Can I keep some of tenants deposit for cleaning?
Discussion
Possibly naive question. I'm sure I'll be told if so.
After 2 years the 2 students renting my previously immaculate flat have left, seemingly never once having cleaned any surface. I gained access after their departure yesterday and will have spent what was left of yesterday, today, all of tomorrow and this coming Friday morning getting it respectable for a viewing on Friday afternoon. It will still require remedial work afterwards, but hopefully will be presentable enough by then not to put off a prospective tenant.
On the last inspection I made it clear that they could live like that if they chose to, but that leaving it in this condition would result in my seeking to keep a percentage of the deposit as recompense for any labour and materials required to return the place to something presentable. That seems to have fallen on deaf ears.
As an example of the extent of the neglect, I've had to dismantle the shower cubicle yesterday, removing the door and associated fittings in order to access and clean away the thick brown scum that the whole area was covered in. I spent 5 hours in that room alone and it's not a large area. It still isn't finished, tomorrow the silicone in the shower will have to be removed and replaced due to black mould. We have regularly used this flat since 2011 prior to renting out with no need for this. The kitchen is another story.....
In fairness, the flat isn't damaged at all, but the general squalor meant I didn't fancy eating for a while after I finished in it today. It would appear they used the vacuum cleaner we left there once, then stopped when it was full and didn't use it again for the next 23 months. It was still full after they left, even though it's clear it hadn't been used for ages.
Am I being unreasonable in thinking I should charge them for the effort required to deal with this? I fully expected to redecorate parts of it and would regard that as normal, but I didn't see anyone moving into something that was as nicely presented as this was and then behaving like this towards it. What really rankles is that we pointed out how much the flat mattered to us and they looked us in the eye and promised to look after it.
If the opinions of those with more experience as a landlord is that I should just accept behaviour like this, so be it. Feels wrong to me though.
After 2 years the 2 students renting my previously immaculate flat have left, seemingly never once having cleaned any surface. I gained access after their departure yesterday and will have spent what was left of yesterday, today, all of tomorrow and this coming Friday morning getting it respectable for a viewing on Friday afternoon. It will still require remedial work afterwards, but hopefully will be presentable enough by then not to put off a prospective tenant.
On the last inspection I made it clear that they could live like that if they chose to, but that leaving it in this condition would result in my seeking to keep a percentage of the deposit as recompense for any labour and materials required to return the place to something presentable. That seems to have fallen on deaf ears.
As an example of the extent of the neglect, I've had to dismantle the shower cubicle yesterday, removing the door and associated fittings in order to access and clean away the thick brown scum that the whole area was covered in. I spent 5 hours in that room alone and it's not a large area. It still isn't finished, tomorrow the silicone in the shower will have to be removed and replaced due to black mould. We have regularly used this flat since 2011 prior to renting out with no need for this. The kitchen is another story.....
In fairness, the flat isn't damaged at all, but the general squalor meant I didn't fancy eating for a while after I finished in it today. It would appear they used the vacuum cleaner we left there once, then stopped when it was full and didn't use it again for the next 23 months. It was still full after they left, even though it's clear it hadn't been used for ages.
Am I being unreasonable in thinking I should charge them for the effort required to deal with this? I fully expected to redecorate parts of it and would regard that as normal, but I didn't see anyone moving into something that was as nicely presented as this was and then behaving like this towards it. What really rankles is that we pointed out how much the flat mattered to us and they looked us in the eye and promised to look after it.
If the opinions of those with more experience as a landlord is that I should just accept behaviour like this, so be it. Feels wrong to me though.
Ugh, what a pair of dirty s
tes. Thankfully all my tenants have been decent people and kept on top of the cleaning. I spend time fine tuning the place to a high standard, paint as required, so that it shines like new.
If it was my gaff I would take a video walk through, take plenty of still photos to show before and after cleaning. Make notes of each item that needed cleaning and the time taken to do so.
If it was that bad I would get a professional cleaning company in to do the work.
Definitely take it from their deposit.
tes. Thankfully all my tenants have been decent people and kept on top of the cleaning. I spend time fine tuning the place to a high standard, paint as required, so that it shines like new.If it was my gaff I would take a video walk through, take plenty of still photos to show before and after cleaning. Make notes of each item that needed cleaning and the time taken to do so.
If it was that bad I would get a professional cleaning company in to do the work.
Definitely take it from their deposit.
Thanks for the replies. With the benefit of hindsight, I've probably fked up here. I have some decent quality pics from the agents who I used to advertise the flat before it was let, but I was so anxious to start getting the place ready for the ( extremely unexpected and short notice ) viewing coming up, that I didn't think to take pics of the state of it before I began cleaning. And I've been very thorough so far, so the worst isn't there to be photographed now!
I guess I'm screwed. I'll tell them how I feel and why I expect them to relinquish some of the deposit, but I expect when push comes to shove, if they don't admit to it, I won't be able to force the issue.
It's a lesson. Fortunately, although time consuming, it's largely superficial. The most time consuming thing to rectify will be that, due to the fact that they seemed to have the heating blasting away constantly, regardless of outside temp ( even the towel rail in the bathroom ), a lot of joints in things like the timber window frames have succumbed to the constant heat and opened up.
Not a disaster ( I'm a decorator ), but they were very well prepped and painted 2 years ago, and by comparison to those in the house I live in which were painted at the same time ( same complex and style ) have deteriorated massively over the same time period. I can accept this sort of wear and tear issue much more easily than straightforward neglect.
ked up here. I have some decent quality pics from the agents who I used to advertise the flat before it was let, but I was so anxious to start getting the place ready for the ( extremely unexpected and short notice ) viewing coming up, that I didn't think to take pics of the state of it before I began cleaning. And I've been very thorough so far, so the worst isn't there to be photographed now!I guess I'm screwed. I'll tell them how I feel and why I expect them to relinquish some of the deposit, but I expect when push comes to shove, if they don't admit to it, I won't be able to force the issue.
It's a lesson. Fortunately, although time consuming, it's largely superficial. The most time consuming thing to rectify will be that, due to the fact that they seemed to have the heating blasting away constantly, regardless of outside temp ( even the towel rail in the bathroom ), a lot of joints in things like the timber window frames have succumbed to the constant heat and opened up.
Not a disaster ( I'm a decorator ), but they were very well prepped and painted 2 years ago, and by comparison to those in the house I live in which were painted at the same time ( same complex and style ) have deteriorated massively over the same time period. I can accept this sort of wear and tear issue much more easily than straightforward neglect.
CoolHands said:
Presumably if you used a company you would have a bill to show as evidence. But I don’t see how you can just clean it yourself and deduct whatever you decide is the market rate for the tasks you’ve done.
Surely he can document the time needed to clean, and present a reasonable hourly rate?Say £10 per hour?
At the risk of arguing the point with someone far better educated than me in just about every measurable way, I thought professional cleans were ruled unenforceable terms.
My concern would be going to town on it before taking pictures leaves you in a more awkward position. They may accept that they live like pigs and it's a cost of doing so, but should they contest your claim to part of their deposit you've got to find a way of demonstrating it. Photograph it, even if you photograph the bin bags of rubbish/piles of dirty cloths; the people you deal with are reasonable and just explain that you decided part way through this was entirely unreasonable levels of filth and hadn't taken pictures before that point as you were under pressure to turn it around for a viewing.
My concern would be going to town on it before taking pictures leaves you in a more awkward position. They may accept that they live like pigs and it's a cost of doing so, but should they contest your claim to part of their deposit you've got to find a way of demonstrating it. Photograph it, even if you photograph the bin bags of rubbish/piles of dirty cloths; the people you deal with are reasonable and just explain that you decided part way through this was entirely unreasonable levels of filth and hadn't taken pictures before that point as you were under pressure to turn it around for a viewing.
Pegscratch said:
At the risk of arguing the point with someone far better educated than me in just about every measurable way, I thought professional cleans were ruled unenforceable terms.
...
Only if the tenancy started on or after 1 June 2019, and in respect of tenancies that pre date that, the cut off date for charging for a pro clean is 21 May 2020....
We had a tenant who messed a bedroom carpet that a pro cleaner could not restore. We claimed the whole deposit and provided evidence to the deposit service and they gave us the full amount.
We thought there might be an argument, but felt that they agreed that our claim was reasonable in the circumstance.
From what has been described by the OP, I would say that he has a very reasonable claim for professional cleaning in advance of a viewing. If it is so bad that surfaces need repainting then that also is reasonable. The tenancy agreement should have a clause stating how the property is to be maintained in a reasonable condition.
We thought there might be an argument, but felt that they agreed that our claim was reasonable in the circumstance.
From what has been described by the OP, I would say that he has a very reasonable claim for professional cleaning in advance of a viewing. If it is so bad that surfaces need repainting then that also is reasonable. The tenancy agreement should have a clause stating how the property is to be maintained in a reasonable condition.
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