We recently moved out from our previous flat and now living on a new flat. My concern is that when the landlord returned the deposit, he sent a message that they deducted £80 for end of tenancy cleaning and £100 for replacing the carpet due to flat iron stain on the carpet. For the £80, is that price normal? It's our first time to transfer from one flat to another and we have no idea for the cleaning. We even cleaned the flat the best way we could before leaving, if we have known that there will be a cleaning charge we should have just cleared our things. For the £100, the flat iron stain was there when we moved in. We haven't met the landlord and they didn't provide any inventory that's why we didn't discuss anything regarding the situation of the flat when we moved there. They even informed us that there are missing items that they will not charged (bedside lamp, pillows, bed cushion, wall picture, flowers, etc.) which is very insulting because we left the flat the same arrangement when we moved there. We have replied on their text message but no response after that. Is there anything we could do? We hope they are not doing this to get money from their tenants.
I doubt there is much you can do in this instance,have you done a comprehensive inventory on the new flat and had it agreed with the landlord? If not I would do it now
If you don't have an inventory then you can't prove the claims are untrue. Eighty pounds for cleaning is a reasonable charge. The disputed amount of 100 pounds sisn't going to be worth trying to recover so I would treat it as lesson learned and move on.
Was the £80 cleaning charge in the contract? If the landlord did not provide an inventory when you moved in, how can he claim for missing/damaged items? I moved out of a UK student accomodation many many years ago, the landlord had a very bad reputation for cheating his (hundreds of) tenants, so I refused to pay the last months rent which was the same amount as the deposit. He came around and pointed out that: There was no ice tray in the fridge, he said I should pay for a new fridge. There never had been an ice tray in the fridge. He turned the mattress over, removed the cover, pointed out a big (blood?) stain that he obviously knew about previously and said I should pay for the mattress. I laughed at him, told him "no way" and he eventually gave up and left.
It's pretty standard for tenancy agreements to require the property be returned cleaned otherwise it will be cleaned at the tenant's expense. In any case, possession is nine tenths of the law, and now he has the money, you're not going to get it back, and it's simply not worth you even going to a small claims court for such a small sum - assuming you could legally prove a wrong which in the absence of an inventory on arrival and leaving you almost certainly can't. As I said - forget about it and chalk it down to experience. Pretend it was a parking ticket.
Based solely on the information you've shared there's really not much you can do. The amounts involved in my opinion do not make taking any action worth the effort. Take a look at the link below and make sure you cover yourself in writing. Have an inventory, photograph any damages and inform the landlord. The landlord should give you copies of the deposit scheme Tenancy deposit protection https://www.gov.uk/tenancy-deposit-protection/overview
Proffesional carpet cleaning has become a feature of agreements these days in the absence of an inventory I always take pictures of any clear defects/potential issues on move in day
the inventory of my flat included photos of all the marks on the carpets---including an electric iron burn. why do so many people iron on the floor ?
80 quid for end of tenancy cleaning is a bargain. The 100 is frustrating maybe, but it's not worth getting worked up over 100 quid. Best thing is forget about it and move on. You could easily have been charged 180 for end of tenancy cleaning anyway.
The modern flat we rented before we came here had a plumbing issue under the bath..The husband of the owner was the maintenance man..He cut the silicone from bath panel fixed the problem and left without sealing back the panel..After we had left we got a 250.00 quid deduction from our deposit to put it right!! Now 250 quid is 250 quid so I threatened them to a long and frustrating court battle!!! Lol. I got my money the next day from the agent.. I would have done the same for 50 Quid to be honest...Its just as much of a hassle for them as it is for me and after all...Its my Fu@@@ money!! LoL
That's twelve hours work at the UK minimum wage of £6.70 per hour. The flat must have been in a mess.
I rented two places between the house I sold and the house I bought. I rented through estate agents and had to get both places professionally deep cleaned at the end as part of the contract. It's standard procedure and although I can't remember the cost, I'm sure it was a lot more than 80 quid. Minimum wage has got nothing to do with it.