I am about to make a complaint to my letting agent which I am prepared to escalate to the ombudsman if I don’t get a positive reponse and am interested to know if anyone else has had experience of the process. The agent sent me the moving out report which looked fine but when I returned to my property I was appalled. Too many discrepancies to list here but the property was not just dirty, it was filthy despite the agent not recording this. The brand new kitchen has water damage to the units and the oven looks unusable despite the agent stating that it had been cleaned professionally. Much more. I’m going to do my own report and put it in writing to the agent. Unfortunately I changed my landlord insurance to regular home insurance as my son is going to move in to the property so I can’t put a claim in now. I’m so upset, I hate confrontation. Has anyone else experienced this? Thanks.
None of what you describe would be covered by landlord insurance
Stuff does suffer wear n tear and sometimes damage through use. If you or agent have been doing regular inspection visits nothing should have come as a surprise should it? Have you not been asking for reports from inspections? You cant assume agents do a good job and have to check up on them. (They might forget to apply for a license as one MP.found out)
Does the report say its clean and you disagree or is there simply no comment on cleanliness.
Did you ask for a sample checkout report before commissioning it? If not you cant complain about sections missing on cleanliness or anything else
If you dont have a corresponding report saying the place was clean at checkin, there’s no point in recording it at checkout anyway you wouldnt be able to claim from security deposit.
For each item including the water damage, think whether it could be wear n tear, in which case there would be little point recording as you woukdnt be able to claim. For damage it can be claimed from security deposit or from tenants eg through small claims courts but you have to be able to prove happened during the tenancy.
Good luck
For how long had the tenant been in residence before moving out?
No excuse for a dirty/ filthy property but wear 'n’n tear does have an impact. Carpets last 10 yrs max, kitchens 15yrs, Paintwork 3 - 5, Bathrooms sealant 2, Toilet seats 1.
Water damage is damage, but areas such as kitchen sink drainage area can get wet / degrade if sealant on sink, edge of worktop fails. This is may down to poor maintenance due to poor or non-existant inspections by your agent and yourself.
The AST should state the property should be left clean, as clean as it was on check-in. If the tenants are in breach of contract in this regard, take a cleaning company charge out of their deposit, or apply to deposit scheme to do so. Provide check-in and corresponding check-out photos and importantly descriptions of dirt coverage/ fowling to Carpets / kitchen surfaces/ tiles / floors/ doors/ Oven / bathroom. B4 cleaning is carried out obviously.
Jump HARD on the letting agent / deposit scheme quick to make sure deposit is not returned just yet.
I regularly have to get a 2 man team in to do an end of tenancy deep clean and charge the tenants from deposit and charge for damages where obvious tenant causation. Many tenants just grab chattels and go without a thought to cleaning / repairing anything. Its normal they know exactly what they are doing, they cant be Arse’d. Takes a while but deposit scheme when provided with evidence usually cough up for cleaning but not wear’n’tear.
I tell my tenants a month before they leave that if its not as clean as when they moved in then it will be a deep - deep cleaning at the full cost of their deposit. Every suface is washed / wiped / disinfected. If they want any money back get cleaning. At check-in I provide the itemised descriptive invoice from the recent deep clean and explain that that level will be required when they move out and the price will be higher in the future. Most accept they will lose part / or all deposit if too much bother to clean.
Best
No experience of doing this but I’m glad someone is as I hope you will report the experience back here. Make sure you have plenty of photos and either commission a second independent report or do your own for comparison.