Agent telling me to do washing up...

[PercyPigfangirl]

Advice please. Had flat inspection today, I was not able to attend due to work however ensured flat was generally tidy. Hoovered etc. Had a few friends for dinner last night so there was some plates and cookery things by the sink for washing.

I've been emailed by the agent saying they want to talk to me as concerned about the cleanliness of the flat. I asked them to be more precise and they said the amount of washing that needs doing in the kitchen.

This was something I was not thinking would be any issue... Having some washing by the sink. I admit there was quite a bit due to having friends around but surely I am entitled to reasonable enjoyment of the property and having dishes to be cleaned has nothing to do with them. I would understand if it was something that could damage the property or a dirtiness issue.. but that flat was overall tidy. Don't know how to respond to them and if I've been entirely unreasonable here by not doing it?

God some people are bonkers on here.

I used to be a letting agent and there is no way overnight washing up would be a "red flag" or cause for concern in any way, shape or form. As I have common sense for a start

You are entitled to quiet enjoyment of the property generally in relation to access to the property in the first place so it shld be at your convenience not the agent.

We are looking for damage or danger to the fabric of the property. Overnight washing up is not remotely a potential hazard in attracting rats etc. The tenants' possessions are fuck all to do with the landlord so commenting on the state of their plates is intrusive as well as fucking stupid.

Saying that I once had a flat where the tenants' gave notice and were happy for some new photos of the replaced kitchen for marketing purposes. When I went in all their washing up was over the counters so I washed it up for the photos and stacked it in the drying rack (didn't go in their cupboards) thinking how nice it would be to get back and see your washing up done. They complained about me

Believe me a nights washing up is in no way the worse an agent will see in a property, in all types of areas. We have found guns, drugs, human shit and (sorry this is awful) dead bodies.

Good agents should have a sense of perspective as well as common sense. I have no hesitation in being very clear about this to any staff who moaned about a tenants washing up. And landlords too. It's actually a red flag for those landlords not the tenants.

You can't fathom? Bloody hell.

I'd ignore them. Letting agents are self important twats. The landlord can't kick you out for not washing up.

I genuinely would ignore them.

It is a bit weird to come into someone else house and clean up. It's overstepping your role.

Most tenants would prefer not to have letting agents in their homes full stop.

This thread has reminded me of how much I hate letting agents! Thankfully I don't rent anymore.

Ignore some of the complete over reactions of people here. I would reply in no uncertain terms that you find commenting on one nights washing up intrusive as it's irrelevant to the landlord's property. Gaining access to your home for any other reason than inspection of the property (and assessing your own possessions!) is a breach of your quiet enjoyment as well as invasion of privacy. I would actually ask for an apology and take it up the chain if you don't get one.

Hopefully this is an inexperienced member of staff who will be given more training. If I were their manager (although they would have been trained properly before being let loose in peoples' homes to start with) I would ask them to make a personal call to you to apologise and say they've taken it on board for the future.

I did mention to agent before the inspection the washing up and context. She emailed to confirm the inspection and I replied saying I was sorry I couldn't attend due to work and that hope everything would be to their satisfaction. I mentioned it in that email the morning of.

@kirinm I would never enter unless a tenant not only gave permission but were genuinely OK with it. I would never have put their plates away in cupboards as that would have been intrusive but thought washing up for someone would make them happy (I'd bloody love if someone did that )

I did ring to apologise as they didn't feel the same.

I doubt the landlord knows they're doing this sort of stuff.

In my last two rentals (London) I had to complain to the landlord about the agents. In one place my landlord had decided to sell and I had the agents letting themselves in to viewers. But their letting agent side was also insisting on showing potential viewers around. We ended up in a serious dispute with the agents and the landlord said she wouldn't use them again.

And in the other one the landlords changed the lock without telling us, tried to blame us for the floor buckling - it has been improperly fitted, breaking a door that was on the moving in inventory as broken. We fought them on the deposit over a plant that had died.

I appreciate you were doing it so you could get decent photographs and you thought it was a nice thing. I would definitely think it was odd if I sell my place and the estate agent cleans up!

And most tenants accept letting agents in because they are worried about the consequences of not allowing it.

If landlords can’t wait to evict their tenants on the flimsiest of whims then why are they renting it out in first place? Unless their aim is to have a tenant turnover every six months so they can raise the rent (which would be unrealistic) then why not just value the tenant they have (if they aren’t out and out trashing the place)?

It is a bit weird to come into someone else house and clean up. It's overstepping your role.

Presumably you missed the reason they were there? Try rereading the beginning of the post.

@kirinm I forgot to say that not all agents are knobheads, some of us are actually lovely

Funnily enough when those tenants moved in I helped them assemble an IKEA dressing table as the Allen key was (of course, fucking IKEA) was missing and I kept a toolbox in my car. It took about an hour (fucking IKEA) I did feel a bitter when they complained about me but I still apologised

Yes they were there to take photographs. Doesn't make it any less weird. It's not the letting agents home.

Yea this is a huge overreaction. I’m a landlord and it’s a total pain in the arse getting new tenants in, and expensive too.

id much rather have long term tenants than regularly changing ones, let alone the hassle of evicting someone for a stupid reason like some plates being left on the counter (which really isn’t a concern).

I'm sure they aren't all twats. Unfortunately my most recent experiences (7 years ago or so) were.

The issue is rightly or wrongly, you feel like letting agents have a lot of power over your life. People don't feel comfortable challenging them because they can ultimately be kicked out / not have their contract renewed.

You can see that the OP is panicked because the letting agent wants to 'talk' to her.

Oh dear I hope I haven't caused another WashingUpFightClub on someone else's thread 

@Onnabugeisha a landlord would be extremely unlikely to evict for something like this as they have to pay a relet fee and the hassle of new tenants, possible void periods, current tenant not paying rent for last month etc. I would be wary of acting for a landlord who did this and strongly advise against it.

I also wouldn't employ someone who didn't have a sensible attitude and sense of proportion as well as the legal knowledge of quiet enjoyment etc

This sort of thing shows that it is really time for reform in the rental sector - people should have the right to live in their own home without inspections; have the right to have pets; have the right to re-decorate and have long-term rental contracts which mean they can't be booted out. Basically, tenants should be able to move in and then be left alone until they want to move out.

Like the German and Austrian system. There are some issues with that such as many rental contracts being a minimum of 3 years although you are allowed to sub-let to someone else if you want or need to move out before hand. For the landlord it can be an issue if they want to sell, but very often properties are sold with a sitting tenant.
The other issue is that often the property comes without a kitchen installed!!! Which means you have to install one but can take it with you when you leave. What usually happens though is that you can buy the kitchen from the previous tenants and leave it in place.
However, you can have pets, you can decorate (but have to put it back to a neutral scheme when you leave), can hang pictures etc, and you get fucking left alone without having someone coming round once every 6 months looking down their noses at your dirty dishes or complaining about dust on the tops of doors.

Always take photos of everything before the inspection and always take photos when you leave a rented property for good. This is to cover you for any crap letting agents or landlords try to pull, I speak from experience.

And.... this is why we scraped a deposit so we didn't have to rent any more.

Try keeping a house tidy to this level with little children around. It's ridiculous. The inspection should be about whether you've damaged the building, not whether you've done your washing up.

It's appalling what renters are subjected to in this country.

Things I have learned on mumsnet:

Never answer the door unless the caller has an appointment.
Towels are to be changed and washed 10 times a day.
Bedding washed after one use.
And now that dirty dishes should be snatched up and washed the ssecond the last fork full of food is in the eaters mouth because there is a queue of rats and other pests waiting to move in instantly.

They really need to put that in their T&Cs.

No smoking
No pets
No leaving dishes overnight

section 21 notices are - thankfully - in the process of being abolished.

This sort of thing is why.

Leaving dishes in the sink for one night is a normal part of life, sometimes it happens. Some people have medical conditions that sometimes flare up rendering it very difficult to do chores so they leave them until they feel better (e.g. migraines) - is that ok?

What if a renter had an accident when there were dirty dishes and had to go to A&E, would it be ok to leave them then or would they have to do the dishes first?

Landlords are not slave owners, renters are still able to make decisions about how they live, including when they do their washing up.

OP, never have an inspection again without you being there - if this is difficult to arrange because you work, all the better.

You haven't done anything wrong and you even mentioned the context in an email. They're bullying you.

Surely they’re lucky you’re even allowing viewings?