I shall give you two options for this thread, as I'm aware I've gone on about the same subject for months now. So short version and long version.
Short
Landlord is a wanker. An aggressive, threatening bastard who has made it impossible to live in our flat, yet we've still had to pay him rent. We move the last of our stuff out this month and I already know he's going to be a cunt about the deposit, so should I really bother cleaning? The place isn't a dump by any means, but it isn't spotless either.
Long
Landlord refuses to fix things, like a giant hole in the wall for example. So we call environmental health, who obviously aren't too impressed. Landlord gets annoyed and turns up at the flat to threaten us for it, not just once but twice. Second time he stands banging on the door and yelling abuse for 15 minutes.
The first time he got in as DH didn't expect him to be aggressive, he thought that the landlord was actually going to bother fixing things. While there he accused DH of cracking a window, claiming he saw him do it while they were stood there. The crack had been there since before we moved in. So we already know he's a bullshitter.
Which, to me, suggests our deposit is long gone. I know there are rules in place, but we've had to fight for our deposit before and lost - and this was after properly cleaning! The flat was cleaner than when we moved in!
We haven't stayed at this flat since November, and have actually had to stay on friends and families floors - in totally different counties to our flat! Which is of course expensive as we still have to get back to near the flat for medical appointments etc. Plus feeding ourselves is costing more due to not being able to prepare food and freeze it.
On top of that, we were meant to be staying there for at least another year. And with that in mind had used some of our savings on our wedding (a month before all this started) and a car so I could actually leave the flat and get to my hospital appointments (mobility issues). And due to the cold snap we had to leave heating on low so that pipes didn't burst - even if we weren't there. And lights on a timer so that it still looked occupied.
The flat isn't spotless, but it isn't grim either. It's a bit dusty as we haven't been there to clean it, and the carpets could do with a professional clean (no stains, just the usual dirt accumulated, especially after moving boxes/furniture out). But that will cost us further, when he's already had 3 months rent for an empty property. And we are already out of pocket.
He's told our friend (who turned up to try and move him away from our door when he was yelling at us) that he thinks we are "dole scum" (both disabled) and he expects us to wreck the flat. So she thinks we should deep clean it to prove him wrong. She thinks it will annoy him. I get the feeling it wont somehow.
Extra money + pristine property + he'll probably find some excuse to not give us our deposit back = him laughing I feel.
Quite frankly I'd like to stick up a sign saying "fuck you cunt features" when we leave, though I will obviously not do that.
So really, AIBU to not clean the place? I'm well aware I'm very emotional about all this and would like some more logical/detached opinions.