Can they make me pay for professional clean?

Mac_Devan

Hi all,
me and my two housemates have lived in this student rented property since 2020. We are due to move out in over a month and our landlord has provided us with a list of cleaning tasks we are expected to do before we leave. The list is all very reasonable until it says that he is going to get the oven professionally cleaned (with an estimated cost of £50-£70) which he expects us to pay. 

We were going to clean it ourselves so that we give it back in the condition given to us. There is no statement in our tenancy agreement mentioning this cost though he has previously mentioned that he wants it to be professionally cleaned (but that the estimated price was much lower).
My question is: can he make us pay for it? Can we avoid it by cleaning it to a high standard as previously planned? 

canaldumidi

Mac_Devan said:

.....

We were going to clean it ourselves so that we give it back in the condition given to us. .....
My question is: can he make us pay for it? Can we avoid it by cleaning it to a high standard as previously planned? 

Yes you can DIY to the standard it was at when you moved in. Is there a check-in inventory and does it specify the condition of the oven at that time?

No he can't make you pay for professional cleaning, unless you fail to return the oven in the condition it was in at the start.

Yes you can avoid......

In case of dispute eg he deducts from your deposit, raise a complaint via the deposit scheme.

JuzaMum

All you need to do is return the property in the same (or better) condition minus wear and tear. You don't need to pay someone else to clean. If the landlord doesn't accept this and withholds your deposit you can contest it. Did you take photos when you moved in?

lisyloo

TheorecticaLly they can’t make you Pay professional fees.

However in the case of an oven I’d be surprised if you could get it to a professional standard with professional chemicals.
so you are lining yourself up for a dispute over 50-70 quid between you.

bouicca21

Getting an oven cleaner is the best 60 quid I’ve ever spent.   The oven looked brand new as if it had just come out of the showroom.   There is no way I could have got it looking that good.

But it all comes down to what it was like when you moved in.  That’s the state you need to get it back to.

TBagpuss

As others have said, you have to return the property in the state it was in when you moved in (less reasonable waer and tear) Do you have your check in inventory and was thre a photo of the oven? 
How confident are you that you can get it back to that condition (tip - lakeland sell some amzing products for cleaning ivees, Koh isaslo very effecctive  

You could also check out local professional clearners and decide whether paying yoursef for a professional clean would be cheaper than what he is proposing to charge - ion which case getting it done and having the receipt available to prove it would make it quite hard for him to argue it needed to be done again. I'm not sure what the going rate is but it may well have gone up since fule prices have gone up.

lisyloo

£50-£70 seems par for the course to me.
it’s not going to much cheaper for someone to travel to your home, supply chemicals and gloves etc. so isn’t scope to undercut that professionally.

genericn17

Ask him for the receipt to prove it was professionally cleaned before you moved in

lisyloo

genericn17 said:

Ask him for the receipt to prove it was professionally cleaned before you moved in

This is terrible advice and a really bad way to sour the relationship if they never complained about the state of the oven Since 2020.

genericn17

lisyloo said:

genericn17 said:

Ask him for the receipt to prove it was professionally cleaned before you moved in

This is terrible advice and a really bad way to sour the relationship if they never complained about the state of the oven Since 2020.

How is it terrible advice? If the landlord is asking them to pay for a professional clean, then the landlord should be able to show that it was professionally cleaned before they moved in - otherwise they are asking for the tenant to leave the property in a better position than they received it in. If it went to the deposit protection service they would ask the landlord to evidence the state it was in at the start of the tenancy.

On one of the tennancy deposit service websites it even says "The cleanliness of the property should be clearly set out in the inventory/check-in report and the check-out report. To back-up claims for cleaning, other useful documentation should be included where possible, including receipts for any cleaning carried out." https://www.thedisputeservice.co.uk/asktds-do-i-need-to-professionally-clean-the-property-at-the-end-of-the-tenancy/

I'm not sure why it's relevant if they ever complained about the state of the oven, the question is what state was it in at the start of the tenancy, and what state does it need to be in at the end.

And frankly, I imagine most people's priority is getting a fair amount of their deposit back, not maintaining friendly relations with their soon to be ex-landlord.

lisyloo

The landlord has nothing to prove and if the tenants  didn’t feel the property was clean before they arrived then they should have mentioned it before as they’ve been there since 2020.
Asking for proof right now ( 2 years later) is really snide just to try to deliberately trip up the Landlord over a measly 50 quid.
they almost certainly have receipts but if it was me I’d consider it pretty snidy if no report had been made in 2 years,
Its terrible advice as it’s not a reasonable action asking the landlord to prove something they don’t need to prove and risks putting the relationship on a nasty footing,

if it was me sure I’d give you the receipt but I’d definitely be checking the oven and everything else very thoroughly with a long handled mirror as you’ve now singled yourself out as tenants Looking for a loophole to get out of your responsibilities.

a professional landlord would certainly be able to evidence what you say.
here you go again being snidy and trying to trip them up when they’ve done nothing wrong and can almost certainly prove it.

If the tenants haven’t claimed any issue with the oven in 2 years then there was clearly no hygiene or cleanliness complaint.
asking someone to “prove it” is not exactly a great way to get people on side.

getting your deposit back easily is VERY MUCH a case of being reasonable and decent to the landlord.
I’ve had mine back in full straight away every time, but I’ve not tried to screw the landlord out of anything or renage on my commitments or ask them to 
prove what they did 2 years ago (of course I kept the details and pictures myself just in case).

The time to get any evidence they wanted and take pictures was 2 years ago.

if they want to clean it themselves then they should do so, but it must be equal to the condition it was in before. By all means do that.

But trying to be snidy with the landlord could backfire.
anyone who doesn’t understand what being reasonable has to do with good business relations should not be listened to.
it’s pretty obvious that !!!!!! someone off is not a good move and asking for proof of something that someone doesn’t need to defend could do just that and have all the cleaning under scrutiny and delayed.
Im sure I’m not alone in wanting to be ultra sure about a tenant who behaved in a snidy manner. I wouldn’t deliberately delay the deposit but they might do that if they gave me cause to be concerned about their behaviour.
asking me to prove mine would certainly do that.

As I say I’ve had excellent relations, but I’ve not wound anyone up and your advice definitely has the potential to do that.

The short answer in no they cannot demand a professional clean however if the amateur clean is not good enough it could delay matters and even get other elements inspected more closely.

personally I’d just pay it as getting the deposit back quickly and I full with minimum is absolutely tightly coupled with keeping a good relationship with the landlord In the short term.
Yes sure you can argue, go to court and wait months or years if you like but you may have to take time off work. Travel, get cross and wait ages, so I’d say that’s not a great way to deal with things.