Landlords and letting agents are coming across increasingly dirty rental properties at the end of tenancies, as a study reveals that cleaning continues to dominate deposit disputes.
Some 70% of landlords say their property has been returned to them in a 'dirty condition' at the end of a tenancy, a study has revealed.
On more than one occasion, a rental property has had to be completely refurbished as it was returned to the landlord in such poor condition.
Online letting agent PropertyLetByUs' research found that ovens are most frequently the grubbiest feature of a rental property once tenants move out.
This was followed by carpets and flooring, showers, sinks, fridge freezers and baths, according to the study of 500 landlords carried out this month.
Tenancy deposit protection scheme TDS has claimed that cleaning now accounts for over half of the disputes it deals with and that cleaning disputes are now at their highest level since the scheme was established.
PropertyLetByUs.com says that tenants seem to have little or no respect for their rented home.
“Unfortunately tenants fail to treat a rented property like they would if it was their own home,” says the firm's managing director, Jane Morris.
“We have seen many properties left in a filthy state,” she says. “At a recent check out, the property was left in a very poor condition. No cleaning had taken place during the tenancy and the ovens, carpets and the bathrooms were filthy. Unwanted furniture was the left in the house and strewn across the garden.”
Morris says her agency is urging landlords to carry out mid-term inspections so they can flag up cleaning issues before it's too late.
“At the check-out, the tenants should be made aware of the areas requiring cleaning and the potential cost involved,” she adds.
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Prevention is crucial! Home visits should always be carried out during tenancies. We also carry out pre-check-out inspections to advise the tenant what needs doing before their end date; gives them the chance to put things right and avoid deposit disputes. Ultimately, a good agent should always provide a comprehensive housing management service for their landlord customers to prevent tenancy problems. See our website for details: www.ethicallettingsagency.co.uk
So this letting company PropertyLetByUs.com has the nerve to blab about their poor quality of service and I would put them in the same category as rogue agents. However they may have only been employed to check the tenants in and out with the landlord managing so you could have been a bit too quick off the mark.
The penultimate paragraph in the article seems to imply that PropertyLetByUs.com they were not managing agents.
I have a problem with tenants wanting longer lets. Six months is about the time they can live in a place without doing any cleaning and can still expect to get most of their deposit back.
My best letting agents start with three monthly inspections (full management) but I do not mind if they pay less attention to good tenants. Bad tenants soon get extra attention and I do not have to ask.
We are in the process of changing another agency who always seems to find poor tenants and just lets the property run into the ground to the point where it is un-letable except to desperate tenants who have no idea how to look after a property. This makes matters worse of course. They do nothing to keep the property in good condition which has resulted in extended voids. Even worse , they get a bit tetchy when I insist on smartening the property between lets. The trouble is that they then get another bad tenant..................
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