agency want to charge us £70 for alleged cleaning

dariakruk

Hi,

I wonder if there is anything I can do. Agency wants to charge us £70 for cleaning (they are saying we did not do a great job cleaning limescale over 5 years letting). We asked for an invoice for cleaning, but they said the landlord is not obliged to clean it now, nor in 3 to 6 months' time, so they don't have the invoice. We have otherwise left the flat in a good condition, except for the chipped toilet for which we agreed to pay £40. 

I feel charging money for the cleaning that might not even happen is weird? They are holding our deposit + some overpaid rent (we moved out earlier and we agreed they will give us the difference back). 

should we fight this or leave it?

emmajones1976

Arbitration certainly isnt going to deduct that unless the cleaning has actually happened.

deannagone

Money deducted is 'compensation' for a loss of condition or damage less wear and tear.  The LL can certainly take the money and do nothing with it.  However, it does have to be a 'fair' deduction.  The OP can go to through adjudication by the scheme holding the deposit.

For future purposes, white vinegar or more commercial products will clean up limescale nicely, if it exists.  When I moved in here, the bath was grey, don't think it had ever been cleaned.  Yuk. 

saajan_12

emmajones1976 said:

Arbitration certainly isnt going to deduct that unless the cleaning has actually happened.

Nonsense. 
The agents is correct, the deduction is to compensate for damages, ie the less clean property. Its up to the LL whether they pay for someone to do the cleaning, do the cleaning themselves and use the money for a pint, rerent to tenants who pay a lower rent due to the condition, personally live in a less clean property, or whatever. 

They do have to prove that the £70 is a reasonable charge for the damages - that could be via a receipt for the cleaning, but could also be a quote of the hours and a reasonable hourly rate, etc. 

dariakruk

saajan_12 said:

emmajones1976 said:

Arbitration certainly isnt going to deduct that unless the cleaning has actually happened.

Nonsense. 
The agents is correct, the deduction is to compensate for damages, ie the less clean property. Its up to the LL whether they pay for someone to do the cleaning, do the cleaning themselves and use the money for a pint, rerent to tenants who pay a lower rent due to the condition, personally live in a less clean property, or whatever. 

They do have to prove that the £70 is a reasonable charge for the damages - that could be via a receipt for the cleaning, but could also be a quote of the hours and a reasonable hourly rate, etc. 

Thanks, this is what I was looking for. 

SuseOrm

The agents are also highly unlikely to win from the deposits scheme.   I had a fire door between the garage and the house severely damaged by tenants locking their dog in the garage while they went out for the day I was told that was where and tear.  

martindow

They also need to show that the condition at checkout is not the same as it was at check in.  Can they justify the need for thid extra cleaning?  If the check in report or photos at the time does not mention or show the condition they would be hard pressed to justify a deduction.

If you think you left it in a satisfactory condition would dispute the proposed deduction and let the deposit protection scheme decide.

Mahsroh

martindow said:

They also need to show that the condition at checkout is not the same as it was at check in.  Can they justify the need for thid extra cleaning?  If the check in report or photos at the time does not mention or show the condition they would be hard pressed to justify a deduction.

If you think you left it in a satisfactory condition would dispute the proposed deduction and let the deposit protection scheme decide.

Exactly this. Rather than focus on the need for them to provide evidence of the expenditure (they don't have to do this as explained by @saajan_12 and @deannagone ) focus on whether it's right that they've made the deduction in the first place? 

I had exactly the same thing when I left a previous rental property a few years ago. Complaints from the LA / LL about the general cleanliness which was really petty. I had actually paid for a professional clean but they were picking up on really minor things and demanding to see evidence that i'd had it professionally cleaned. 

In the end I just pointed them back to the orignal inventory from when I moved in, which detailed the fact that the house wasn't clean, let alone "professionally" cleaned when it was handed over to me, and I spent the first two days in my new home doing it myself, and I was handing it back SIGNIFICANTLY better than I found it! 

youth_leader

I'm sorry to read your post.  I cleaned my rental to my best ability and still got a close up photo of 'animal hair/debris' from a bit I'd missed on the radiator.  When my daughter leaves her rental I've offered to pay for a professional clean, 

dariakruk

Thanks, everyone for the advice. 

I feel like we have cleaned and kept the flat in a good condition. Water was extremely hard and I was cleaning everything weekly, but the build-up still happened. So, I am not mad about them pointing it out, but rather at the expenses they are claiming. 
I will try to dispute this and see what happens. 

Mahsroh

dariakruk said:

Thanks, everyone for the advice. 

I feel like we have cleaned and kept the flat in a good condition. Water was extremely hard and I was cleaning everything weekly, but the build-up still happened. So, I am not mad about them pointing it out, but rather at the expenses they are claiming. 
I will try to dispute this and see what happens. 

As already advised, they are not "expenses". It's compensation. The LL is perfectly entitled to spend the £70 down the pub on Friday night and do the cleaning his/herself, or not at all if they so wish. 

If you don't dispute that there are cleaning issues I'm not sure there is much of a dispute at all...... £70 certainly doesn't seem unreasonable to me if there are genuine issues with cleanliness and (crucially) you are NOT handing the property in the same condition (fair wear and tear aside but not really applicable with cleaning) it was at check in. 

As stated above they have to demonstrate that £70 is a reasonable deduction, but for me that would be a cleaner for half a day plus cleaning products / materials. Ask yourself it that's about the right amount of time to put the cleaning issues right? If it is, then there doesn't seem much point disputing it.