UK Landlord Forum / Life

Hi,

We've just moved out of a managed property, but ran out of time to organize a professional clean. Now the managing agent are looking to charge £120 out of our deposit for their time in organizing the professional clean and the remedy of other items that were our responsibility (organizing an electrician to replace some lightbulbs etc). My question is, are they actually allowed to charge tenants for their time? These charges weren't laid out in the tenancy agreement or any other agreement we signed so it'd be good to know whether we're likely to be successful challenging this or not.

Also, they are claiming the carpet has stains and if the professional clean doesn't manage to clean these stains we'll be on the hook to replace the carpet. My issue here is when we moved in the carpet was filthy and urine-stained from the dog the previous tenant had, leading to a strong urine smell downstairs. We of course requested a new carpet which was provided, but if they were OK with us moving in with a urine-stained carpet, I don't see why they wouldn't be OK with the next tenant moving in with a relatively new but stained carpet (worth noting that the stains are minor - I can't really see them from the pictures provided in the check-out inventory, it looks more like slight discoloration).

Any help would be really appreciated!!

It's a question of what's fair and reasonable. If it was in your contract that you'd replace lightbulbs as and when necessary, and have the property professionally cleaned when you moved out, then your landlord had a reasonable expectation that these things would be done by you. Given that they were not, and the landlord's agent was obliged to arrange for them to be done, it's only fair that you, rather than the landlord, should bear those costs. However, given that arranging a cleaner and and electrician would involve maybe half an hour of admin and five minutes on the phone, it's difficult to see how they got to a figure of £120.

The acid test with the carpet is whether they actually replace it. If they do (on a like for like basis) then it's fair for you to cover the cost, less a proportion to cover fair wear and tear over the period of your tenancy. If not, then it comes down to how much those stains have impaired the value of the carpet. If they're not conspicuous, and not the sort of thing that's likely to bother or deter future tenants, then the effective cost, over and above normal wear and tear, is negligible.