Hi Everyone!
I’ve just moved out and my landlord wants to charge me £240 for a cleaning fee. (It’s a one-bed, small, ground floor flat in south London.) Are they allowed to do this? I thought OpenRent is ‘fee-free’ for tenants (minus £20 fr referencing) which is which I always try and find properties on here when I move.
Any help would be much appreciated!
Kind regards
Emily
Hi Emily,
Sorry to hear this, needless fees like this are what we’ve always been against!
I can see the team have been in touch with both you and the landlord on this already.
It’s worth noting any tenant using OpenRent - whether or not they use Rent Now - can’t be charged more than £20 per reference.
The team have already reached out to clarify with this landlord that this is against our terms. It’s unfortunate that they believed they could charge such an extortionate cleaning ‘fee’.
Where for instance, there are legitimate costs to be passed onto the tenants, that’s what your security deposit is for.
If a landlord claims deductions to your deposit, you’d be provided with the opportunity to challenge this - should it come to it, of course!
Any other questions, just let me know.
George
Hi George,
I was hoping you can assist on a similar matter. I ma about to sign the contract for the property i found on OpenRent and the management company that handles this property is adding £55 cleaning fee. Just like Emily, I questioned the cleaning fee as OpenRent is “fee-free” but management company insists this has to be paid. Can you please advice? Many thanks
Rostislav
Hi Rostislav,
You can see our guidance below about the Tenant Fees Act.
All Payments are prohibited except rent, deposits and three exceptions. These are a late rent fee, a lost keys fee, and a fee for changes to the tenancy.
A cleaning fee is not included in these and we would advise pointing this out to the management company.
Kind regards,
Matthew