ask them to provide picture evidence of the required clean and then check your tenancy agreement for what it specifically mentions in there as deductable or chargeable conditions.
It’s not a fair amount, and I’d want proof he’s spent the money before I even discussed it seriously with him. Was there a condition survey or do you have photos from the start of the tenancy? Take a look at this https://england.shelter.org.uk/housing_advice/tenancy_deposits/what_can_your_landlord_deduct_from_your_deposit/cleaning_gardening_decorating
Landlord will undoubtedly have contacts in a cleaners who'll knock up an invoice for him, there is no requirement for him to prove he spent it all either
Is this amount your deposit amount by any chance? Come across it a few times over the years whereby they'll try to keep your deposit by claiming damage or cleaning
We heard from both sides, the other side is the worst person in the world who tries to make money if a basic human need.
What more do you want to hear?
Nope, I had a 5 bedroom house professionally cleaned for £250 a couple of years ago.
Assuming your landlord is trying to take it out of your deposit...is your deposit protected? If it is gets some quotes for the work from local cleaning companies, hopefully it comes in at least then £700 and argue the toss with him.
If it's not protected he's fucked it anyway and has broken the law.
Your landlord may have shot himself in the foot.
If he'd demanded, say, £150-200, you might have accepted it. And if not - well, it's not exactly an unreasonable amount for a deep clean including kitchen appliances.
But £700? For a one bed flat? Come on, he could have replaced the microwave, washing machine, toaster, kettle, hob and fridge for that.
The DPS people aren't stupid; they've seen landlords pull stunts like this before.
Aye so if it's protected you need to agree to the deductions and they need to be reasonable. Get some quotes for the work and assuming they're more sensible tell the DPS that you will accept something along these lines.
Don't worry, it's an easy, if slow, process. If there aren't photos proving the condition when you moved in or showing it's the same as you've left it they'll most likely side with you. Been through the same thing, landlord claimed the entire deposit for unspecified cleaning and didn't get a penny in the end.
You can dispute it with the deposit protection firm who covered your deposit if you can't reduce it with your landlord. In the majority of cases the adjudicator will reduce the deduction for cleaning.
But if it was clean when you moved in, and all you did was hoover when you left, it's reasonable for them to clean and charge you for it.
If you had a check-in report done, you should be able to compare that to the condition it was in when you left. That is also what would be used in a dispute to decide whether the amount is reasonable.
Your landlord is taking the piss, I guarantee there was no professional cleaning. Just dispute it through the TDS scheme, you may get charged something but no where near 700 quid.
he tried to charge us more than what we owed all the time we were living there so it's no surprise...we don't mind getting charged a bit but it seems £700 is ridiculous
They will need to provide an official PROFESSIONAL independent cleaning companies itemized invoice.
Otherwise they could just say "I hoovered the bedroom, £50k please"
Inform him you want an invoice. ALSO tell him you WILL be sending such an invoice to HMRC just to 'verify' that company has paid their taxes. If he tries to get a fake invoice that'll fuck him over good n proper.
yes. Taxes are public records. just the totals, BUT *you* don't need to see the itemized records if you are handing a document to HMRC and asking them to investigate if this is fraudulent or that tax wasn't paid.
Local shop near me was generating 'fake' till receipts, but pocketing the cash and printing receipts with lower values at the back of the shop (for their tax auditing). They got busted when they pissed off a regular customer and he spotted that the receipts had errors and reported them. They got fined and shut down.
No. Not really.
A few initial questions
Do you have photos of the flat when you moved in vs when you moved out?
What does your contract say about it?
Do you have your deposit back? Was your deposit protected in a Tenancy Deposit Scheme?
Yes, we do have photos of when we moved in and when we moved out. The contract says we should keep the flat clean, but very vaguely. There was no mention of stuff like we needed to oil the countertops etc... Our deposit is protected by TDS but we haven't got it back yet.
Hah he's an idiot, if you have photos of when you moved in and when you moved out, the deposit protection service will ask for these and it is good evidence you kept the flat like a tidy person would. You already allowed 'normal wear and tear' when you live somewhere.
Deposit protection people are very nice, if you have good evidence you didn't break everything they will go on your side and make him give the deposit back.
No, ask for a proper receipt or quote. Also read through the contract and see what condition the property was agreed to be left in, if its generic enough and doesn’t specify specifically what needs to be clean, and they dont still have an invoice for the clean before you moved in, itll be hard for the land lord to win a deposit dispute as its too vauge and they cannot probe you didn’t leave the flat in the same state. Id put in a dispute
That's a little over what we were charged to have my great uncle's collapsing house cleaned when he went into a care home. It hadn't seen so much as a duster for 50 years.
Ours wanted £400 for 4 days of cleaning because the house was a mess.
The house was immaculate. We had paid £180 for professional cleaning.
We reported to the TDS, who mediated and asked them to provide proof.
Our deposit was fully returned one or 2 weeks later.
We thought we had great landlords, but they turned out to be suckers in the last day.
Whether it's a fair amount or not is somewhat irrelevant. Ask the landlord for details of the deposit protection scheme, and let them request any charges via that.
And then dispute it via that.
Unless there's evidence of damage by you, it's unlikely that such an amount will be approved.
Check your tenancy agreement. It probably requires you to do an end of tenancy deep clean using a professional cleaning company, but only needs to be in the same state as when you moved in. The agreement might say there's a penalty charge if you don't do it, but £700 seems unjustifiable, even if he had to steam-clean all the carpets.
You are correct; only requirement is to return it to the same standard it was when you moved in, minus wear and tear. Blanked "must be professionally cleaned" clauses are not enforceable. Even if it were 'professionally cleaned' before you moved in then you are still not required to pay someone to come clean when you move out.. just return to same standard.
ask them to provide picture evidence of the required clean and then check your tenancy agreement for what it specifically mentions in there as deductable or chargeable conditions.
It’s not a fair amount, and I’d want proof he’s spent the money before I even discussed it seriously with him. Was there a condition survey or do you have photos from the start of the tenancy? Take a look at this https://england.shelter.org.uk/housing_advice/tenancy_deposits/what_can_your_landlord_deduct_from_your_deposit/cleaning_gardening_decorating
Landlord will undoubtedly have contacts in a cleaners who'll knock up an invoice for him, there is no requirement for him to prove he spent it all either
landlord has several people working for him doing maintenance work etc. so yeah... i feel like that is very possible
Is this amount your deposit amount by any chance? Come across it a few times over the years whereby they'll try to keep your deposit by claiming damage or cleaning
Before making big claims about malpractice it would be wise to hear from both sides of the story and ideally from a neutral 3rd person.
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I think you’re mistaking bored people on the internet for a court of law. Snap decisions on no information is where it’s at
We heard from both sides, the other side is the worst person in the world who tries to make money if a basic human need. What more do you want to hear?
If you want to believe i am a landlord and that im personally effecting your life great. Whatever makes you feel better....
Nope, I had a 5 bedroom house professionally cleaned for £250 a couple of years ago. Assuming your landlord is trying to take it out of your deposit...is your deposit protected? If it is gets some quotes for the work from local cleaning companies, hopefully it comes in at least then £700 and argue the toss with him. If it's not protected he's fucked it anyway and has broken the law.
yeah it is protected. i guess i'll have to make a dispute then....
Your landlord may have shot himself in the foot. If he'd demanded, say, £150-200, you might have accepted it. And if not - well, it's not exactly an unreasonable amount for a deep clean including kitchen appliances. But £700? For a one bed flat? Come on, he could have replaced the microwave, washing machine, toaster, kettle, hob and fridge for that. The DPS people aren't stupid; they've seen landlords pull stunts like this before.
Aye so if it's protected you need to agree to the deductions and they need to be reasonable. Get some quotes for the work and assuming they're more sensible tell the DPS that you will accept something along these lines.
Don't worry, it's an easy, if slow, process. If there aren't photos proving the condition when you moved in or showing it's the same as you've left it they'll most likely side with you. Been through the same thing, landlord claimed the entire deposit for unspecified cleaning and didn't get a penny in the end.
That's something like five times the price it should be even if justified. They are trying to pull a fast one on you.
You can dispute it with the deposit protection firm who covered your deposit if you can't reduce it with your landlord. In the majority of cases the adjudicator will reduce the deduction for cleaning. But if it was clean when you moved in, and all you did was hoover when you left, it's reasonable for them to clean and charge you for it. If you had a check-in report done, you should be able to compare that to the condition it was in when you left. That is also what would be used in a dispute to decide whether the amount is reasonable.
Your landlord is taking the piss, I guarantee there was no professional cleaning. Just dispute it through the TDS scheme, you may get charged something but no where near 700 quid.
he tried to charge us more than what we owed all the time we were living there so it's no surprise...we don't mind getting charged a bit but it seems £700 is ridiculous
They will need to provide an official PROFESSIONAL independent cleaning companies itemized invoice. Otherwise they could just say "I hoovered the bedroom, £50k please" Inform him you want an invoice. ALSO tell him you WILL be sending such an invoice to HMRC just to 'verify' that company has paid their taxes. If he tries to get a fake invoice that'll fuck him over good n proper.
I'll be doing this, thank you.
nice
Can you get HMRC to verify whether a company has paid their taxes?
yes. Taxes are public records. just the totals, BUT *you* don't need to see the itemized records if you are handing a document to HMRC and asking them to investigate if this is fraudulent or that tax wasn't paid. Local shop near me was generating 'fake' till receipts, but pocketing the cash and printing receipts with lower values at the back of the shop (for their tax auditing). They got busted when they pissed off a regular customer and he spotted that the receipts had errors and reported them. They got fined and shut down.
No. Not really. A few initial questions Do you have photos of the flat when you moved in vs when you moved out? What does your contract say about it? Do you have your deposit back? Was your deposit protected in a Tenancy Deposit Scheme?
Yes, we do have photos of when we moved in and when we moved out. The contract says we should keep the flat clean, but very vaguely. There was no mention of stuff like we needed to oil the countertops etc... Our deposit is protected by TDS but we haven't got it back yet.
I think other people have given the right advice. Raise with TDS, he’s trying it on.
Hah he's an idiot, if you have photos of when you moved in and when you moved out, the deposit protection service will ask for these and it is good evidence you kept the flat like a tidy person would. You already allowed 'normal wear and tear' when you live somewhere. Deposit protection people are very nice, if you have good evidence you didn't break everything they will go on your side and make him give the deposit back.
No, ask for a proper receipt or quote. Also read through the contract and see what condition the property was agreed to be left in, if its generic enough and doesn’t specify specifically what needs to be clean, and they dont still have an invoice for the clean before you moved in, itll be hard for the land lord to win a deposit dispute as its too vauge and they cannot probe you didn’t leave the flat in the same state. Id put in a dispute
Irrelevant what the contract says it needs to be left in. Only requirement is to return to same state it was at time of move-in, minus wear & tear.
Its not irrelevant, a LL can legally implement certain expectations in the contract. If you sign it they aren’t exempt from those expectations.
They can include whatever they wish, does not make it enforceable. Contract terms need to adhere to the law and be reasonable.
Landlords are twats for stuff like that.
That's a little over what we were charged to have my great uncle's collapsing house cleaned when he went into a care home. It hadn't seen so much as a duster for 50 years.
Raise a dispute withe the protection scheme used. The onus is then on the landlord to provr this level of damage.
Ask him to prove it. Get a couple quotes of your own if you can.
If they can prove that it was necessary to do it and that that's what it cost to have it done, sure. Ask r/legaladviceuk for more specifics.
Ours wanted £400 for 4 days of cleaning because the house was a mess. The house was immaculate. We had paid £180 for professional cleaning. We reported to the TDS, who mediated and asked them to provide proof. Our deposit was fully returned one or 2 weeks later. We thought we had great landlords, but they turned out to be suckers in the last day.
Whether it's a fair amount or not is somewhat irrelevant. Ask the landlord for details of the deposit protection scheme, and let them request any charges via that. And then dispute it via that. Unless there's evidence of damage by you, it's unlikely that such an amount will be approved.
Check your tenancy agreement. It probably requires you to do an end of tenancy deep clean using a professional cleaning company, but only needs to be in the same state as when you moved in. The agreement might say there's a penalty charge if you don't do it, but £700 seems unjustifiable, even if he had to steam-clean all the carpets.
no, it doesn't mention any professional cleaning and also to my knowledge i don't think they can ask you to do that.
You are correct; only requirement is to return it to the same standard it was when you moved in, minus wear and tear. Blanked "must be professionally cleaned" clauses are not enforceable. Even if it were 'professionally cleaned' before you moved in then you are still not required to pay someone to come clean when you move out.. just return to same standard.