Viewing filthy houses to rent

[Duvetday19]

Back story is we live in a one bed and need to move to a two bed. We have upped our budget because of the market and yet, we are been shown filthy dirty places. Cobwebs and spiders everywhere, dirty walls, chipped skirtings and grubby carpets. What's worse is we are always told they just had a cleaning team in for a deep clean.. surely they can't all be lying or is it just what landlords are told to say so we THINK it's been deep cleaned?
Anyone with eyes can see the properties haven't been.

When we moved to our current property, same story said they would get it professionally cleaned before move in date. I spent 2 weeks getting the place clean as it was exceptionally grubby and the agency just didn't care. Had to hound for new carpets in bedroom as they were horrible and I mean with dirt. I would like to add that I definitely don't mind cleaning and always would if moving into a new place for peace of mind but with moving again, I couldn't face painting and scrubbing the whole place, just for it to benefit the landlord..

Would a hoover and a dust really put them out? Surely the last tenant leaving the place on such a state warrants keeping the deposit for a clean or refurbished..

I'm really fed up now with house hunting and landlords thinking its okay for us to move in to a filthy place.

Or am I being a princess👸

[Emmarjayne]

Honestly I think it's what estate agents/landlords say so we think it's been cleaned. They also keep the deposit and pocket it instead of paying for a clean. But not all landlords are bad.

My estate agent lied to me for 3 weeks telling me they had a problem contacting the accountant for my guarantor. I've spoken to the old tenants and they actually had a problem with there new mortgage so had to put off moving a little longer. However my actual landlord is lovely and I deal with him directly now and don't have much to be with the estate agent

[Timeforabiscuit]

I've had landlords show me houses with walls dripping with damp, when I explicitly said nothing with any hint of damp given the state of our last rental - that was 20 years ago and I doubt very much they've changed their stripes since.

If you live in a operative are for letting agents, you can give clear feedback and avoid that agent in future, can try screening letting agents using words like executive let's, as these were a bit higher spec (and higher cost).

If you're on the lower end of the market and don't have choice, then the agent and landlord has no reason to up their game, its really abyssmal there aren't more protections in place.

[Timeforabiscuit]

Sorry - live in a competitive area for agents. Not operative!

[bonzaitree]

Ideally you’d watt the full deep clean, and details, written into your lease.

If you move in and it hasn’t been done, you can hold the landlord accountable.

Read the lease very carefully before you move in. You’d want to see a clause saying that the landlord will perform a full deep clean using professional cleaners and specifically address any areas of concern eg filthy carpets.

Realistically though the rental market is so competitive, asking for something like this might just make the landlord pick another tenant. So it might be that you just have to grit your teeth and clean your new home.

sorry OP it’s a bit shit.

[Headstarttohappiness]

You’re not being a princess. This is a reasonable expectation.

I have just stopped being a landlord and the last tenant genuinely did not seem to have cleaned walls, floors, skirting boards in 5+ years. Had not even hoovered. I’m not a clean freak; it was revolting and upsetting to think they thought it was ok to leave like that. Rubbish all over front garden too.
I’m sorry the rental market is in such a state that some landlords letting agents and tenants think an actually dirty house is acceptable to show prospective tenants.

Good luck and I hope you find somewhere good soon.

[Toomuch44]

I'd say the problem is finding a rental where you can get a deep clean written into the lease - experience of people close to me shows it's extremely competitive trying to even get accepted for a rental, so if you're trying to bargain for anything extra, you'll be easy to reject when there's a queue behind you.

Unfortunately, this happens in privately owned houses as well. I know you accept the condition when purchasing, ie chipped skirting boards, kitchen/bathrooms in poor condition, dirty carpets, but we've had to deep clean 2/3 houses we've moved into - parts of the first one were so bad DH said he didn't want me cleaning, so did them himself. So annoying when I'd cleaned everything going (even behind cookers, washing machines) within a few days of moving.