Updating post from Reddit.
When I gave notice to my landlord of us moving out, she cane back with professional cleaning was part of my contract etc. I am aware it is not and she actually cannot write it in there but to save us the stress of arguing and also the stress of cleaning we hire one anyway. They spent 6 hours cleaning this one bedroom flat and my partner said it looked great afterwards. Then we handed back the keys.
Almost a week later she had the exit inventory done and it came back with a lot of things needed recleaning. She has had decorators in during the meantime who have potentially caused some of this "debris". Although I agree some of it is not cleaned to be spotless, a lot of it is things like staining from mould and discolouration etc. Which the cleaning company can't do much about.
The landlord wants to reduce our deposit to pay for another professional cleaner to come in. Meaning we'd pay for two end of tenancy cleans. Is it worth disputing this or shall I just let it go?
EDIT: I haven't got any photos from when I left it (looking back this would've made so much sense to do) and the check in inventory was sent to me on a disappearing link that expired over two years ago so I no longer have access. I've asked the cleaning company to provide me with a full receipt as we only have the booking confirmation. The company have agreed to come back and reclean any bits that they can but are under the impression that most of it is general maintenance. I've asked the landlord if she's happy with this and haven't had a response as of yet.
If you have a receipt I'd report it to the property ombudsman, pretty easy to do. They'll keep doing this shit until someone calls them out for it. If they choose to do another professional clean, thats on them.
I have a booking confirmation and have requested a full receipt.
The person to report it to is your deposit protection scheme.
You'll get your full deposit back based on what you said above.
Dispute it all round.
Yes, she can claim it.
But, you can dispute it.
Use the dispute service attached to your protected deposit scheme. Submit photos proving it was clean and proof you paid for a cleaner (as much detail as possible), and they'll likely side with you or at least offer a portion of the cost of it.
I've requested a receipt from the cleaning company but neglected to take photos after we left
A receipt may be good enough! If they can write you a letter describing the job and the level of cleanliness when they finished, even better. Best of luck!
You don’t need any proof. The onus is on the landlord in this instance to prove that the property was not received in the same condition that it was given. Provide your evidence and dispute through the protection scheme. The 3rd party adjudicator will provide a fair outcome
Log in to the deposit protection scheme and request your deposit back.
Provide the evidence you have of the state in which you handed back the flat.
The scheme will make the decision.
The landlord is only requesting deductions, they cannot demand them. But unless you provide evidence to the contrary, the scheme may side with the landlord. Make your case and hope for the best.
And stop communicating with the landlord directly. Your relationship with them is over. This is with the deposit protection scheme now.
She hasn't decided yet how much she wants to deduct by, shall I just request the deposit back through the scheme anyway?
Yes. It is irrelevant to you here and now whether the landlord wants to deduct. They will have to make their own minds up within the deadline or see the deposit returned to you. Just request it back and, if they ask for any deductions, provide your evidence.
Thank you, I have just made the request
Dispute it. Ask the landlord where it was not cleaned etc, or evidence. Send your reciept to them.
Someone got a cleaner in, but they didn't clean behind or under furniture that were on wheels etc (or the bed).
We have also had workmen come in , after the cleaners have been in and unfortunately created a mess, which the tenant is not liable for
She has sent us the full inventory and I agree it's not cleaned to be spotless but also agree with the cleaning company that a lot of it is maintenance and won't come out with cleaning
The Tenant Fees Act 2019 made it illegal for letting agents or landlords to charge for professional cleaning at the end of a tenancy. You don't have to pay a penny. You absolutely should dispute this.
>You are entitled to be repaid the sum of any unlawfully charged fees, an unlawfully retained holding deposit or amounts paid under a prohibited contract as well as any interest owed. A landlord or agent will be liable for financial penalty of up to £5,000 for an initial breach of the ban and up to £30,000 for subsequent breaches.
Given they don't "seem" to be aware that they cannot charge you for professional cleaning or that including it in your tenancy agreement makes the agreement a prohibited contract, it might be worth you checking what deposit protection scheme your landlord/agent is using to protect your deposit. They would not be able to deduct prohibited fees from your deposit in one of the protection schemes, which they are legally required to use. Your tenancy agreement should tell you which scheme was used. If it doesn't and your deposit is not protected, they'll be liable for paying you up to 3x the deposit back as compensation.
You can read more about that at https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/housing/deposits/taking-your-landlord-to-court-if-they-havent-followed-the-deposit-rules/
Thank you, it is protected with the deposit protection scheme. It's been a few years since we moved in and the check in inventory was on a disappearing link that expired two years ago so can't check but I do remember the first thing I did was hoover when we moved in.
She's also relisted it to rent with photos taken way before we even moved in which isn't great on her part.
Imo it's always worth disputing a cleaning cost to your deposit scheme. Both times I've done this I've gotten my full deposit back. The second time I didn't even have to dispute I just informed my agency I would dispute the claim and they backed off and released the full deposit. Rental agents will always chance their luck with this it seems.
Yes, from all these comments I will dispute it. I'm hoping if I tell her I'm going to dispute she'll not want the bother and just drop it. But we will see!
Dispute: If you have an invoice for a pro clean. Her dispute is with the cleaning company, not you.
Did you take your own photos when you vacated the property ?
I didn't and in hindsight I wish I had
You may find that the cleaners took before and after photos - worth looking into.
Her dispute is absolutely not with the cleaning company.
The cleaning company have no contract with her. They did no work for her.
I’m pretty sure this seems to be the GO TO at the minute! Pisstakers!
I was against going for the professional cleaner anyway as I thought we'd be charged cleaning either way but my partner wanted to as it saved us the aggro and he liked the landlord. Wish I'd stuck to my guns now
It’s happened to me twice now and I’ve brushed it off both times but it seems to be “a thing”
Disagree to all charges and dispute it
Did the check in report state the property was professionally cleaned? Either way you should be covered by presenting your invoice and cross referencing the photos from the check in and check out report.
In terms of the deposit, agree to release the amount that is uncontested and take the balance to resolution. Generally the resolution process favours the tenant.
She hasn't decided how much to reduce it by as of yet, shall I just request the full amount through the deposit scheme and take it from there?
I'm going to be devil's advocate for a second. Numerous times I've had professional cleaners in to prep a property prior to letting and I was not happy with the standard they did. My own cleaners! Just because you've hired a professional clean doesn't necessarily mean the standard is acceptable. I'm not saying that's necessarily the case here. Just making the point that you don't always get what you pay for. That said proving otherwise is an uphill battle for the landlord.
I appreciate the cleaning may not be at 100% however, she asked us to do a professional clean even though she's not allowed to ask that of us and we obliged. I feel it is unfair to then be charged for a whole other professional clean seen as it was cleaned and a lot of the mess is likely to have been caused by her decorators coming in during the week in-between.
I agree. What I was saying wasn't aimed to you really, but others who will eventually read this and make assumptions from the comments. Challenge it like everyone has said. The landlord has an uphill battle and has fucked himself by getting trades in most likely.