Leaving a rented apartment - cleanliness level?

Phyre · 14 Oct 2013 at 16:30

Hi,

I've just left a rented apartment and I've been told it's too dirty, so the deposit is being withheld for the moment. I've spent two full days cleaning it, but they keep coming back with new things to make a fuss about. The latest we've had is:

- Bathroom blind too dusty
- Table too dusty
- Hob is sticky

Do these sound like reasonable claims? I'd consider myself clean, and I keep my place clean, but this just seems a bit over the top to me.

It's rented through an agency, as opposed to a landlord, and I know which deposit scheme the money has been sent to. I'd rather not have to get into all that legal stuff. I'd be quite happy to go back and spend the 30 seconds to dust down those blinds, but I have a feeling they'll come back with something else. Perhaps I need to mop down the floor as I exit the apartment?!

AJK · 14 Oct 2013 at 16:32

You would expect a rental property to be professionally clean when you move in, so the expectation is that you will leave it in a professionally clean state when you leave. The hob being "too sticky" is a bit weird IMO, but leaving the blinds etc. dirty is a fair complaint. How much are they actually proposing to deduct for those items?

Rainagul · 14 Oct 2013 at 16:35

They will try and get you on anything so my advice is clean it, then clean it again and once more just to be sure.

It's a pain in the arse

Efour · 14 Oct 2013 at 16:36

Every rented apartment/house I've been in via an agent basically will RIP YOU OFF for it everrrry time. I'm sure they consider it to be their bonus payment.

Good luck not being ripped off.

Ive seen tenancy agreements where the inventory clearly stated damage has been repaired then when it came to us moving out they tried to rebill us for the same damage that they claimed to fix the year before....

All crooks from my experience

2 mins to dust a blind, 30s to clean a table top. 5 mins on a hob ? Whats that £75 at least....

tom_e · 14 Oct 2013 at 16:36

Find out how much they want to take from your deposit for it first, if it's just a token amount then it's probably worth it just to avoid the hassle, but then most will try and rob you blind.

Sho · 14 Oct 2013 at 16:37

Rainagul said:
They will try and get you on anything so my advice is clean it, then clean it again and once more just to be sure.

It's a pain in the arse

This

smelly_legend · 14 Oct 2013 at 16:39

This has happened to me too - no luck basically. Whats even more annoying is landlords that buy the cheapest/crapest of furniture and expect it to stand the test of time.

AJK · 14 Oct 2013 at 16:39

Rainagul said:
They will try and get you on anything so my advice is clean it, then clean it again and once more just to be sure.

It's a pain in the arse

Having lived in four different rental properties, the only deductions I've ever had from my deposit have been for lightbulbs (fair; the place had high ceilings and multi-bulb fixtures that we just didn't bother changing) and an oven clean (fair; we hadn't bothered doing it ourselves and they said they'd arrange it).

K.C. Leblanc · 14 Oct 2013 at 16:42

Was it clean when you moved in, and is this stated in your inventory?

If you're happy that it's in the state that it was when you moved in then write to them telling asking them to return the deposit in full within 7 days. If not go to whoever has protected your deposit. If it turns out the deposit is unprotected then contact trading standards.

EDIT: Protected deposits only came in about 7 years ago. So if you've been there a long time then you might be stuck.

V|per · 14 Oct 2013 at 16:45

My last place tried to take half my deposit for having the carpets professionally cleaned, despite them physically telling me that it hadn't been done before i moved in. Luckily had that in writing :>>

i ALWAYS take photos of the entire place when i move in, every single little ding i'll photograph, ideally with something as pedantic as that days newspaper, make sure they're e-mailed and posted to the company, tracked ofc, with a backup, that way they'll have absolutely no foot to stand on.

Phyre · 14 Oct 2013 at 16:46

It was clean when I moved in. Not sure if it was professional or not though. I can't say I checked the blinds for dust...

I guess I'll go back and clean these things and see what they say after that. 10mins vs hours of legal nonsense.

arknor · 14 Oct 2013 at 16:47

I'd be tempted to dump something through the letterbox and at least make sure the money would be spent on cleaning..

omg dust dust bloody ridiculous what next a spider gets in after you move out and makes a spiders web so they charge you 1500 pound for hazmat disposal incast it's a false widow

neil_g · 14 Oct 2013 at 16:48

dont even get me started. ive been waiting a month for our last agent to provide a quote for cleaning that we apparently missed when leaving (we had a partial deposit returned).

Phyre · 14 Oct 2013 at 16:48

arknor said:
I'd be tempted to dump something through the letterbox and at least make sure the money would be spent on cleaning..

omg dust dust bloody ridiculous what next a spider gets in after you move out and makes a spiders web so they charge you 1500 pound for hazmat disposal incast it's a false widow

Don't say that, you'll give them ideas!

The_Baron · 14 Oct 2013 at 16:51

Clean means clean. The way you would like it to be let to you.

Scougar · 14 Oct 2013 at 16:53

Got my mother in to clean one place on exit... and I can tell you, it was thoroughly cleaned top to bottom. They only complaint they had was that the pans in the cooker were dirty (Which is totally crap). We took the £20 hit for such a pathetic claim however.

I would like to point out that when we moved in, the windows were filthy, as were many other things in the property that we had to clean before using (the shower was terrible), and is not at all how a tenant should move in.

pitchfork · 14 Oct 2013 at 17:01

This is why I always refused to deal with agencies, bunch of ****ing con artists.

They'll hire the ****tiest tradesmen to fix a problem, often unqualified doley "Handymen", but try and keep your deposit for a speck of dust on the skirting boards.
I remember once someone I knew had an agency try to claim for a whole new door because it had been graffitied from the outside, at the cost of £800, instead of, you know, cleaning it off or painting the door they wanted a brand new door.
They just round with a brillo pad and some jif cream, and cleaned off "Dave woz ere" written in permanent marker.
The agency then wanted to charge them for a new fridge and got knows what else all for petty as **** reasons while were largely made up.

Tell them, fine, you'll go clean it up after work.

Phyre · 14 Oct 2013 at 17:06

The_Baron said:
Clean means clean. The way you would like it to be let to you.

Yep, definitely. And it is

Stuff like this doesn't bother me, but that's one of the reasons why I was asking. Everyone defines "clean" differently I think.

Nexus · 14 Oct 2013 at 17:17

I've stayed in a number of places where they will always get a professional clean done, despite how hard you have worked making sure the place is perfect. So in many ways, all you are doing is minimising the work they need to do, which they will charge by the hour, compared to if you left it a total tip and the bill would be far more.

The bit I find annoying is that I just wish they would be honest up front about having a professional clean done.

neil_g · 14 Oct 2013 at 17:18

thing is how many agents actually get a deep clean done? our last agent certainly didnt (the place stank of curry for one, secondly the shower was rank) and as good as the new agent has been so far our new place wasnt squeeky clean either.