refusing to clean the kitchen in my student accommodation

[Frillsandspills]

Basically, I've lived in student accommodation for the past year in a different city to where I live (I've since left university and I'm now working, or at least I will be once my DBS has came through..) anyway, I lived with 4 other people who have all moved out of the flat we shared and are only going back occasionally to pick stuff up and make sure everything is how we found it when we first moved in.

I've always been the cleanest one out of the 5 of us and I didn't mind taking charge of cleaning up all the time as I knew I'd do a thorough job and I don't feel comfortable prepping food anywhere that isn't clean.
so, well over a week ago a flatmate decided he would have a party and then went home leaving behind a ridiculous amount of mess. He hadn't emptied any bins, left food out which has now gone mouldy as I've found and not made any attempt to throw anything away. I checked a few days ago and flies had laid eggs in some leftovers and I didn't feel comfortable being in the kitchen whatsoever it was that disgusting. Another flatmate had told him to clean up and he point blank refused and probably won't be returning to the accommodation. One of the other flatmates has now moved to Australia which leaves only 3 of us left.
We all had a phone call today so see if we don't clean the communal area by Wednesday

Just do it and don't share accommodation with lazy chancers again. In the end it's less stress - you can't prove a point to them if they're in Australia.

Sorry but you're probably equally responsible for the mess in your tenancy agreement so you probably need to do it.

..pressed post too early oops

The call said if we don't clean up by Wednesday cleaners would come in and do it and we would all be billed. I point blank refused as the mess is down to one person and one person only. We've all already been billed for damages he has caused which isn't fair on us at all.
The kitchen is so unhygienic I think you'd genuinely need to wear a mask when cleaning.
I'm also 14 weeks pregnant and I have the immune system of a wooden spoon and to be in such a germ ridden area would be asking for trouble.

I don't want to seem like I'm being over dramatic, but I'm furious that said flatmate is (as per) leaving his putrid mess for everyone else to clean. It's just the amount of flies I can't describe how disgusting it is. It's like a remake of the plague of flies, really.

Am I right to be so annoyed about this or should I just suck it up and once again clean a mess that isn't mine? I don't want to be billed for it and I've written a complaint about said flatmate but as a flat we all have a responsibility to clean up, which I understand. But c'mon, we're all in our 20s.. Hardly THAT young any more, surely if you make a mess you should tidy it and not leave it up to anyone else.

Is there a deposit? Because I would be tempted to talk to the accommodation people, with evidence (statements from other people) and see if the stinky bloke's deposit is enough to get the place cleaned. Professionally.

x-posted.

The flatmate who moved to Australia wasn't the one who made the mess.. The messy one lives about a half hours drive away so I don't see why he can't come back and deal with it himself. Agreed I shouldn't have been designated kitchen cleaner in the first place but the rest of us left the kitchen clean and tidy before returning home.. Now we're going back to pick final stuff up and have found he's been back and had a party then got off and left it. It's been really warm too so you can imagine the smell coming the pile of rubbish left. I just think it's unfair really.

MrsTerry sorry yes there is a deposit.. Weve all had money taken out of it because he had a party and broke the fire alarms. (Only £25 from each of us, I know it's not much but for the rest of us who are actually responsible it takes the p*ss a little bit

Take him to Small Claims Court. Waste his time as he has wasted yours.

Clearly, the person who created the mess should sort the mess, but if that's not going to happen your options are to clean it yourself or accept a share of the bill. Complaining about it being someone else's mess isn't going to change that. It's a horrible situation for you, but I doubt there's much that can be done to make the filthy one take full responsibility.

It wasn't your mess, but by not cleaning it up straightaway, you're now complicit in having let it get to the stage of flies breeding in it. You should therefore either clean it or accept that you'll lose some of your deposit towards a professional clean.

my partner suggested that also. It's not as if we're teenagers any more. The only reason I lived there was because it was my last year and I wanted to be closer to university as I was commuting. Everyone I lived with are a lot older than most of the students living away from home so I really didn't think this sort of thing still happened, but clearly it does!

I would be furious but there perhaps there isn't anything you can do about it if you don't want to clean. If the deposit is a large sum it may be worth suing him in a small claims court if that is possible.

Banana nobody as at the flat for over a week after the mess was made, by the time I went back to pick up some stuff it was too late and the flies were everywhere! Had it not been for that and the amount of mould everywhere i would have tidied it. It's not so much about the mess not being mine (I know it sounds immature like "but he did it not me") it's how disgusting it's got because he left it and that's what's really annoyed me because he knew nobody would be back at the flat for a while.

Well, do you know where he lives.

Arrive on his doorstep and get angry. It might work. If his flatmates, wife, parents are there they might take you side.