyBacca

MovingForwards said:

Welcome to the wonderful world of renting.

Hope you photographed and video'd everything before cleaning, as that's the standard you have to return the property to the LL when you move out.

some people live like swines. And mould formation, its just poor venting.
And to think of living with mould, its health hazard

ChewyyBacca

HampshireH said:

How did you have the previous tenants number?

The landlord needs to resolve this with assistance of letting agent if you had one and they use them for maintenance etc.

Make sure you video/photographed everything before you started cleaning.

Personally I would have called them round or not taken the keys till it was ready, if I had been told it would be empty and cleaned.

Is it furnished? You say it has a dirty mattress. If so make sure that before you throw this away you have permission to dispose and not replace.

mattress disposal will cost too. I should ask LL to pay for it, right?

ChewyyBacca

Indigo_and_Violet said:

I've been here before and it's horrible. You have my full sympathies. A few hopefully helpful responses.

1) Responsibilities. How the flat was left at the end of the previous tenancy is between previous tenant and landlord. How you received the flat is between you and landlord. It is up to LL to chase the previous tenant if they are unhappy with state it was left in. It's up to you to chase the landlord if you're unhappy with how you received it. It is not on you to chase the previous tenant.

2) Document everything. You've already been told this and in the mad rush to clean may have forgotten to take photos but get as many photos as you can, particularly of any areas you haven't already cleaned. Store them somewhere safe (have backups!). Also keep copies of receipts/invoices for cleaning etc. 

3) Decide strategy. You can either try to get the landlord to fix this now (via money or cleaning) or decide you'll deal with it now and have no pressure to clean at the end of the tenancy. Benefits of option 1 are that you sound like the type of person who will keep a clean house anyway so you might not get much benefit from being able to leave it a tip. Also if you are short on cash now you might need reimbursing for the cleaning etc. Drawback is that you become the 'problem tenant' and that chasing the landlord to do things might end up taking as much time and energy as just cleaning them yourself. Benefits of option 2 are that you get things fixed how you like now and you avoid paying for professional cleans at the end of the tenancy. The LL sounds a bit rubbish anyway if they didn't check place, so may well be evasive ("you paid £200 for a cleaner! My mate would have done it for £50 and that's all I'll reimburse you for!" type thing). Risk of strategy 2 is that they might dispute condition of flat and try to withhold deposit. That's why it's important you have evidence from point 2. 

Practical help: on the bins front, worth contacting the council on Tuesday. Depending on who you get they are sometimes sympathetic. A friend moved in to similar (wrong waste in wrong bins, council refusing to collect) and was allowed to bag the waste up (sorry, it's a horrible job) and book it in as a bulky waste collection. It cost maybe £15 but it was less than the fine for the wrong bin use and meant they could start again right. Particularly useful if you don't have a car to take stuff to the tip. Good luck!

Very helpful, thanks!

coffeehound

Commiserations, been there too.  Will always now insist on a second viewing directly before signing the paperwork.  It's disgusting that LLs get away with handing over properties in this sort of conditiion.  They probably trousered the previous tenant's deposit, too.

Slithery

coffeehound said:

They probably trousered the previous tenant's deposit, too.

And who would blame them given the condition of the property?

brianposter

It would seem sensible to ask that the previous tenants deposit be spent on cleaning.