End of Tenancy - return of deposit, still not received after 4 weeks

The_Phantom

I am posting this for my daughter who has changed flats almost 4 weeks ago.
She left a very small studio and moved into a larger 1 bed flat.
She moved out of the studio on the 6th of March. I cleaned the flat with her and she handed the keys back on the 6th. It was marked as re-let week starting the 10th of March. 
My daughter then received an e-mail stating the Landlord would deduct £150 from her deposit for cleaning costs.
My daughter disputed the charge as the flat was cleaned and returned in the same standard as when it was let out to her. We took photos of the empty and cleaned studio before handing the keys back.
My daughter advised the letting agent she was not accepting the deduction and requested to see a receipt and evidence to warrant £150 worth of cleaning in a very small studio flat that already had been cleaned.
They have not supplied anything.
When my daughter chased it , the letting agent stated it would be faster and easier if she just accepted the charge.
My daughter declined and again requested to see evidence of the need for £150 worth of cleaning.
Now she still hasn't got her deposit or any further reply from the Letting agent.
What additional steps can she take ?
She also overpaid her rent and requested the overpayment back, which she has since received, but not the deposit.

swingaloo

Forget the landlord and agent, she just requests it back from whichever deposit scheme was holding it. 

Bookworm105

she makes a claim through the relevant deposit protection scheme 

she can also forget about demanding to see receipts. People just do not understand that deductions are compensation to the LL for damage to their property.
There is no requirement whatsoever for the LL have spent, or intend to spend, any of the compensation on actual repairs, cleaning, or anything else. Compensation is money in the LL's pocket, not payment for bills incurred.
if the LL chooses not to pay for cleaning then the next tenants starts with a dirty property and is only required to return the property to the LL at the end of tenancy in the same dirty condition.

Does your daughter understand more about being a tenant than you do?

LoopyLoops

Bookworm105 said:

she makes a claim through the relevant deposit protection scheme 

she can also forget about demanding to see receipts. People just do not understand that deductions are compensation to the LL for damage to their property.
There is no requirement whatsoever for the LL have spent, or intend to spend, any of the compensation on actual repairs, cleaning, or anything else. Compensation is money in the LL's pocket, not payment for bills incurred.
if the LL chooses not to pay for cleaning then the next tenants starts with a dirty property and is only required to return the property to the LL at the end of tenancy in the same dirty condition.

Does your daughter understand more about being a tenant than you do?

Think they are asking to see evidence that it wasn’t clean, not that it cost £150. I would also want to see the landlords evidence it wasn’t clean to the same standard as when I moved in.  

Straight to the deposit scheme and raise a dispute.  They are really easy to deal with. Your daughter should have the information of which scheme is holding the deposit against the paperwork given to her when she moved in.  

The_Phantom

Bookworm105 said:

she makes a claim through the relevant deposit protection scheme 

she can also forget about demanding to see receipts. People just do not understand that deductions are compensation to the LL for damage to their property.
There is no requirement whatsoever for the LL have spent, or intend to spend, any of the compensation on actual repairs, cleaning, or anything else. Compensation is money in the LL's pocket, not payment for bills incurred.
if the LL chooses not to pay for cleaning then the next tenants starts with a dirty property and is only required to return the property to the LL at the end of tenancy in the same dirty condition.

Does your daughter understand more about being a tenant than you do?

She didn't cause any damage, and the flat was cleaned prior  to handing the keys back. We also took photos of the studio prior to handing the keys back to have some evidence. There was nothing in need of £150 worth of cleaning. Apparently the burden of proof is on the Landlord to show £150 worth of cleaning was actually required, otherwise he could say anything, couldn't he ? They (Landlord / Letting agent) have thus far not provided any evidence.
I'll get her to check which scheme the money is with.
Thank you
We weren't aware we could go straight there

FlorayG

Your daughter goes to the deposit protection scheme and requests her deposit back. The then contact the LL and ask if s/he agrees. If they don't agree to a full refund, the deposit scheme moderates the dispute.

Bookworm105

The_Phantom said:

Bookworm105 said:

she makes a claim through the relevant deposit protection scheme 

she can also forget about demanding to see receipts. People just do not understand that deductions are compensation to the LL for damage to their property.
There is no requirement whatsoever for the LL have spent, or intend to spend, any of the compensation on actual repairs, cleaning, or anything else. Compensation is money in the LL's pocket, not payment for bills incurred.
if the LL chooses not to pay for cleaning then the next tenants starts with a dirty property and is only required to return the property to the LL at the end of tenancy in the same dirty condition.

Does your daughter understand more about being a tenant than you do?the burden of proof is for the LL to show the deposit proptection scheme that the property was not returned in the same conditiuon it was in when first let.

She didn't cause any damage, and the flat was cleaned prior  to handing the keys back. We also took photos of the studio prior to handing the keys back to have some evidence. There was nothing in need of £150 worth of cleaning. Apparently the burden of proof is on the Landlord to show £150 worth of cleaning was actually required, otherwise he could say anything, couldn't he ? They (Landlord / Letting agent) have thus far not provided any evidence.
I'll get her to check which scheme the money is with.
Thank you
We weren't aware we could go straight there

the word "damage" does not mean what you think, it refers to the action of failing to return the property in the same condition it was received. 

 the burden of proof on the LL is to demonstrate to the deposit protection scheme that the property was not returned in the same condition as when it was first let. There is no requirement to demonstrate anything to the tenant.

the tenant is expected to raise a dispute with the protection scheme and the tenant offers evidence to the scheme that the tenant did return the property in the same (or better) condition

the scheme then evaluates both sets of evidence and makes a decision over who gets how much of the deposit.

all of that is explained in the scheme info the LL should have given the tenant at the start of the tenancy.
Reference and links to the deposit schemes is contained in the "how to rent" booklet which the LL is legally required to give to tenant also at the start 
looks like a classic case of all this legislation put in place to favour tenants who simply fail to engage with what was done for their sole benefit 

How to rent - GOV.UK

Uriziel

The Tenants Fees Act makes it illegal for a landlord to demand a professional cleaning service as long the flat is clean so if they are telling you that they expected you to pay for a cleaner they are breaking the law as they are trying to push fees onto the tenant.

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/tenant-fees-act
https://homelet.co.uk/tenants/tips-for-tenants/end-of-tenancy-clean-what-you-need-to-know#:~:text=Is a professional clean required,one is up to you.

Mr.Generous

The agent won't need to do much if no dispute with deposit holding company, but if landlord has informed them the tenancy has ended and notified them of the deduction the deposit scheme (the TDS for sure) contacts the tenant and explains that, and asks if they agree. They have a time frame to challenge, so don't hang about.

I often find rentals returned in pretty good shape, but the oven not cleaned properly. £75 gone straight away.

theartfullodger

swingaloo said:

Forget the landlord and agent, she just requests it back from whichever deposit scheme was holding it. 

+1, absolutely (I'm a landlord btw..)

Sounds like you've a greedy bullying ignorant landlord here.  Sorry.

The_Phantom

Thank you for all the replies, there is now an update.

My daughter has found the Deposit Scheme details in her tenancy agreement in the small print and has contacted them.
They have now raised a dispute but said there is a huge backlog due to high demand and looking at it could take up to 20 weeks.... ?
They also told her she could have requested the 'undisputed' amount back and just leave the balance of £150 in dispute, but now that she has raised the dispute they will hold on to all the money until it is resolved.

This is also something that nobody told her and is nowhere in the small print.

This is really something that should be automatic, a refund of the undisputed amount and just hold on to the disputed amount.
She shouldn't have to ask for that to happen.

Someone mentioned a booklet she should have been given, but all she got at the start of tenancy was the actual tenancy agreement, nothing else.

Now she could potentially wait for 5 months to get her money back.
It all looks as if the rules are there to protect the tenants, but are really being bent and twisted to suit the Landlords.
Someone is earning interest on this money and it's not my daughter.

The Landlord in this case is some sort of Property Company upcountry, so not an individual. Apparently they have loads of properties all over the place.