RENTING

[DAVYBOY46]

Please can anyone explain me why so many people leave rented property in such a mess when they move ??????

[lughnasadh]

Same reason some people leave the house they've sold in state.

[UnfinishedSymphon]

Yeah it's not just rented, the state of this house when we bought it was disgraceful, there was dog poo all over the ground floor carpets. Vom. If people don't care about their own property, they aren't going to care about someone else's sadly

[tectonicplates]

The only people I've known who've deliberately left a rented property in a mess are people who've been treated badly by landlords, so they don't feel they owe them anything. Funnily enough, I've always left places in a much better state when the landlord treated us accordingly.

[tectonicplates]

Also: Many lettings agents will insist that you get the place "professionally cleaned" when you move out. I've known and heard about endless people who've scrubbed the place from top to bottom when they've moved out, often leaving it in a much better condition than when they moved in, only to be told that it still wasn't good enough because they didn't pay someone to do it, so ended up having part of their deposit withheld. Given my experience that no amount of personally-done cleaning will ever be good enough for some people, I'd rather leave it altogether as I am no longer prepared to spend hours scrubbing a place clean only to be told it isn't good enough. You can blame greedy landlords and agents for that.

[Whatisthisfuckery]

Some people are just slobs and will make a mess regardless of where they live. My XH owns his own house and it’s disgusting.

Some people don’t care because they don’t own it.

Some people are treated like shit by their LLs, not keeping the place well maintained, harassment etc so think fuck it. I’ve known people who would be able to take their LLs to court for much more than their deposit is worth.

I’m not excusing anybody leaving a mess after them BTW. It’s a matter of pride that I leave a place in good condition, often better than how I found it.

[DijanaM]

Had the same issue with my tenants a few years ago, when they left the property I had to replace the majority of the carpets, as the condition was horrendous. I'm really particular in the agencies I use now as I always want to make sure reference checking is done properly and that the tenants haven't had any previous issues with their Landlords.I use Property Loop and they have been really good at finding tenants with good tenancy history, worth checking them out, Im not sure if they are only London base though

[Fuckadoodledoooo]

Every house I've rented (lots over 20 years), the contract has said either to get an end of tenancy clean or there would be a cleaning fee taken out of the deposit if they had to do it.

I've always paid for a clean myself as I know that when they take the extortionate cleaning fee, they don't actually do it.

[Fuckadoodledoooo]

@tectonicplates

Also: Many lettings agents will insist that you get the place "professionally cleaned" when you move out. I've known and heard about endless people who've scrubbed the place from top to bottom when they've moved out, often leaving it in a much better condition than when they moved in, only to be told that it still wasn't good enough because they didn't pay someone to do it, so ended up having part of their deposit withheld. Given my experience that no amount of personally-done cleaning will ever be good enough for some people, I'd rather leave it altogether as I am no longer prepared to spend hours scrubbing a place clean only to be told it isn't good enough. You can blame greedy landlords and agents for that.

That happened to me once.

The last place I left the agency and landlord even argued I didn't have an end of tenancy clean done, despite them showing three different people round the day it was being cleaned so they saw it done with their own eyes dds, and me having a receipt and time stamped photos.

I had to threaten court in the end.

[Nohomeschoolingtoday]

I rented twice and both times left it clean.

One of the house I was moving out overlapped to give me time to ensure it was cleaned. I had the carpets professionally cleaned......when I went back a couple of days later the landlord had let himself in as he found out I’d moved out earlier and walked in with muddy shoes on!! He tried to get me to pay for the carpets to be cleaned again!!!

[pierpressure]

It’s not legal to insist a tenant uses a particular company to clean, as it’s not acceptable to enforce a third party contract on to someone .
Also an agency is only able to insist on additional cleaning after the check out report has been compiled , if said check out report confirms that the flat was not “cleaner than when the tenant moved in” .

[CuriousaboutSamphire]

Im an nventory clerk. I say that so you know I have no bais, no skin in the game.

The honest answer is that some poeple are just dirty buggers.

It doesn't matter what the rent is - I see properties from £300 - 8,500* a month - there is always someone who will leave them dirty with some fixturs and fittings bent, broken or missing.

It doesn't matter how nice or nasty the landlords are. How lovely, or absolutely basic, the homes are. They all get good and bad tenants.

Last week, remember lockdown, I went to a rather posh house and didn't even make it through the front door. I took a picture of the hallway to show I had at least tried and called the agent. No cleaner would go in that day so they went in opened windows where they could and left.

Today, after the tenant had agreed to pay for a cleaner, I went in to do the Check Out. There was quite a lot of broken bits... That was a 4 bedroom, £3,000/month house in a very desirable area. Lovely house when they moved in!

And yesterday I did a check out for my self proclaimed slum landlord. He has very basic properties, the most you can say is they are clean, well insulated and the doors are secure. All of his tenants are on UC and other benefits, most have NMW jobs at best, many having been in prison, having no credit to speak of or just being generally not all that together (if you see what I mean). The house was spotless. Top to bottom, utterly spotless! They have moved on into a much nicer house as their jobs and credit score improved - I check them in tomorrow

There really is not 'type of tenant' who does this, nor 'type of landlord' who deserves it. It's all luck of the draw!

Many lettings agents will insist that you get the place "professionally cleaned" when you move out. That's all changed and shouldn't be upheld in a deposit dispute these days - with a proper check out (and a tenant can pay for their own) the standard of cleanliness would be clear on the inventory - and the term 'professionally cleaned' annoys the mediators!

*Cotswolds daaaaaaaaahling!

[pierpressure]

Good to see some accurate information from Curious about Samphire above, tenants have many rights which are not hard to uphold via a dispute which is free to do.
I do get bored of this “ landlords and agents are greedy “cliche, yes some are, but how would wanting a flat to be professional cleaned greedy ?

[ooohbriefcase]

@tectonicplates

Also: Many lettings agents will insist that you get the place "professionally cleaned" when you move out. I've known and heard about endless people who've scrubbed the place from top to bottom when they've moved out, often leaving it in a much better condition than when they moved in, only to be told that it still wasn't good enough because they didn't pay someone to do it, so ended up having part of their deposit withheld. Given my experience that no amount of personally-done cleaning will ever be good enough for some people, I'd rather leave it altogether as I am no longer prepared to spend hours scrubbing a place clean only to be told it isn't good enough. You can blame greedy landlords and agents for that.

@tectonicplates this happened to us with an estate agent. They said they'd have the place professionally cleaned before we moved in. Probably charged the landlord but then didn't do it. It was dusty and there was a massive dead spider on one of bedroom floors when we went for the viewing, was still there when we moved in. So clearly wasn't done. When we moved out it was spotless, but she still wanted to charge us for a professional clean. DP told her that was fine and he expected an invoice and receipt from the cleaning company to say it had been done. She was very put out by the request. She did get it cleaned and sent us the proof. Was very annoyed about the whole thing and was clearly planning on pocketing the cash. Stupid cow 😂

[CuriousaboutSamphire]

Ah ah ah, @pierpressure

Not 'professionally cleaned' just cleaned to a good standard, to a professional standard. Naughty naughty

Good - in it's proper meaning, desirable, approved of, having required qualities. It's the highest descriptor in my reports - Good, Satisfactory and Poor