University 2019/20 intake: Gearing up to graduation (for some but not all)

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Lots of Deep Heat!

Hello! A while since this thread has been posted on so how it finds you all.
Dd scrubbed and scrubbed her flat and the landlord found dust behind the wardrobe (she daren't move) and her bed so he’s quibbling the deposit. There was also a footprint he could see on the chipped paper-thin wood-effect flooring when he bent down. Dd says she thought the flooring may dissolve if she introduced water to it! 😂It says on the contract is should be of a professional clean standard at handover. So what do you reckon the landlord will charge? 3 bed, 2 shower, one kitchen/lounge area.

Hi @ZandathePanda a few of us are on the graduates at home thread now.
Re deposit. DD’s house was deducted £80 each for various issues and a professional clean but they’ve argued it and reduced the deduction to £40 each. There are 5 of them so not an insignificant amount. I think £20 each for cleaning and £20 each for repainting walls due to LED lights damaging paint.

www.mumsnet.com/talk/parents_of_adult_children/4581147-graduates-returning-to-the-nest-a-new-start-for-all?page=13&reply=119113446

@Benjispruce4 aha! I will follow the link thank you. Yes I was thinking the landlord can’t go more than £30 per person. Particularly as Dd said the place was near spotless apart from behind furniture even the landlord had difficulty lifting. She sat there for 90 minutes whilst he went through everything and he found dust and a footprint!

That’s amazingly clean! DD did not move furniture! They have a good clean, did the oven etc but not moving wardrobes. That’s excessive.

Ds scrubbed his room. But due to a stain on the mattress and apparently a tea cup mark on the new bedside table the landlord kept all bar £50 of the £500 deposit. I have learnt a lesson there...check the mattress when first moving in and put on a waterproof protector on. We have good ones on all the beds here, they don't seem waterproof. But I didn't sent ds's with him as it was a king size bed. Now I'm wishing I had spent money on one. Also ds2 will be paying the deposit himself. I don't see why I should lose money if they don't respect stuff.

@icanbewhatiwant interestingly the mattresses were damp when Dd first moved in (promptly moved out again because of damp walls). They appeared fairly clean but were disgusting, with black mould and yellow and brown stains, when turned over and on the sides. I reckon the landlord had had them steam cleaned on one side only. So that was one thing they did manage to argue about getting new ones of before they actually moved in.

@icanbewhatiwant thats also a very expensive mattress replacement the landlord has chosen too! I am sure Dds were Argos specials.

@ZandathePanda it was £369.00 for a new mattress. £20 for disposal. £50 for a new bedside table. There was a small cleaning charge to be shared by them all too.

Ouch. I am sure the DD’s landlord was hoping to replace his Argos specials but miraculously they managed to stay upright (Dd bought a cheap portable rail as the wardrobe wasn’t safe). I found the ‘coffee’ on a website for £15 new. It was literally cardboard with sticky back wooden effect plastic on top.

@ZandathePanda it was a white, cheaper than ikea looking thing.

DD had the attic room in. 4 bedroom share in her 3rd year at uni. She didn’t even have a wardrobe, just a rail! The three piece suite was circa 1979 that would be sent to the tip by anyone else. Shocking.

@ZandathePanda that sounds like nit-picking of the highest order. I reckon landlords make a sport of the whole thing.

@icanbewhatiwant shocked that your DS essentially lost his whole deposit. That's not on really. I recall you saying that you thought him a fair landlord. I'd be revising my opinion based on that massive charge. Can students leave reviews on properties? Feel it's only fair really.

I reckon it should be a given that landlords provide new mattresses everytime there's a change of tenants. Or at the least put on waterproof mattress protectors that they change between tenants.

@LouisCatorze there was a huge stain on the mattress. Ds denies it was him. But there was also a hot chocolate stain on there which Ds says was his gf. When I looked round with the landlord there was a tiny stain, which he didn't mind, but after I left he turned the mattress over and the stain was on the other side and had gone through. Ds told me he turned the mattress over as it was lumpy. I expect Ds did do something to the mattress. So I don't see we that we had a leg to stand on really. The bedside table was new so needed replacing.

Not environmentally friendly o dispose of mattresses every year but I agree that the landlord should cover with a waterproof cover over which the tenant can put their own comfy one.

@Benjispruce4 yes, I guess I hadn't considered sustainability issues making that comment forgotten my inner Womble. But let's face it, when you think that these issues must be par for the course with rentals, you'd have thought more landlords would have thought of the much cheaper solution. It must be a PITA for them to have to dispose of the mattresses too.

Quite agree.

You would have thought so. The mattresses in DD's halls had a waterproof cover.

I will be putting a waterproof mattress cover on for my younger dc's. Ds2 hoping to start sept. The landlord has a rubbish disposal licence and a trailer. So took it himself.

It's one of those expensive 'life lessons learned' that will stay with you (and likely the rest of us), I'd have thought, @icanbewhatiwant .

DS's current contract comes to an end this weekend. He has only been there for a weekend (around graduation) since the end of May. I really hope the remaining flatmates clear up to an acceptable standard (DS was the one left to do it all for their previous house share) to ensure that they get at least a decent % of their deposit back. Apparently the current one was not in a good state when they moved in (and most 'snagging' requests have not been dealt with), so hoping they will not lose much, unless the landlord is a complete charlatan.

@LouisCatorze yes. I think I said up thread I shall be making ds2 pay his own deposit out of savings. He might respect it more then.

Dc1 is moving out on Saturday, they have a professional cleaner booked for the morning. I Will wait with trepidation after reading all this.....

And talking about waiting, Dc2 moved out of student accommodation in June and I still haven't received any answer from her whether she got her deposit back.....

@Benjispruce4, well done to your DD - apparently DS got £60 off his which doesn’t sound too bad, but thee were 6 of them, so £360 in total and they had cleaned their brand new flat - looked decent to us, and DS was the last to leave. DH might tell him to ask for a breakdown of costs…