In your opinion, should rental properties be professionally cleaned between tenancies?

[LindorDoubleChoc]

Just that really.

Yes or no.

Yes! It’s the lease that fat cat landlords can do, given how much they’re cashing in on tenants

@m00rfarmThat’s illegal! And the DPS will NOT permit you to help yourself to any portion of the deposit without absolute proof that it was required.

I work in this area and I always request a professional clean prior to Tenancy Commencent when I make a rental offer/application for my clients
Also, it does say in most of the Tenancy Agreements I deal with that a Professional clean must be carried out at the Tenants expense at the end of The Tenancy

How the hell do you get away with that?
I doubt DPS or TDS would let you keep the deposit in those circumstances
Any Tenancy that came across my desk with that in would get rejected straight away

None of which is legal or enforceable.

I always have. I generally use the same
company that I trust and ask the tenant to-although I don’t insist on it. The only time I didn’t was in Covid when a tenant needed to move out and an essential worker needed to move in and it wasn’t possible to get a clean done. But that tenant wasn’t asked to get it cleaned when they moved on-I paid for it.

It is in my tenancy agreements but they aren’t enforceable. Nothing is!

I am not in the UK and I can assure you that I CAN enforce it.

I am not based in the UK - so I CAN enforce it. And my rental properties in the UK I have the same agreement with my tenants (not in the contract) and give them the price of the clean when they enter the property, and every time, they prefer to go down my route and everything else in the deposit goes back to them. Sometimes they are there so long that the price is way out, but I still stick with the same price. It is more than reasonable, and they prefer to do that than clean themselves or try to find someone that will clean to the standard that I, as a landlord, require.

I always find it quite bizarre when other landlords don't see an end of tenancy clean as just a standard cost.

It's something I've always calculated into the costs of a new tenant. I also offer tenants a carpet clean once a year when I get mine done (which someone on here once told me was mental - but it helps keeps the carpets in good condition which benefits me as much as the tenants).

A lot of landlords though (often deliberately) misconstrue wear and tear with unclean when it comes to end of tenancy checks.

Yes. The alternative is unthinkable.

Yes of course. Whether that's by previous tenant, landlord or paid ckeaners. It should be spotless for new tenant.

i get the feeling you have or are about to move into somewhere that hasn't been. I did that once, it was revolting. The LL said it had been done by professional cleaners, I laughed & told him not to be so ridiculous. He got cleaners in (or went himself?!) it was minimally better, but I was young, fit & healthy in those days so we just blitzed it thoroughly ourselves from top to bottom until it felt clean!

You do know you don't have to live in the UK to rent houses and use Mumsnet?

That’s interesting. Dd is about to move into a flat where it says she must engage a professional cleaner when she leaves. I’m planning on turning up with a mop! 😂. It’s a shared flat and she’s literally only responsible for her bedroom and en-suite.

this is in the U.K. btw with a massive professional company, she’s living in a huge skyscraper with hundreds of flats! All run by the company who own the tower block.

I think tenants should be responsible for leaving the unit “broom clean” and landlords should be responsible for a deeper professional level cleaning before the next tenants move in. Cleaning well between tenants should be considered a cost of doing business.

Lots of landlords put this in their contract but it’s not legally enforceable. Half of them are too dim to realise that themselves, the other half just think the tenant will do anything they’re told like a good little lapdog

I'm a landlord. I've seen tenants do a better job than some professional cleaners - just not often!
The issue is whether it is cleaned or not, and the check in / out inventory will pick that up

I cleaned my son's house he lets out. The issue really is that after costs and rent and 40% income tax on the rent in the UK in many places it is hardly worth letting out here in the SE so it is touch and go whether as a landlord to bother letting it out and vast vast numbers of tenants after every property. May be we need to move to the system in some of the rest of Europe where tenants instal and pay for things like kitchens, boilers etc otherwise with 1.1m new people coming to the UK last year and 1.3m the year before and the state having made letting out property so unprofitable there is just going to be a massive shortage of property to let.

Yes. I paid for an end of tenancy clean and it looked amazing. Letting agent said never seen a property look so clean.

In the parts of Europe you’re referring to rental properties are owned by institutional investors and peoples like your son wouldn’t have a chance of owning one. So ups and downs really.

I'm a landlord, one property. Would always get it professionally cleaned between tenancies, and redecorate if needed.

Of course landlords should pay for a professional cleaner, particularly when tenants have had pets. People's standards vary so much. Tenant shoul have to leave a property tidy and basically clean though.

Yes rental properties should be cleaned between tenancies - the landlord should arrange, and pay for it. They get enough in rent.

The same applies to holiday rentals where landlords also take the absolute p.

100%. Every rental I have moved into so far has been filthy. It winds me up because you are expected to clean the property to a professional standard when you move out, if you don't then they can take cleaning fees from your deposit, so because they are always filthy when I move in I can only assume they charged the previous tenant these fees but never actually hired the cleaners with it so just pocketed the money instead. I've always had to clean the property when I move in before I unpack and its wrong IMO

It definitely should be clean but after paying specialist cleaners a fortune and not being happy I clean it myself now.
Once as a tenant I had an email from my previous landlord thanking me for leaving the flat so clean - I’d done it myself with some family halo and literally deep cleaned everywhere!

That’s interesting. Dd is about to move into a flat where it says she must engage a professional cleaner when she leaves. I’m planning on turning up with a mop! 😂. It’s a shared flat and she’s literally only responsible for her bedroom and en-suite.

this is in the U.K. btw with a massive professional company, she’s living in a huge skyscraper with hundreds of flats! All run by the company who own the tower block.

People put all sorts into agreements, but they're not legally enforceable at all.

I had this debate with my first management agent (as a landlord) where they were adamant they were putting in that we could do inspections with 24 hour notice and let ourselves in if the tenant wasn't there and that they must provide a receipt for a cleaning company at the end of the tenancy or they'd deduct it from the deposit.

I suggested they put in that the tenant had to make me dinner every second Tuesday because that was as enforceable as their suggestions. 😂😂

They weren't impressed and happily waived the exit fee for the contract I had with them (they had originally seemed decent)