To not clean my last rented property 'to a professional standard'?

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Just in the process of moving out to a new place, and remembered that my inventory for the old flat states "not professionally cleaned".

I kicked up a fuss with the estate agents after the inventory man had been and before I moved in, as they'd promised me a cleaned flat as part of the condition of renting, and they quickly sorted it out.

Now a new tenant is due to move in next week, and of course I'll make the place presentable for her (will sweep and clean surfaces etc.), but AIBU in not organising professionals to do the job? And do you think it's the estate agents' responsibility now to organise a proper clean, since it wasn't in the inventory?

FFS
The flat was professionally cleaned before you moved in, so just get it professionally cleaned when you move out.
Why wouldn't you?
It'll likely be deducted from your deposit if you don't organise it anyway, and it could be more expensive than you organising it yourself.

I used to work for an organisation that owned a number of properties which were let to employees to help them relocate.

We always had a professional clean between tenancies but if I had £1 for every exiting tenant who said they'd left the place "cleaner than they moved in", well, I'd have enough for a decent meal out. I think in almost 10 years I could count the number of times the property didn't require cleaning on one hand.

If you're happy to haggle over the deposit, go to Tribunal etc, just give it a wipe over. Otherwise clean properly or pay professionals and take pictures.

I think you've got to get it properly cleaned or do it yourself... Yes they were tardy but it was done.

You can't leave it in a rubbish state

We have never used professional cleaners, mainly as they quoted £300-350 (SE) BUT we have always deep cleaned ourselves once all our stuff was out... So about 3-4 hours with 2 of us. Easier when you're moving locally of course.

In the last 3 places, we've had landlords asked who we used as the company had done such a brilliant job (don't tell my mother - she'll expect me to do this at home ).

It was far more than just a quick wipe... All the usual... Plus all the nooks and crannies, carpets shampooed, all the kitchen cupboards bleached inside, the oven using industrial cream.. All the tiles in bathroom scrubbed, .so everywhere it essentially looks like a show home...

It was a faff but better than having deposit held for an expensive clean.

Also a good room freshener can give impression of good cleaning .

We found the trick was to do a tick post list of what needs cleaning and put together a cleaning bucket plus vacuum cleaner, that doesn't go in the removal van, with all the necessary products and also cloths. Put the music on and move quickly... It can be a good work out.

If you don't want to do this, just hire a firm!

Thanks @IamtheDevilsAvocado , I was planning to do this level of cleaning anyway but good to hear your tips! I certainly can't afford to pay professionals to do it.

The reason I'm objecting to paying as well is that previous tenants didn't have to pay; it was done last time by the estate agents. It's not in my contract to pay professionals to do it, but I'm confused to what level the agents will deem "a professional standard" to be.

I'm going to deep clean mine...just a matter of pride but I do understand if it's ££££.

YABU - You kicked up a fuss that it hadn’t been professionally cleaned before you moved in and now you’re moving out, you don’t want to pay for it to be professional cleaned. Surely it’s just good manners to leave something in the condition you found it in, when you moved in. Our last rental before we bought our own house, we cleaned and then paid for professional cleaners for a deep clean on our leaving day.

This is what the TDS says, as I explained earlier, you don't have to have a prfessional come in, but you will have to clean more than a normal clean.

www.tenancydepositscheme.com/asktds-difference-professional-domestic-cleaning/

Yanbu - we've lived in 3 rented properties and they're never cleaned to a professional standard when we move in, so they can fuck off if they think I'm doing it for them on my way out.

@crumbsnamechange

Thanks *@IamtheDevilsAvocado* , I was planning to do this level of cleaning anyway but good to hear your tips! I certainly can't afford to pay professionals to do it.

The reason I'm objecting to paying as well is that previous tenants didn't have to pay; it was done last time by the estate agents. It's not in my contract to pay professionals to do it, but I'm confused to what level the agents will deem "a professional standard" to be.

An end of tenancy professional clean would generally start at six hours for a small place.

At the beginning of your thread you said you'd sweep and wipe surfaces. So about 15 minutes work.
So you're going to be looking at cleaning skirting boards level of cleanliness and investigating every nook and cranny of the place to emulate a professional clean.

You might need to get someone in to clean the cooker. I find it impossible and a really horrible job, to get mine looking properly clean. The cooker guy takes all the racks and stuff out to his van and soaks them in something. Worth every penny and will save you loads of time.

Nothing worse than moving into a place with a grungy oven.

Thats what I thought too. but no. They took me for a song, despite the place being left in a much much cleaner state than when I moved in. But I'd done it so no receipt from a professional cleaner, which incidently it didn't state in my contract was necessary

They were a total arsehole agent though, so I do think it depends on whether you have an agent who is reasonable -or who has their other half working for the cleaning company they send the work to and using peoples deposits

Geez, did you dispute it? Did they produce evidence of the professional clean they claimed to do? You can’t count on agents to behave legally, that’s why it’s important to dispute this stuff. I think they might have screwed you, sorry.

But it was cleaned before she moved in, albeit after having to ask for it to be done

Yeah, that wasn’t clear when I posted. If they professionally cleaned it, then yes, OP needs to clean it.

The reason I'm objecting to paying as well is that previous tenants didn't have to pay; it was done last time by the estate agents.

It's likely they did have to pay - it will have been deducted from the deposit. If they didn't pay, that is the landlord's look out, they should have conducted a move out check before they returned the deposit.

The law changed in 2019 so they cannot insist that you pay for professional cleaning and provide receipts etc but the flat still has to be returned at the same level of cleanliness it was when you moved in, whether you clean it or you pay someone.

It might have been dirty when the inventory was made but it was professionally cleaned at the start of the tenancy when you complained. You need to return it in the same state it was after the professional clean. It doesn't matter, in this case, what the inventory says.

If they make a deduction for cleaning and you raise a dispute with the deposit scheme, the letting agent will just send proof that it was professionally cleaned for you at the start of the tenancy after the inventory was done so the adjudicator will expect you to return it at the same level of cleanliness.

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Thanks *@IamtheDevilsAvocado* , I was planning to do this level of cleaning anyway but good to hear your tips! I certainly can't afford to pay professionals to do it.

The reason I'm objecting to paying as well is that previous tenants didn't have to pay; it was done last time by the estate agents. It's not in my contract to pay professionals to do it, but I'm confused to what level the agents will deem "a professional standard" to be.

The fact that the previous tenants didn't have to pay is neither here nor there. And would you necessarily know if the agents had deducted the cost from the previous people's deposit?

Imo, if you agreed to clean to a very high standard, imo that's what you should do.

But the cost of the cleaning would have been taken off the previous tenants deposit. So they would have paid for it. And probably an extra charge to cover the estate agents admin.

You would have a point if it had never been cleaned. But it was

An end of tenancy professional clean would generally start at six hours for a small place. Yes! And no one ever belives it @saraclara

But an end of tenancy clean tries to remove all trace of previous occupants - so an vents in kitchens and bathrooms will have the front removed, the interior cleaned; the washing machine soap tray and door seal wll be cleaned; the cooker extractor hood will be cleaned and degreased; ovens, OMG the ovens I have seen! Walls, coving, skirting, doors around the handles/closing edges; walls around sockets and switches, stair handrails (again the disgusting bannisters I have seen!!!). End of taps, shower screens, toilets done properly - as in really trully clean.

I watched two Eastern European men cleaning skirting boards in a disgusting student let. Bloody eye opener. They lay down, locked legs and rotated round the room, took about 2 minutes. A gang of 4 of them took 6 hours to clean a disgusting 5-bed student let and it was immaculate. The agent block booked them on the spot!

To let all you renters into a Clerky secret - if your extractor vents and cooker hoods are clean we completely relax about the cleaning standard! But if you make us have to touch a disgustingly greasy extractor hood we will recommend a 'sparkle clean' - a professional to go back in and do all the usual places as a minimum!

Oversensitivity disclaimer - not the op. After my rental got cuckooed a few years back ( if you buy drugs look it up and then give yourself a talkIng to..) and the main filth had been dealt with by five trips to the tip, it certainly did take some time to clean the solidified food off walls and floor. Complete repaint and new carpets throughout. For some reason the toilet was clean, the only thing that was. Small mercies.

The only appliance in the kitchen was the oven/hob and that took hours to sort. Once it was back in more or less normal shape, I looked up the military 'march out' standard and took it to that. Worth doing as it revealed all the fag ends stuffed in the window edges, the muck when no one ever cleans cooker hood filters, the aforementioned filthy skirtings and so on.

I would not expect an outgoing tenant to do that - but that is the standard of really clean.

The reason I'm objecting to paying as well is that previous tenants didn't have to pay; it was done last time by the estate agents.

How do you know the cost wasn't taken from their deposit?

I’d always give a place a thorough clean when I move it but I’m always really shocked when landlords don’t get a professional clean done between tenants as standard. It only costs a few hundred quid, every couple of years or however often your tenants change over, and I would see it as part of the general upkeep and maintenance you’d expect to pay for as a landlord.

@cupsofcoffee because the flat was empty for weeks before I moved in; the tenants would have got their deposit back before the clean was done. The only reason a clean was done is because I made it a condition of my moving in after seeing how dirty it was during the inventory inspection. It's not a clause in the tenancy agreement. The professionals didn't do that great a job - the vents etc. were still dirty when I moved in

I cleaned the oven, skirting boards etc. last week so I only really need to check the hob extractor fan and so on, thanks for the tips everyone!

Even though it wasn't cleaned until you kicked up a fuss, as it was professionally cleaned you really have to clean it to the same standard at the very least!

@CuriousaboutSamphire

I am an inventory clerk. Just thought I'd start there 😊

The term 'professional standard' has no real meaning and the deposit schemes have said they don't like it. They want good, acceptable, fair, poor - the opinion of the clerk at the time.

So you would never have the obligation to have have a professional clean unless your contract specifically says so and even then it's frowned upon.

So clean it well and gather up any correspondence you had at the start.

Please remember the cook extractor hood, the soap tray and door seal on the washing machine, door seal on fridge/freezer 😊

Carpets are the other bugbear. Final vacuum after any DIY clean will pick up the last bits. But they, and the oven, are areas a pro clean make a big difference.

Great advice, passed on to DD who is moving soon. Could I also add shower screen/door seals and the filter in the shower plug, if there is one. They get mingin’. As soon as she told me they had found a place I said ‘Book the oven cleaner!’. I don’t want the job to fall to me at the last minute.

You don't know that it wasn't taken off their deposit. Can easily be months to get deposit back

It doesn't matter who paid for the pro clean.

Whatever the last tenant did or didn't do is bugger all to do with you, OP.

I don't understand why you think it is in anyway relevant.

Read the terms of your contract to see what exit- demands you signed up to.

If you agreed to professional cleaning and don't get it done, the agent will arrange professional cleaners and deduct the cost from your deposit.

Which is probably what happened to the tenant before you.

There's no clause about professional cleaning in my contract. Just that "the oven should be in the same state as upon moving in". Well...it is!