Landlord charging for a deep clean

[Mamma182838]

We moved out of rental. DH cleaned the house after we left and generally he does a good job but he missed a handful of specific things that were picked up in the check.

Landlord wants to charge for a full deep clean. Is that fair? How do we dispute it? Do we approach a cleaning agency and say x, y, z needs to be cleaned, how much would this. be, and go back to the landlord with the quote, or cleaners not work this way?

What were the things that got missed and the landlord has raised?

generally he does a good job but he missed a handful of specific things that were picked up in the check.

I suspect you are underplaying how much he “missed”. By a long shot

Ask DPS or whichever agency holds your deposit.

And get a couple of quotes for end of tenancy cleaning

Check your tenancy agreement. Mine states that a professional clean is to be done upon check out

Most tenancy agreements require houses to be cleaned to a professional standard between tenants. If stuff got picked up, then the landlord will arrange to have a professional clean done and it will come out of your deposit.

Sounds like you agree some stuff was missed so I don’t know how you’ll dispute it. Cleaners won’t come in and do bits and pieces, they’ll do the whole lot.

If you didn't do a full end of tenancy deep clean before you left (and that much is pretty obvious from your post), then it's entirely fair.

I paid rent on two flats for three weeks when I moved and allowing time to go in and do a full deep clean once everything was gone was part of the reason why. I also had to do one in my new flat because it was fucking minging and nobody had bothered, so that was nice .

I think paying for a deep clean is quite normal at the end of a rental contract, isn’t it? It’s supposed to match how it was when you moved in terms of cleanliness. If you’re doing it yourself it has to be up to standard, with pictures to prove it.

It’s pretty obvious from your post that it wasn’t a deep clean.

When we moved out of a flat, we had paid for a deep clean, thinking it was better than us trying to do a professional job, but they were crap. We had the cost of another clean taken out of our deposit (we managed to dispute everything else he wanted, but not that!)

I agree with checking the tenancy agreement- most say it must be a professional clean and request receipts. What bits were missed?

It is illegal for a tenancy to insist on a professional clean but the property should be left in the condition it was found minus fair west and tear.

so you are liable to pay for those specific things that were missed. Perhaps get a quote for that and if you think what the landlord is asking you to pay is unreasonable, dispute it with the Deposit Protection Scheme.

The good news is that as long as you've put that on the inventory / have time-stamped photos / a record of you telling the landlord, you can leave it in the same state you found it in (or at least not break your back to clean it!).

We have the inventory check - you can list the number of things on hand but what he missed is consistent throughout the house.

Did you actually see the property post your DH’s “clean”?

Agreed. I don't know anyone who has ever left a rented property who hasn't paid for a professional clean it's pretty standard and means things don't get missed which has evidently happened here.

Since 2019, you cannot be made to pay for a professional clean, but it can be a requirement that it's cleaned to a professional standard, if that's what it was like when you moved in. You're obliged to return it to the same state in which you found it. I've spent over 20 years in rentals from age 19 onwards, and only one had been cleaned at move-in! Never paid for a clean, nor been asked to, it's really not standard.

I never paid for a professional clean when I left rented. I'm capable of that standard myself.

Unfortunately, landlords and letting agencies are well known to be absolute dickheads over this of late. One of ours got a professional snagger with a macro camera to photograph stupid things like down the sink overflow (mouldy when we moved in) and a couple of hairs on the floor. Just so they could try to charge us £1400 for a cleaning fee. They never even did the clean, we went round for the post and no one had cleaned that sink overflow or inside the light fittings that had black specks when we moved in! MNers hate tenants though so no one will believe you. Take it to the TDS asap and don’t agree to pay anything until they decide. We got it down to £120 in the end because TDS agreed it was wildly unreasonable.

Landlords can no longer insist on a professional clean at the end of a tenancy.
They can only require it to be returned in the same condition it was rented to you in.

Just dispute it via the TDS, they are very fair and won’t entertain inflated charges.

Well to be fair, the landlord asked if I wanted the keys two weeks earlier than I was expecting because the previous tenant had left unexpectedly earlier that day, so I just got on with it!

But yes; while I won't leave it as I found it, I won't be breaking my back either

I understand what everyone is saying and I wish we had paid for a deep clean now. We have done a mix of paying for deep cleans and doing it ourselves in previous properties and had no issues.

This was not a fresh renovation, it is a super old house, everything was already worn down, chipped, nicked, rusted - we didn’t notice it all when we moved in. The landlord had clearly done a lot of the build himself as over time we could see it was a bit crap - could feel nails through the carpet, bits were coming apart.

But yes I take people’s point.

Good. So go back and enquire whether LL will arrange deep clean and you pay
or you arrange and pay

either way - accepting you pay

Just dispute it via the TDS, they are very fair and won’t entertain inflated charges.

How would you recommend we dispute it? Do we need to provide lots of evidence, like getting quotes of the cost to wipe down the specific surfaces?

This is illegal.

"In the past, some landlords included clauses in their tenancy agreements requiring residents to hire a professional cleaning service to ensure their property was returned to its original state when they moved out.
This is now illegal under the Tenant Fees Act and you can be fined up to £5,000 for including such a clause. "

https://evo-pm.com/insights/end-of-tenancy-cleaning-laws-uk-a-guide-for-housing-associations/

https://proptech.tenancydepositscheme.com/asktds-do-i-need-to-professionally-clean-the-property-at-the-end-of-the-tenancy/

You don't have to pay for a deep clean @Mamma182838 - I never have.

But you or whoever is doing it does need to be able to clean properly; I swept, scrubbed, descaled and polished every inch of mine before I left because there was no way I was losing a £2.5K deposit for the sake of some hard work. And I didn't.

My deep clean involved skirting boards , tops of doors , kitchen cupboards and top of cupboards , clean oven to sparkling , move white goods to clean under . Clean radiators . Floors . Same to bedrooms , same to bathrooms . Clean Windows . Tidy garden .
Basically how you'd want it when you move in .
Take photos to prove cleanliness .

https://www.totallandlordinsurance.co.uk/knowledge-centre/ultimate-landlords-guide-to-fair-wear-and-tear

https://www.tenancydepositscheme.com/asktds-what-is-fair-wear-and-tear-in-a-rental-property/