Pest control charges after end of tenancy

Tenant Discussion
1

Hi,
I was staying in a shared flat with two other flatmates until mid-Sept. Stayed there for roughly 9-10 months.

There was a mold issue in the whole building for which the building had put a notice on and we let the landlord know later as well. He came for inspection and had some concerns on the waste management and pests. There were few issues related to pests besides mold and waste. He was not happy about it and the issue continued for two weeks despite his first warning. This was because of lack of coordination between the flatmates and overall pest issue in the building. He told us we need to pay cleaning charges for deep cleaning which we paid and got it done. And then he asked two of us to leave the house/end the tenancy one by one as there is no fixed term in the contract and it rolls month on month basis. We paid for the end of tenancy cleaning charges and we got the deposit back minus provisional bills. He sent us the actual bills for our end of tenancy and which was 30 pounds lower than what I was charged. However, he didn’t send me my refund back and instead is asking me to pay 40 pounds for pest control issue he got done after we left: when he shared actual bills there was no mention of pest control issue being done after we left or we would be charged. Further, the inspection happened in July and we paid cleaning charges then so he had good 4 months to get pest control done. He is now threatening me that he will escalate it to my current landlord and update tenant references if I don’t pay him by next three days. Am I obliged to pay?

2

I dont think I know enough about this to advise, and their appear two sides to this story, however I would say;

I wouldn’t worry about this, if you are already moved into your new property, this should have no affect at all.

3

Ask him to refund the excess utility costs he charged for. Remind him that insisting on professional cleaning without an alternative option is illegal under the Tenant Fees Act and remind him that the pest infestation is endemic in the whole building and its a landlords responsibility to block any entry points for pests.

Clearly if the story is not quite as you’ve told it, this may not be the right suggestions.

4

This topic was automatically closed 90 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.