UK Landlord Forum / Life

This has got my BEEF.

My agent wants me to sign Terms of business which includes

Tick AS APPROPRIATE

1/ let us clean your property for which we will charge you (handsomely - no doubt)

2/ confirm you will have the property professional cleaned and you will send us the receipt (why does it need to be cleaned by a third party and what up with the receipt)

Is this language solely to protect the revenue of the agent

It is to prove to the tenant that the property has been professionally cleaned before they took occupation and doubtless the agreement contains a clause that they must show a cleaning receipt when the tenancy ends. Saves hours of emails come check-out time.

The agent may well be making money on the cleaning but if you've used a decent agent (and contrary to popular belief there are some) then they should disclose in their Ts and Cs whether they make anything on providing services like this. We offer landlords this service (at cost since you were bound to ask)  and although we don't insist on seeing a receipt we strongly recommend professional cleaning rather than a half-hearted domestic clean - letting properties is a business after all.

Is professional simply 'paid for'... or more 'to a standard'? If the latter, one wonders what objective standard or measure there is out there, as I can't think of one. So it must be the former...

I think a full-hearted domestic clean, by an amateur so to speak, would be the best you can get.

By someone with OCD.

They need a receipt seemingly, so not a standard.
I have OCD and the tenant was delighted with what they described as spotless presentation.
I still don't understand why a receipt is required if you don't delegate to the agent, it is a contractual term, obviously it will be ignored

Just refuse?