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AIBU?

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Original poster

Landlord charging for a deep clean

182 replies

Mamma182838 · 18/10/2025 08:52

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?

OP posts:
DeftWasp · 18/10/2025 11:11

Mamma182838 · 18/10/2025 10:59

Another example - we made a subtle improvement to the property and this has now worn down but it still works as
intended. It’s not a permanent improvement and can be removed without any damage in a few seconds. Landlord is charging us because it’s worn down which we obviously don’t agree with. (They probably don’t realise we added it in the first place and in hindsight we should have just taken it off when we left but it’s the kind of thing that’s easily overlooked.)

How can we make these kind of specific arguments to DPS? The inventory shows that it’s worn down and needs to be fixed but there’s nothing to show that it was not there in the first place.

What was the improvement?

If it removes without leaving any damage / holes etc. then that should not be a problem.

If however it leaves screw holes et. then you could be charged for a handyman to make good.

Rogerthat14 · 18/10/2025 11:15

Mamma182838 · 18/10/2025 11:04

Because it can still be used and we overlooked it, as I said in my post.

Yours replies are provocative and unhelpful so I’m just going ignore you now.

Show quote history

And your replies are sketchy, vague and abstract.

Not surprising given you didn’t see the property post clean.

BigDeepBreaths · 18/10/2025 11:21

Have you asked the landlord for a copy of the evidence and cost of the deep clean prior to you moving in? He shouldnt be charging you more then that (give or take a bit for inflation) if the property was otherwise left in good order.

WaltzingWaters · 18/10/2025 11:22

I think it depends what state it was in when you moved in. If it was spotless and ready to go, I’d pay for a deep clean. If not, absolutely not.
The rental we were in for 6 months asked for a professional deep clean. I said not a chance as it was filthy and I spent ages literally scrubbing banisters, walls, skirting boards, kitchen sides and cupboards etc when we moved in. I had kept photos to show them the state when we moved in. We left it a hell of a lot cleaner than when we moved in but not a chance I was paying for a professional clean!

skyeisthelimit · 18/10/2025 11:39

The LL needs to provide evidence of his loss or financial cost. DPS generally come down on the side of the tenant if the LL is being unreasonable.

However, a valuable lesson to take from this, is to take photos of everything yourself, every single carpet stain, or chipped pain etc, or to thouroughly check an inventory and if anything is missed off, do not sign it until they have added the missing photos.

Regarding the actual cleaning, you should have probably checked it yourself before handing the keys back, just to be sure it was ok. You can't argue yourself , that it was fine, if you don't know that it was.

DeftWasp · 18/10/2025 11:42

It sounds like there are many issues here, not just the cleaning, its grown to a trashed garden and worn out DIY - you have to wonder if the landlord has a point here.

aodirjjd · 18/10/2025 11:43

Mamma182838 · 18/10/2025 10:30

I can see online that the property is no longer available to rent so it may have new tenants now.

So for example carpet cleaning has been included as part of the deep clean. I disagree with this, carpets were all upstairs, we didn’t have any spills or eat on them, we vacuumed as usual and they were in a very tired state anyway, but it means that if it was discoloured here or there before we moved in it wasn’t captured in a photo. I didn’t photograph every single bit of it and neither did the inventory. So this charge I would definitely disagree with - how would DPS separate it from the rest?

Show quote history

if they haven’t shown any pictures of a stain you’ve created they won’t be able to charge for this. It’s up to them to prove it wasn’t there before as well it’s not for you to defend.

honestly please stop stressing yourself just reply saying you don’t agree with charges an you’d like to go through arbitration scheme. I’d put £50 on you getting all your money back.

BoredZelda · 18/10/2025 11:50

If your husband missed some things, consistently, as a landlord I’d assume he hadn’t done a good enough job overall. I would want it done professionally. But, as they can’t ask you to do it, I’d do it myself and just adjust rental costs to cover it over the period. It’s only a couple of hundred pounds.

PinkyFlamingo · 18/10/2025 11:51

Apart from top of doors you still haven't said what was missed, you clearly are avoiding that question so you obviously have something to hide

NoWordForFluffy · 18/10/2025 11:54

PinkyFlamingo · 18/10/2025 11:51

Apart from top of doors you still haven't said what was missed, you clearly are avoiding that question so you obviously have something to hide

There's some serious vague-booking going on!

seaelephant · 18/10/2025 12:08

Mine charged for a deep clean despite me being on hands and knees scrubbing top to bottom for 2 days. I've heard it's pretty standard, might as well fleece your tenant for a bit of extra cash at the last hurdle.

ittakes2 · 18/10/2025 13:47

We are long term renters and have had to do two end of tenancy cleans in the last 18 months.
Except mentioning the tops of doors - you have not said what cleaning was questioned in the inventory.
I can say though that legally you only need to do two things - a) clean the house to the level you found it in and b) clean it to a professional standard rather than have it cleaned professionally.
The tenant is innocent until proven guilty by the landlord - they would need to show photos of the standard of the house when you moved in and photos of why they think it needs a professional clean. Our professional cleaners forgot a few bits on one property and we were charged to clean those bits but not the whole house. I would as you are doing leave it for the deposit scheme to decide.

APTPT · 18/10/2025 13:51

Fairyliz · 18/10/2025 10:17

In my DC’s experience landlords always charge for a deep clean at the end of the tenancy, but never actually have it done as all the places they have moved into have been a bit dirty.

Yep. Scummy landlords pocketing the cash are absolutely the norm.

If we rent again I will certainly document with timestamps every little thing that shows it wasn't clean when we moved in.

IRememberWhenThisWasAllFieldsAndCakePunching · 18/10/2025 13:59

I run a cleaning company. We do end of tenancy cleans fairly regularly, the most recent one was this week. The tenant swore blind that she had cleaned everything before she left and it was fairly clean on a surface level, but as soon as we started digging it became clear that it hadn’t been deep cleaned. We pulled everything out, skirting boards, sink drains, there was cat hair deep in the oven and the hinges of microwaves and cupboards etc. we ended up being there for a total of ten hours.

I don’t doubt at all that your husband cleaned the property, but professional cleaning is different to every day living cleaning, if that makes sense.

Yesitsmeimback · 18/10/2025 14:06

HavingYouTubeDoesntMakeYouAFilmmaker · 18/10/2025 09:52

So much terrible advice on this thread.

  1. check your tenancy agreement for the relevant clause to see what you actually need to do. Professional standard? Same state? No cleaning clause?
  2. wait until landlord makes a claim against your deposit, then dispute it
  3. it is up to the LL to prove the ‘loss’ ie show before & after pics to prove it is dirtier than when you moved in. If they can’t, no deposit awarded. If they can, the DPS will determine a fair amount of money

in practical terms, stop engaging with the LL and request the return of your deposit. That kick starts the process and you should get an email from the DPS telling you the LL wants to deduct £X and do you agree. Refuse and then let the system there to protect you do its job.

DO NOT agree a side deal - the DPS is stacked in favour of the tenant.

@Mamma182838 read this and do this

Yesitsmeimback · 18/10/2025 14:17

Sorry just seen you have 😁

Rogerthat14 · 18/10/2025 15:00

NoWordForFluffy · 18/10/2025 11:54

There's some serious vague-booking going on!

Show quote history

Yep

The DH is “generally” ok at cleaning

They “improved” something which has “worn away” and would take “a few seconds to remove”. But cagey on what this “improvement” was

OP did not see the property post clean

and the “issues”…. Well, shared one but that’s all we’re getting.

So I think we can be fairly confident, the DH left it in a pretty poor filthy state

HavingYouTubeDoesntMakeYouAFilmmaker · 18/10/2025 15:30

Mamma182838 · 18/10/2025 10:08

Thank you, I appreciate the advice. We’re at 3) now with the DPS. As you say it says agree/don’t agree, so I guess there’s nothing we can do now except wait for a decision to be made?

Re the charge listed in DPS for deep cleaning, how does the DPS determine a fair fee?

Show quote history

Yes, just wait. The onus is on the LL to prove anything that falls under an acceptable deduction, and then to evidence a reasonable cost. If it gets to the stage of discussing cost, you can then argue whether their full clean including carpets is reasonable (unlikely to need to - DPS will know what’s reasonable).

LL cannot withhold deposit for fair wear and tear - so whatever your mystery improvement is, they can’t charge for it being worn down. If they can prove you installed it without permission, they could charge for putting it back to how it was - but without photos they probably can’t prove anything.

LL cannot also not charge for betterment - ie to improve something like charging you for a shower screen to replace a mouldy curtain.

Finally, even if something is damaged and needs to be replaced / repaired, the age of the item is taken into account. So say you had stained the 5 year old carpet, and it needed to be replaced - they can’t charge you full price, they can only charge you for what a 5 year old carpet is deemed to be worth. Items are generally given a lifespan of 7 years.

loads of info here: www.depositprotection.com/learning-centre/disputes/in-disputes-be-fair

Welshmonster · 18/10/2025 15:35

My friend is a professional cleaner and has her own business. Did it herself. LL tried to charge for professional clean as it said on check in there was a clean. She didn’t have to pay

Paulafernalia · 18/10/2025 15:50

Mamma182838 · 18/10/2025 09:04

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

Show quote history

I was in your shoes 5 years ago, OP. We cleaned before we left but we missed a few things. They gave us a list of areas that were not clean to their standards. It was things like washing machine soap tray and dust on skirting boards. We disputed the £300 for a deep clean. We argued that the bits they listed could be cleaned in an hour, being super generous. We asked for a few quotes locally and attached the quotes and offered to cover £50. The mediator sided with us and they could only keep £50. This was in England.

Original poster
Mamma182838 · 18/10/2025 15:54

NoWordForFluffy · 18/10/2025 11:54

There's some serious vague-booking going on!

Show quote history

I don’t want to be specific in case the parties in question are on here!

OP posts:
Rogerthat14 · 18/10/2025 15:56

Mamma182838 · 18/10/2025 15:54

I don’t want to be specific in case the parties in question are on here!

Show quote history

And?

If the other party is on here, what would be the consequences of you conveying what the actual issues are to get more relevant advice?

Original poster
Mamma182838 · 18/10/2025 15:57

IRememberWhenThisWasAllFieldsAndCakePunching · 18/10/2025 13:59

I run a cleaning company. We do end of tenancy cleans fairly regularly, the most recent one was this week. The tenant swore blind that she had cleaned everything before she left and it was fairly clean on a surface level, but as soon as we started digging it became clear that it hadn’t been deep cleaned. We pulled everything out, skirting boards, sink drains, there was cat hair deep in the oven and the hinges of microwaves and cupboards etc. we ended up being there for a total of ten hours.

I don’t doubt at all that your husband cleaned the property, but professional cleaning is different to every day living cleaning, if that makes sense.

Thanks, I do appreciate that.

OP posts:
Original poster
Mamma182838 · 18/10/2025 16:00

Lots of helpful and reassuring advice, thank you.

OP posts:
Original poster
Mamma182838 · 18/10/2025 16:07

HavingYouTubeDoesntMakeYouAFilmmaker · 18/10/2025 15:30

Yes, just wait. The onus is on the LL to prove anything that falls under an acceptable deduction, and then to evidence a reasonable cost. If it gets to the stage of discussing cost, you can then argue whether their full clean including carpets is reasonable (unlikely to need to - DPS will know what’s reasonable).

LL cannot withhold deposit for fair wear and tear - so whatever your mystery improvement is, they can’t charge for it being worn down. If they can prove you installed it without permission, they could charge for putting it back to how it was - but without photos they probably can’t prove anything.

LL cannot also not charge for betterment - ie to improve something like charging you for a shower screen to replace a mouldy curtain.

Finally, even if something is damaged and needs to be replaced / repaired, the age of the item is taken into account. So say you had stained the 5 year old carpet, and it needed to be replaced - they can’t charge you full price, they can only charge you for what a 5 year old carpet is deemed to be worth. Items are generally given a lifespan of 7 years.

loads of info here: www.depositprotection.com/learning-centre/disputes/in-disputes-be-fair

Show quote history

@HavingYouTubeDoesntMakeYouAFilmmaker
If it gets to the stage of discussing cost, you can then argue whether their full clean including carpets is reasonable

@Paulafernalia
The mediator sided with us and they could only keep £50.

I’m a little unsure about what happens after saying I dispute the charges. I thought the DPS just makes a decision, but it sounds like it goes to a mediator and we can then make arguments for reasonable costs? And that’s where our evidence and quotes for deep cleans will come in?

OP posts: