steam cleaning carpets in our rented house. Do I have to?

[Sassyfrassy]

We had the usual inspection from the agency we rent our house through. In the letter we got back it says we should steam clean the livingroom carpet. It is a boring brown carpet and since we've lived here for three years with two children it has got some stains. However, I am not bothered about the stains myself, so can they actually insist that we steam clean while we are still living here? They also said that they would be coming back in three months. Before they have always inspected every six months and we are on a 12 month contract. It's bothering me because I always get a bit stressed when they are due to come and I really don't enjoy a stranger going around where I live.

thomas all is well :)
it is just usefull for tennants to know their rights, even if the contract says otherwise.
sadly some landlords can be really a pain for the tennant (be it ruthless or just not knowing the law)

Mousy I completely agree with you that tenants should know their rights (and I have been where the OP is).

However enforcing them is another matter and it pays to take a common sense view rather than a legalistic one more often than not.

My biggest beef is that anyone can become a letting agent or a landlord. There are no courses or certificates you have to take, and you're handling vast amounts of money and people's safety yet you can do this with criminal record!

No wonder there are so many arseholes in the business.

As it happened, I took various of Tessa Shepperson's legal courses, and I've also tried to implement my business experience in running my tenancies. My tenants are my customers and I treat them as I would any of my business clients whose orders were worth £30k a year!

This is why I hate living in a rented house. I find it so so stressful. We currently have huge amounts of damp which we have to live we but I spend my whole time stressing about the carpets and walls.
It costs enough Bibbity, it would eat into our food budget and we're coping ok, if you don't have much money £35+ is a lot