Page 6 | Landlord charging for a deep clean

Mamma182838 · 2025-10-18T07:52:50+00:00

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?

Friendlygingercat · 18/10/2025 16:14

Charging for a professional clean is a tax dedutable business expense. I suspect that after having rinsed the tenant many landlords do exactly this kind of double dipping, ptherwise known as fraud. Unless there are a full set of photos for check in its worth disputing as the LL has no way then to prove condition when you moved in.

Blablibladirladada · 18/10/2025 18:13

You can’t win honestly, there is always kinda a deep clean on the charge if the tenants.

By all mean, check they don’t charge you over but agency would have good contacts and good price so it should’nt take all your secured money.

Be nice about it so they don’t make it difficult for you.

Irritatedandsad · 18/10/2025 18:31

We moved out of a rental and cleaned it ourselves but i also paid for a cleaner for 4 hours to help me so it wasnt a proper deep clean but it was super clean. We also paid for a proper oven clean. They were going to charge 400 for the deep clean but with the receipt for the cleaner and the oven clean receipt we agreed on 150.
I think you can negotiate if you think the clean was good enough but missed some bits. I would definitely negotiate if you do really think you did a good enough clean that say only 50 percent needs a redo then start with that

McGregor33 · 18/10/2025 18:47

I think it all depends on the landlord, I’ve had one who didn’t require the house to be cleaned etc or returned to how it was prior to moving out. Got the deposit back and all was fine. We did ofcourse clean and all decor was neutral.

Our next let the landlord was terrible and the estate agents even worse- infact our local council got involved and demanded the repairs to be done. They tried to charge us for a broken window. We had overlooked the window and it was actually on the inventory when we moved in so they’d argued they wouldn’t repair as we accepted the house with that. So that backed us up, the next thing they tried to claim for was the garden wasn’t upkept… there was literally nothing to upkeep. It was a concrete square 🤣

Then it was the house wasn’t cleaned. It was& I actually had pictures of when we first moved in of the deep clean I done and pictures that the loft was full of the previous tenants stuff. I mean the tops of the kitchen cupboards were so thick with grease and dust I really doubt they’d been cleaned since they’d been installed!

Safe to say we got our deposit back!

ARichtGoodDram · 18/10/2025 18:48

Blablibladirladada · 18/10/2025 18:13

You can’t win honestly, there is always kinda a deep clean on the charge if the tenants.

By all mean, check they don’t charge you over but agency would have good contacts and good price so it should’nt take all your secured money.

Be nice about it so they don’t make it difficult for you.

It's much less common for landlords to win on things like this now with the deposit protection schemes.

Which is exactly why they were set up.

ARichtGoodDram · 18/10/2025 18:49

To protect tenants from landlords who see deposits as their money to keep

saraclara · 18/10/2025 19:02

My tenants moved into a new build. They left it in an appalling state. I had to get cleaners/clearers in, and they said that they didn't know how the tenants could have lived like that. The garden had become a scrapyard so it cost a fortune to clear and dispose of it all.

I began the process of retaining the deposit (about a third of what it cost me to get the house and garden cleared and black mould removed etc) but the tenant kicked off big time and said they'd left it immaculate.

Thanks to the incompetence of the agent, there are no before photos or an inventory, so despite me having photos of the tip they left, and proof that they were the first to live in a new build, I didn't have a cat in hell's chance of the DPS retaining the deposit.

Say yes, the DPS definitely favours the tenant.

KittyEckersley · 18/10/2025 19:04

I’ve always cleaned myself and never had anything taken out of my deposit for cleaning. On the last tenancy, the professional snagger said I’d missed the filters of the extraction fan. I was pretty annoyed I’d missed it but they didn’t try to take any money from my deposit.

Bobbi73 · 18/10/2025 19:08

We’re on both sides of this as we rented out our house and moved to a new area, renting a house there. Our house was freshly painted and immaculate when they moved in and now they have moved out it is dirty and looking run down. We are going to have to have it professionally cleaned, including steam cleaning the carpets.
the house we’re renting will be professionally cleaned and carpets steam cleaned before we move out as I don’t want to lose my deposit. It’s just the right thing to do.

ARichtGoodDram · 18/10/2025 19:13

Thanks to the incompetence of the agent, there are no before photos or an inventory, so despite me having photos of the tip they left, and proof that they were the first to live in a new build, I didn't have a cat in hell's chance of the DPS retaining the deposit.

Say yes, the DPS definitely favours the tenant.

That's not them "favouring" the tenant though. That's just not allowing incompetent agents or the scuzz landlords who view deposits as theirs to keep the tenants money without proof.

ImagineImagine · 18/10/2025 20:18

I’m a landlord, I never stipulate a professional clean at the end of a tenancy. Not sure this is legal. But I do insist it’s as clean as the day the tenant moved in and I have pictures taken on move on day to prove condition of property.

saraclara · 18/10/2025 20:29

ARichtGoodDram · 18/10/2025 19:13

Thanks to the incompetence of the agent, there are no before photos or an inventory, so despite me having photos of the tip they left, and proof that they were the first to live in a new build, I didn't have a cat in hell's chance of the DPS retaining the deposit.

Say yes, the DPS definitely favours the tenant.

That's not them "favouring" the tenant though. That's just not allowing incompetent agents or the scuzz landlords who view deposits as theirs to keep the tenants money without proof.

I appreciate that they will have processes to ensure fairness. But all the same, anyone who saw my dated photos after they left, and had proof that they were the only tenants of a brand new house, would know that I'd had to spend thousands to just get it habitable* again.

*It would have needed complete redecoration and repairs to the kitchen to be let again, but I didn't do that or claim for it, as it was going on the market.

Jack80 · 18/10/2025 21:20

Ive always cleaned and any damage, holes in a wall from a shelf would be plastered, ive never paid for a clean as always cleaned it to standard.

blondiepigtails · 18/10/2025 21:28

HavingYouTubeDoesntMakeYouAFilmmaker · 18/10/2025 09:52

So much terrible advice on this thread.

check your tenancy agreement for the relevant clause to see what you actually need to do. Professional standard? Same state? No cleaning clause?
wait until landlord makes a claim against your deposit, then dispute it
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.

I’m a long term landlord. This is all the correct advice you need. Please take note of it.

huffdragon · 18/10/2025 21:30

Mamma182838 · 18/10/2025 09:40

I guess I feel like DH put in the hard work to scrubbing floors, bathrooms, white goods etc, and I feel bad it’s all for nothing because he missed the tops of doors which would take a minute to wipe down.

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I’ve lived in my house for 20 years and can honestly say I’ve never cleaned the top of the doors as it never occurred to me.

Misty333 · 18/10/2025 23:07

Leave the property as you would expect to find it. It is not fair on the landlord or the next tenant. My friend had a property and the tenant left it a disgusting. It took a professional cleaning nearly 3 days to get it cleaned up. And although the tenant didn’t receive her bond my friend was out of pocket as the bond was less than the bill for cleaning.

Nearly50omg · 19/10/2025 00:48

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?

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Point out that as there are now new tenants in to the property then the deep clean is not needed clearly?!?! The landlord is just looking for a handout of ££ as he’s not going to get it deep cleaned with the new tenants in is he?!!! The top of a door not being wiped is just petty and I don’t know any cleaning companies who do and of tenancies that actually do that! Our house smelt like a wheelie bin on a hot day when we moved in it was so disgusting and they had even left the rotting toilet brush with a litre of pooey water in the down stairs toilet 🤮🤢🤢 which was in the tenancy as a fixture and fitting!!! Sent a photo of it to the landlord and asked him if he wanted to keep it could he come and remove it or I could put it in the bin but it was so disgusting I wasn’t going to have it in the house - they just told me to to bin it 🤣

mondaytosunday · 19/10/2025 01:56

I’m a landlord and I pay for the end of tenancy clean.

YourOliveBalonz · 20/10/2025 08:15

Some years ago we paid for a professional clean at the end of a tenancy. The agent nit-picked over their clean and we got deductions from the deposit for more professional cleaning!

I’m very suspicious about these things, as in after taking your money does it actually get cleaned or is it in the landlord’s pocket and the next tenant gets the place in the same condition?

JDM625 · 20/10/2025 17:28

I’m very suspicious about these things, as in after taking your money does it actually get cleaned or is it in the landlord’s pocket and the next tenant gets the place in the same condition?

DH had a property he used to rent to students and the uni acted as the estate agent- organising deep cleans if necessary. One year, we went to inspect after the so called deep clean and it was filthy. Dust hanging off the lights, hair on the sofa and beds, mould in the washing machine and more. They said they'd send the cleaners back- but again, it was filthy.

DH and I ended up spending days cleaning it ourselves. I'm not saying all cleaners are terrible, but equally, not all LL's are.

WhataviewJ · 20/10/2025 19:05

Well this is all a bit sketchy on the detail!

So I’m going to guess that the property was left in a pretty shite state

Original poster

Mamma182838 · 20/10/2025 19:45

I won’t be baited into giving out more details. 🙄 As I said we got the inventory check back and most things were checked off fine but there were a couple of things missed. I’ll leave it there.

OP posts:

WhataviewJ · 20/10/2025 20:43

Mamma182838 · 20/10/2025 19:45

I won’t be baited into giving out more details. 🙄 As I said we got the inventory check back and most things were checked off fine but there were a couple of things missed. I’ll leave it there.

Fair enough
So not much point really to the thread because posters have posted on the basis of very sketchy info

Personally, I think that seeing as you describe your DH as only being “generally” ok at cleaning, this end of tenancy clean could be one of the occasions when he wasn’t “generally” ok at cleaning

Original poster

Mamma182838 · 20/10/2025 21:25

WhataviewJ · 20/10/2025 20:43

Fair enough
So not much point really to the thread because posters have posted on the basis of very sketchy info

Personally, I think that seeing as you describe your DH as only being “generally” ok at cleaning, this end of tenancy clean could be one of the occasions when he wasn’t “generally” ok at cleaning

Edited

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What can I say that I haven’t said before. I have the inventory and photos that were taken independently. It picked up a couple of things. Presumably that means the rest of the clean was fine. If it wasn’t the inventory would have said so.

The advice was to let DPS handle it, which we are doing. Thanks to those for the helpful advice and reassurance.

OP posts:

WhataviewJ · 21/10/2025 06:15

Mamma182838 · 20/10/2025 21:25

What can I say that I haven’t said before. I have the inventory and photos that were taken independently. It picked up a couple of things. Presumably that means the rest of the clean was fine. If it wasn’t the inventory would have said so.

The advice was to let DPS handle it, which we are doing. Thanks to those for the helpful advice and reassurance.

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The 3 points that you have said that say the most to me:

DH is “generally” ok at cleaning;

you didn’t see the clean post clean for your self; and

previously a positive and long standing relationship with the LL who hasn’t ripped you off remotely in the past

oh and the teeny tiny “improvement” that has worn away and would take a “few seconds” to remove, but you hadn’t and now being charged for… well, intriguing!