Tenancy inspection today - can they say anything about a messy house?

[YorkshirePuddingBelongs]

I have a tenancy inspection this afternoon - my landlord is a nasty prick, his DD is doing the inspection. It’s a long story but he’s been awful, sending me harassing emails, making threats and breaking the Tenancy Fees Act as well as his part of the tenancy agreement. I move next month, thank god, but he’s 100% out to get me - and I think he has likely briefed his DD to look for problems.

There is no damage in the house bar a scuff or 2 on the walls (it’s an old house with tiny narrow staircases and this was from carrying the bed up - he’s seen them before and said it’s fine it always gets scuffed). But we’ve been going through some stuff and I haven’t had time to spring clean line I always do. I have a horrible feeling she will comment on the mess. It’s mostly things like the bathtub and shower needs a clean, the kids’ rooms need a hoover etc. but I KNOW they will be looking for problems because they’ve heavily hinted at it, sending me messages about “if there’s damage you haven’t reported you will be liable for the costs” etc.

Some of the people on this thread really are total pricks.

OP, are you regretting asking?

I know I would be

Sounds like the agent was working for the landlord there (as they are supposed to!). Landlords can’t just decide to “rake back money” because they want you to do something they aren’t entitled to have you do. They can only keep money from your deposit if you have left the property in a state that allows them to.

OP might find it better to get the carpet cleaned and save any hassle or argument on that one point (though it sounds like her landlord is going to get arsey with her no matter what she does), she might find it better to spend the least possible, counter any claim and let the TDS decide. Neither you nor I can decide what would be better for the OP, it’s up to her.

Last time i'm engaging with you. you can sit in your martyrdom of tenancy.

Even OP has been told to remove the scuffs you swore didn't have to be.

They're called ACT - they are the benchmark for quality inventory services in surrey https://www.actproperty.co.uk/ and do all my check in and check out's. And yes I chose not to pursue part of the deposit even if I was told I could. As I said , I thought the things flagged imho were minor, they were lovely tenants, saved up for a deposit and I was very excited to see them buy their own place.

Luckily I have far nicer tenants than you. Good luck to your LL!

And case law no matter how old can be precedent. Educate yourself. The ignorance and confidence is astonishing and embarrassing in equal measure.

And good night!

And that’s fine if they want to but it’s not required and not something I’ll be spending money on

I actually never said bat any point that I have a dirty bathroom. You’ve either imagined that or made it up entirely. Probably the latter considering everything I’ve written is in black and white

The way you’re talking it’s like I said my bathroom was covered in faeces. When did I say the shower floor was dirty?

I think you’re being very obtuse, I mentioned I showered and washed my hair so for then you to say my “poor personal hygiene” was affecting my DD doesn’t make sense - it’s almost like you just said it to stick the boot in for shits and giggles.

Either way it sounds like you are projecting hygiene anxiety onto others. Good luck with doing better

My LL will no doubt get arsey if the carpets are professionally cleaned but thankfully my own substantial deposit doesn’t depend on him, it’s a decision for the deposit scheme. So I’m not going to fork out for something expensive when a good clean myself will do

Nah. It’s been entertaining and has shown some posters for the twats they are. I can cope with that.

If anyone would like to report me to social services though just PM for my info

WTF is Martyrdom of tenancy 🤣 is it a missing wonder of the world?

I’ve been told to clean perfectly clean carpets too - someone having the good fortune to rent their house out to a tenant isn’t some don’t of wisdom. Just because a LL demands something it doesn’t mean they have the right to do so.

FYI if we’re taking about embarrasment - don’t claim a company instructed by a LL is ever ‘neutral’.

The inventory company was paid 50/50 LL & Tenant. And yes they are neutral. Bashing your LL to me is bizarre- I don't know him, although I feel very sorry for him if you're always this combative.

May I suggest you go and tend to your daughter's 'poor' mental health. And clean your house too, scuffs, carpet and all. Good luck with LL and check out;-)

Nasty.

Yep.

As pathetic as that attempt at a dig was it’s a bit embarrassing as my DD is fast asleep and probably wouldn’t appreciate me waking her - nice try though l, but I really don’t need advice on parenting off a rather hard-of-thinking half-wit.

No wonder LLs get a bad reputation. I didn’t realise so many were deluded little crooks

I’m sorry you’re going through a hard time. Don’t worry about the house, as long as you aren’t causing any damage (beyond normal wear and tear) and it’s clean when you move out, he can’t deduct anything from your deposit. It’s not up to your LL to dictate how often you clean the bathroom.

Idk about everyone else but when I say my shower need a clean I mean the shower doors have hard water build up and need a good scrubbing. I don't tend to stay on top of that as much. Doesn't mean it's filthy dirty and covered in hair and you can't stand in it and get clean.

Yea that’s what I mean.

Bot sure why everyone is acting like my shower is covered in mushrooms and mud.

This thread makes incredible reading. I'm very glad that most of the sanctimonious/ judgemental people aren't actually landlords themselves.

So the daughter turned up - what did she say about this alleged rainwater problem? Did she make any effort to inspect the roof/ guttering/ drainage etc?

Nope!

And because I’m being a grumpy bellend at the moment due to marriage issues I did say “So are there any rainwater problems?”. She said no and I pointed out she hadn’t looked outside. So she went in the yard and pretended To know what she was doing 🤣

Gosh this thread is madness.

OP your home sounds perfectly normal and like 50% of the countries (they probably just wouldn’t admit it on mumsnet)!

Unless your contract says you have to pay for the carpets to be cleaned don’t do it. If it does say professionally clean or about carpets I would ask for the receipt to show it was done before you moved in.

In my last rental I just booked a cleaner for 5 hours for a ‘deep’ clean which came to about £70 or so. The professional ones are a rip off - although they are definitely not £600 and I’m in London so not sure how big the pp’s mansion is!

If needed you could paint over the scuffs yourself with a little tester pot. However, it’s wear & tear so not needed.

Your landlord sounds like a complete cowboy /prick. I would ask him to send over the certificates to show when your boiler was last serviced and electricals tested if things get messy.

@Myfabby how shocking of you to mock a child’s poor mental health. Are you this unkind in real life or do you just save it for the internet?

@YorkshirePuddingBelongs this is one of those mad MN threads that has left me shaking my head and wondering if I’ve fallen asleep and entered another dimension. Just for the record, as a fully sane person, they are all bonkers and not you. I think the answer would be to never use any of the facilities you pay for in the house for which you pay a handsome rent? Chance of getting globules of conditioner on the shower screen? No sirree! Just refrain! Forget about washing that hair. Bonkers, I tell you!

I know this thread has gone weird but I have an inspection today. And honestly this is what the agent has sent me. This is why tenants can feel a bit put out by these inspections. If I went into the agents home would ot be spotless?

This agent is actually ok (but do inspect my oven - which is spotless!) and the landlord is absolutely great - a bit fussy but really looks after the house and leaves me to get on with it.

This seems complete,y reasonable to me and even explains why they are looking for these things. The state of the agents house is completely irrelevant. 🤷‍♀️

Yes I do see what you mean. But why a high standard of cleanliness? Is that realistic? When I moved out of my last place, I was instructed to make it look like nobody had lived there. I just think it's unrealistic and OTT.

And I think I meant why should a tenant be held to a much higher standard than someone else? Not damaging the property or neglecting it of course - but why does my oven need to be such a high standard? (The oven in this property is very clean but has been installed wrongly so that food gets stuck down the side)

This is just what responsible people do to maintain their home, whether it's rented or not.

It's just basic adulting. Shame it has to spelled out

Because if somebody wants to neglect their own home that is up to them, it only impacts them. What is hard to understand here? 🙄

The property a tenant lives in IS their home. HTH