Hi all, Can a landlord deduct a small cleaning charge from a deposit (even if its at the end of the tenancy) to get the bathroom cleaned whilst the tenant is still living there (mid term) if he doesn’t clean the bathroom?
He’s been living there 6 months and has another 6 months on a 1 year lease. I don’t think he’s ever cleaned it. There is thick dust everywhere and limescale/ mould build up in bath, sink and dust on toilet rim showing he’s not cleaning it. The toilet pan was brown at the 4 month inspection and I asked him to clean it, I also mentioned about opening skylight window to air the room (on top of using extractor fan), also leaving a window open in the lounge when he airs his wet clothes (he’s refuses to use the provided tumble drier). The flush broke so I just went round and whilst he got the pan clean no where else is, the flat smelt really damp (and its summer time), no window in bathroom open and the lounge had clothes on airers but no window open in lounge as I had requested.
Once a plumber has fixed the toilet flush, I’m going to ask him to get the bath and sink clean and to air the place before my next official inspection (7 months) in about a month’s time. If its not clean can I say I will have to hire a cleaner to do the bathroom to protect my property? As if the plastic bath gets so badly limescaled up over the next 6 months (before I can tell him to leave) arguably it would need replacing which would be a lot more money out of his deposit! Also I wouldn’t want to show any “good” potential tenants round with it in the state it is (would only attract other bad tenants) so i’ll lose at least a month’s deposit as have to get the place back into a good state before its re-rentable. So its in my interests its kept up together. My tenancy agreement says to “keep the fixtures clean and tidy throughout the tenacy”. Also do" to ventilate the place".
Be grateful for any helpful replies,