Whenever there is a dispute between landlord and tenant at the end of a tenancy, it is almost always about the cleanliness of the property. The new Tenancy Deposit Scheme, which has just reported on its first year of disputes that needed independent resolution, says that cleaning has proved to be overwhelmingly the top cause of contention. The tenant maintains that the place is spotless, the landlord argues that it is filthy. W hose standard wins?
Those arguments are set to intensify when the deposit scheme, a voluntary system piloted by the Housing Ombudsman Service, becomes compulsory in October. By this date all “dilapidation” deposits must by law be lodged either with a regulated agent or in a custodial scheme that is yet to be agreed.
So how clean is clean? Many people imagine that it is simply a matter of opinion, but this is not the case. VisitBritain, the umbrella organisation for British tourism, has laid down absolute standards of cleanliness in its handbook for the holiday properties it regularly inspects. A cleanliness level of 40 per cent is awarded one star, whereas 90 per cent cleanliness merits a five-star rating. But if the cleanliness achieves only 85 per cent, the property will be downgraded to a four star. Inspectors are taught to ignore their own personal preferences, the handbook says.
So what does that all mean in practice? The minimum requirement is that surfaces and equipment must be clean and free from dust, with the carpets vacuumed and floors cleaned. In addition, all metalware should be polished and free from tarnish, and electrical equipment left clean. There should be no dust or static on any appliances, and curtain linings must be checked for stains. Particular attention should be paid to room corners, light fittings and under sofas, chairs and beds. Tops and insides of wardrobes and the insides of drawers must be clean too. Bedheads and mattresses must be spotless. In bathrooms, areas behind the lavatory, washbasin and pipework must be cleaned, plus the shower rails, drainage pipes, plugholes and shower curtains. Shower heads must be descaled and blinds and extractor fans cleaned.
Advertisement
In the kitchen, ice boxes must be defrosted, dishwasher filters left clean, washing machines left free of powder residue, and cookers thoroughly cleaned inside and out. There should be no dust or grime on extractor hoods and all the insides of drawers and units must be left clean and free of foodstuffs.
That level of cleanliness is just for the basic, 40 per cent, one-star rating. To achieve five stars, all surfaces must be polished, and all soft furnishings and carpets should be like new and completely free of stains. Five-star properties must not show the slightest sign of wear.
The question is: will the Tenancy Deposit Scheme adjudicators look for a 40 or a 90 per cent state of cleanliness in the case of a dispute? Maggie Probert, an inventory clerk, says: “The most important thing is that the landlord and tenant have exactly the same standards. When I check a property I am looking for an absolute standard, and this means that skirting boards should be cleaned, windows left gleaming inside and out and all carpets and curtains professionally cleaned. Ideally, the property should be independently assessed and all details of its condition written down on the inventory. When I check a place out, I am not interested in what the tenant regards as clean, and if I see that something has been missed I will insist that the cleaners come back and do the place again.”
Many tenancy agreements insist that the property should be professionally cleaned before being vacated. Liz Thompson, director of lettings for the estate agent Marsh and Parsons, says that this can have its problems. “A lot of tenants will argue that because they have paid somebody, then the property has been professionally cleaned. But that is not necessarily enough. Clean, in our terms, means that the carpets have been steam-cleaned, curtains taken down and dry-cleaned, linen has been laundered and pressed. It is certainly true that disputes over cleanliness are vastly in the majority and often problems arise when properties are not professionally cleaned at the start of the tenancy, as this means the tenants will try to worm their way out of having professional cleaners when they leave, even though this is part of the contractual agreement they signed at the beginning. Then we get into the familiar round of arguments and withheld deposits.”
Here are two recent case studies of cleanliness disputes, and how they were resolved by the scheme’s assessors. In the first case the landlord sought to retain the entire £1,500 deposit because there was a bad stain on the carpet when the tenant left. When the tenant moved in, the inventory noted that the carpet was in perfect condition. Accordingly the adjudicators felt that it was reasonable to charge the tenant for a replacement carpet because the stain proved impossible to remove, and the whole deposit was awarded to the landlord.
Advertisement
In the second case the landlords sought to retain £1,524 of the £2,910 deposit because they maintained that the curtains were discoloured and that the floors in the bedroom and bathroom were left dirty. The adjudicators decided that only 25 per cent of the cost of cleaning the curtains should be paid by the tenants, because they had not been cleaned before the start of the tenancy. They also decided that the tenants should pay one third of the cleaning costs of the floors. The final assessment was that £598 was awarded to the landlord, and £926 paid back to the tenants.
Done and dusted
ONE-STAR RATING
Surfaces and equipment dusted
Carpets vacuumed
Showers descaled
Iceboxes defrosted
Drawers cleaned
FIVE-STAR RATING
Surfaces polished to a shine
Carpets cleaned and as new
No signs of wear and tear
Soft furnishings stain-free
Windows gleaming inside and out