Oven - professionally cleaned?!

[BankFodder]

If it's not on the contract and simply on the checkout list then I don't see any legal obligation to have it done. Obviously you have to return the property in reasonable condition – but that means that they will have to make allowances for "wear and tear". In other words you are not required to return the property to the condition it was in when you took it over.

Of course that will lead to problems getting your deposit back – but if you are prepared to go through the hassle and the delay of that then you should stand your ground. We will help you.

I suppose you didn't take any photographs of the condition of the property when you moved in.

[BankFodder]

Well the answer I gave above applies.

For future reference though you should be taking photos when you move into a new property. You apparently have been renting property for 30 years. Presumably when you started it was quite difficult to take photos but now with mobile phones there's no excuse

[BankFodder]

I expect that they were just as hellbent as they are now – it simply that in the old days, you didn't get to hear about it. Also because there was no tenancy deposit scheme, I can imagine that those people who were "hellbent" tended to get away with a lot more – even more so because it was difficult to take photos in "the old days".