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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

Private rental carpet question

56 replies

knittedbreast · 15/10/2011 13:14

Just got a letter from my letting agent as we are moving out.

They say I have to get the carpets professionally cleaned and they need to see a receipt to prove it.

Do I really have to?

Thanks

OP posts:

Reality · 15/10/2011 13:15

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

HecateGoddessOfTheNight · 15/10/2011 13:15

What does your lease say on the subject?

And - will they just take it out of your deposit if you don't?

Original poster

knittedbreast · 15/10/2011 13:19

well thats what im wondering.

i dont think i ever got a copy of my lease either.

i really dont care if they take it out of the deposit, but its a piss take that for a house thats still damp in god knows how many places a yr later that they are asking for anyhting really.

OP posts:

twinklytroll · 15/10/2011 13:24

Every house I have rented we have had to get our carpets done, although it has been a clause in the tenancy.

Original poster

knittedbreast · 15/10/2011 13:25

so what happens if you dont? i cant find anything on the net about it

OP posts:

Hopefully · 15/10/2011 13:25

Our last rental had that as a clause, this one doesn't. Do you really not have a copy of the contract?

MrsHuxtable · 15/10/2011 13:26

We'll have to do the same.
Does anyone know how much it'll cost? Is it per room or a flat rate? We only have carpet in 2 bedrooms.

Original poster

knittedbreast · 15/10/2011 13:28

think ive already decided im not going to get them prof cleaned anyway. the money to do its tied up in the deposit which they are freely allowed to use to get the carpets cleaned.

god i fucking hate letting agents

OP posts:

MumblingAndBloodyRagDoll · 15/10/2011 13:28

We had to do it too. Ask for your lease before you do though!

itsallgravy · 15/10/2011 13:28

Depends if they are stained. We had it in our contract in our previous house but being the OCD hooverer that am I didn't think they needed doing.... So we didn't .... And nothing was said and we got our full deposit back. They asked for the receipt for the clean when we handed back the keys and I just said I would drop it in later in the week.

They did their inspection and obviously deemed them clean enough as nothing more was mentioned. Cheque arrived a week later

Trills · 15/10/2011 13:29

If it's in the contract and you signed it then there's not a lot you can do.

OTOH what did the carpets look like when you got there? Morally you are only obliged to leave the flat in as good a condition as you found it (allowing for normal wear and tear over the time you've been there).

FabbyChic · 15/10/2011 13:30

This house I am in costs £450 to get the carpets cleaned before I moved in.

Thats a standard two bed house with a dining and living room.

Get it done yourself or they will charge you around £450 to get it done.

Wrigglebum · 15/10/2011 13:36

In our last rental we just hired a professional carpet cleaner and showed them the receipt for that. That seemed to be good enough for them, after all that is being professionally cleaned as the machine is professional, check if they'd be ok with that.

Those Rugdoctors you hire from supermarkets, DIY stores and dry cleaners come in at under £50 for a weekend including all solutions and do a great job as long as you follow all instructions. If you have it for the weekend you could then potentially do the place you're moving into (if it needs it) or split it with a friend that needs to clean their carpets. Got a better result with the Rugdoctor than the professional carpet cleaning co that came in just after we moved!

Ask them to show you the clause in your lease that requires it first though.

garlicScaresVampires · 15/10/2011 13:36

It's in my contract, too. Which is hilarious when you look at the carpets (and the fact that it has no floor downstairs!) You can get a cheapie for £30-£50, as long as you hold out against the 'extras' - just get a receipt, then you've done your bit.

mogs0 · 15/10/2011 13:37

The last place I moved out of had carpets in 2 bedrooms, hall, stairs and landing and cost £50 to clean.

I had a quote from a cleaning company to do a post tenancy clean and it was about £200 . Instead, I had two friends help me clean once all my furniture had been moved and gave them a £50voucher each.

When my landlady came to inspect she said the carpets looked better than when they had been put in!

Original poster

knittedbreast · 15/10/2011 13:42

so all they do is take the cost of having them cleaned out of my deposit then? I cant afford to pay to have them cleaned, ive cleaned out all my savings just to move.

OP posts:

holidaysoon · 15/10/2011 13:45

Depends how much you want to fight this, my understanding is that they can't be 'unreasonable' in the contract nor can they get you to sign away and statutary rights.

i think this is thought to be unreasonable but I really don't know try shelter they have been very helpful in the past. (they have a helpline)

We had our last house professionally cleaned and the check out lady was quite sniffy about the cleaning pissed me off the place was super spotless, it did however have damp damage and bare walls in the kitchen from where the wiring got wet, mould in the dining room, moth infestation in the hall carpet, rubbish paintwork, a long standing broken window and mice (I suspect she didn;t know about the mice)

silly cow

and a pointless waste of my money since there was no check in inventory

and since they had builders in for 3 months after we moved because the place was so crappy (we moved because it was soooooooo bad and the landlord was obsessed with at least a 10% rent rise every year despite doing nothing to the property)

EllaDee · 15/10/2011 13:50

I think it's a normal clause in an agreement, but I have always explained that I am very clean, there have been no significant spills, no pets (in places where we were allowed pets), etc., and I've never been asked to do it. One landlord said I clearly didn't want to do it, he didn't trust me to do it, so he'd take it out of the deposit - but that worked fine IMO.

You really need to see your contract though! When you say you've not got a copy - if you lost it, would the lettings agency have a copy?

holidaysoon · 15/10/2011 13:54

so is allowing viewings at landlords pleasure when you move out (normal) it's completely unenforceable though

Original poster

knittedbreast · 15/10/2011 14:02

sorry holiday soon what do you mean by that

i never had a copy, they never sent it

OP posts:

holidaysoon · 15/10/2011 14:04

sorry what do i mean by what?

unreasonable?
viewings?

MistyB · 15/10/2011 14:07

Were the carpets clean when you moved in? You are usually required to leave a property in a similar state to when you moved in, so Yes, you should clean the carpets.

As others up the thread have said, a rug doctor will do a pretty good job. Also, the cost of you doing it yourself (and actually doing it rather than simply hiring a rug doctor and not using it as they may not see that as adequate!!) or finding someone who will do it for you is likely to be less than the cost of the company they will use to do it, plus VAT, plus admin etc.

You are more likely to get your deposit back if you comply with their requirements and I'd imagine that your deposit is more that the cost of cleaning.

holidaysoon · 15/10/2011 15:16

sorry I've been defending myself against accusations of racism on another thread.

I think you're asking me what I mean by 'unreasonable' I'm no lawyer but I think they use it technically to describe something that's well unreasonable so eg you can't be required to return the property in a better state that you got it?

eg if it has 10 yr old carpets that are basically clean and you spill a whole bottle of red wine and can't get it out they can only deduct the cost of an old carpet for that room (not require new carpet for the whole house)

you can't contractually sign away a statuary right eg quiet enjoyment so there is usually a clause about the landlord giving written notice of what 24 hours (not sure exactly how long) of routine visits emergency obviously any time there is then usually another clause about allowing viewings when you move out but quiet enjoyment is a stat right and viewings contravene that so really you don't have to allow any. usually people come to some agreement but you don't have to

holidaysoon · 15/10/2011 15:16

But remember I'm not a lawyer, we had landlord problems in our last house and I found he shelter helpline very helpful

PootlePosyPumpkin · 15/10/2011 15:26

Oh, now I get it. From the title I thought you were renting carpets .

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