UK Landlord Forum / Life

Hi all, a quick question from me. I was a new (and accidental, as the name suggests) landlord two years ago so let my property when I moved in with my partner. Long story short, the agents did the inventory checkin and everything was recorded as 'good' (and the usual list of bumps and scratches on doors etc. etc.). A week or two later after moving they moved in I received an 'updated inventory' from the agents and the tenants had written a full page of what was wrong with the standard of cleanliness of the property, including animal faeces under one of the beds (despite having lived there for four years and not ever having had an animal in the flat). I was going through some personal issues at the time so I just paid for a cleaner to go in and fix these (what I considered imaginary) problems.

The updated inventory from the agents again listed their inspection (everything 'good') but at the front lists the tenants tirade of the cleaning issues. I'm now wondering if they just wanted to put all that in the inventory as something to fall back on when they move out and potentially not bother cleaning the place.

So I'll be inspecting the property in a few weeks once it's vacated. If the place is dirty and below the standards of the initial inventory inspector, am I within my rights to pay for a professional cleaner and deduct this from the deposit? I suppose I'm a bit confused that the inspector's record was positive yet it includes their page of nonsense around animal faeces etc. My agents insinuated that deposit disputes are often viewed much in the favour of the tenant?

Many thanks, and apologies for the length of the post and my naivety!

I'd expect to budget for a cleaner to clean the place between tenancies regardless of the condition the tenants left it in.

If you've accepted that the original condition report was what was the agreed condition of the property (whether it was accurate or not), any dispute is going to regard that as the best available evidence and rely on it. If you essentially agreed to it by not disagreeing with it, that's probably something to change if it happens again (although it does sound odd - that seems a lot of planning two years ago to avoid a cleaning issue now).

What did the cleaner say about the state of the place when they visited? What have the inspection visits in the meantime discovered?

Thanks,

The cleaner made no comment - they were just paid to visit and clean - I'm not aware of any feedback.

The reason I wondered if they were just setting themselves up is that they seemed an odd couple such and making unreasonable requests. For instance, the boiler had an issue so we had someone out the next day to check on it, and it was replaced two days later. I don't know who I could have arranged it any quicker (I couldn't have done so if it was my own boiler) however the tenant still complained that it took too long. The agents themselves found them difficult to deal with.

So I'm glad to be rid of them to be honest!

Sometimes you get customers like that.
Be happy they're gone.

Quote from: Accidental-landlord on March 02, 2023, 08:55:34 AMFor instance, the boiler had an issue so we had someone out the next day to check on it, and it was replaced two days later. I don't know who I could have arranged it any quicker (I couldn't have done so if it was my own boiler) however the tenant still complained that it took too long.

This is what some describe as the "Hotel Mentality", where Tenants seem to think that Landlords are just sitting idly by, waiting for their call, and they have an army of tradespeople just doing the same, ready to come in and fix things (some loons might even want you to have a spare house, ready and waiting, for them to go into... while you remove some cobwebs that offended them).

However, as far as boilers are concerned... even those that are in warranty (possibly)... some Landlords find it value for money to engage one of these annual premium repair services, British Gas do one and I'm sure others exist... whereby you can basically "hand-off" boiler problems to someone else (along with the associated stress)... which are some of the worst issues (people always seem edgy when they've no boiler).

But remember - Landlords must always be allowed a "reasonable time" to effect repairs... that's such a beautiful statement, because it's so ill-defined and prone to subjective interpretation. It all comes back down to this being a people business... it's not about bricks, or roof tiles, or actuators, zone valves, locks, carpets, ovens etc.. If Tenants were troublesome, don't look back... even pay a premium if needs to be to let them go without unnecessary angst. There's nothing a nit-picking Tenants hates more than to think you don't really care about a few hundred quid 'cos you've made so much money from them over the years.

There is a free dispute service.  If the property is not cleaned on checkout you can get a quote from a cleaner and try to deduct this from the deposit. If the tenants disagree then a dispute over the cleaning costs can be raised.

The deposit is the tenants money and it's on the landlord/agent to show there is a justified financial loss.

Your evidence will be the inventory and checkout reports, which should be 3rd party, and cleaning invoices plus proof of the cleaners returning. The tenant will upload their emails and if they have any photos.

It's then on the dispute service to make a decision.