Unfair cleaning charges

[panretaforlife]

I have recently moved out of my first rental property after living at the address for over two years and I have recived a email from my landlord looking to claim £400 from my deposit of £700 for cleaning. I thought this was a unreasonable amount as I spent a lot of time cleaning the property prior to leaving and got it to a higher standard in places than when we moved in.

 

Here is a breakdown of the invoice:

 

Item Description Unit Price Quantity Amount

Hours Work carried out at xxxxxxxxxxxxx.

 

1/ Cleaning inside oven/top of electric oven and completely stripped down gas hob controls and burners to clean hob top.

2/ Clean all kitchen cupboards inside and out.

3/ Clean fridge freezer and kitchen sink .

4/ Scrub all bathroom tiles and grouting, sink and toilet.

5/ Mop bathroom kitchen and entrance hall floors.

6/ Vacuum throughout all property wash down all doors and skirting's.

7/ Clean down stairs toilet sink and door.

 

Overall cleaning cost £300.00

MILEAGE Travel to and from xxxxxxx. £117.00

Total cost £417

 

Foolishly I did not take pictures of the property prior to leaving but I did have a look at the check in book we received when moving in and most of the areas listed on the invoice were listed as dirty prior to us moving in.

 

Any advice on what we should do would be much appreciated.

[edge_of_the_map]

It seems like a normal part of the process of leaving rented property - having to fight to get a despoit back. When I moved out of rented accommodation they tried to keep the entire deposit for cleaning & rubbish removal, repairs etc. I responded with a clear denial of every point & they backed down immediately. I was helped by my numerous emails to the agents asking them to remove the landlord's rubbish & repair the damage they caused during their inspections.

[BankFodder]

It is ridiculously excessive. Especially if you have a check in sheet with makes it clear that the place was dirty to begin with.

 

You should resist this very assertively.

 

Start off by writing to him and also to any agents who are involved and tell them that you won't be paying it and that you are prepared to take action if necessary.

 

Go on to point out that the place was dirty when you moved in and that you thoroughly cleaned before you left.

 

Say to them also that if they had wanted to hit you with a bill like that that you would have wanted to see two quotes and also photographic evidence of the state of the property.

 

Tell them as you have not been supplied with any quotes or any photographic evidence or any other evidence of the condition of the property, you won't be paying. Tell them that as they are fully aware, you have returned the property subject to fair wear and tear

 

You consider that in terms of cleanliness the property was better than when you moved in and you have the check in sheet to prove that.

 

Tell them that if you do not receive your deposit in its entirety within 14 days that you will begin a County Court action immediately and you will force the landlord to come to court and to provide evidence to satisfy the court.

 

Only say this if you mean it. Don't pussyfoot around with rip-off landlords.You will find that, he expects you to compromise in some way. Don't.

Don't forget, that he will have to come to your local court in order to defend and you will have to produce the evidence that will satisfy the court. He will be unable to.

 

Bringing a small claim for this kind of sum against a greedy landlord is very easy and the chances of you succeeding are better than 85%, in my view.

[mariner51]

So there is a move in inventory, so possibly a move out inspection report.

If deposit was protected, T can use free ADR procedur, (LL may decline, so T sues LL for full deposit in SCC. Onus is on LL to show deductions were justifiable, as per ADR. Cleanliness is in the eye of the beholder.

I somehow doubt OP spent 8hrs cleaning all items specified. A cooker could take me 6 hrs and it would still not pass inspection by my mother.

Did OP do any routine cleaning/vacuuming during T or leave it all to final week/day?

[panretaforlife]

So there is a move in inventory, so possibly a move out inspection report.

If deposit was protected, T can use free ADR procedur, (LL may decline, so T sues LL for full deposit in SCC. Onus is on LL to show deductions were justifiable, as per ADR. Cleanliness is in the eye of the beholder.

I somehow doubt OP spent 8hrs cleaning all items specified. A cooker could take me 6 hrs and it would still not pass inspection by my mother.

Did OP do any routine cleaning/vacuuming during T or leave it all to final week/day?

 

The oven was cleaned by me before we left to a MUCH higher standard than when we moved in, We would not even eat out of it when we moved in as it was filthy (This is noted in the check in) We also vacuumed most days as it was required as there is a quarry down the road that generates a lot of dust that gets in the house. The landlord has also sold the property now so it seems she is just trying to grab every penny she can get her hands on

[Steve__M]

Do what BankFodder said.

 

But additionally, was the deposit protected in an official scheme, as this may be a more convenient way to get your deposit back.

[ericsbrother]

LL wont be able to charge mileage as they would have to travel there to do checks anyway.