+1

This sort of thing looks to me like the agents/landlords are getting round the rules on deposits by making a charge for something else.
My personal bugbear is renewal fees for if you renew your tenancy agreement. My agent charges £50 (+VAT) for a new fixed term contract or £20 (+VAT) per month if you go onto a rolling contract. As fas as I can tell that's to print out a few sheets of paper

Your thoughts on "clean/good condition" might vary on mine.

When I was in Camberley I had to gut the house before I moved in, and the guy doing the (independent) inventory took note of this. When I moved out I cleaned the house so that it was cleaner than when I moved in, I still got deposit taken off for cleaning because I hadn't done things like clean the lampshades or cleaned the cupboards the crockery was in - but the lampshades were filthy when I moved in and couldn't be arsed, and the crockery belonged to the landlady and hadn't been touched...

I think he killed his router.

viewtopic.php?f=4&t=15228

When I was renting in sheffield before I moved in I got them to "professonally" clean the house, I then took a lot of photos and re-took them when I moved out. As it was I had no probelms with the agents and they paid the deposit back withi a couple of weeks

We were charged a 'cleaning' fee when we moved into the last place I rented.
It was painfully clear that although the property had been empty for over a year, nobody had even run a hoover over the floor.
Dead wood lice, thick black layer of dust in the toilet, spider's webs and dust bunnies in the corners.
Still charged us £150 for the 'cleaning' that went on. Even when presented with photographic proof that there clearly hadn't been any cleaning, they fronted it out and we had to pay up or lose the house.

more detail than we needed, tbh



But then her house will (almost certainly) increase in value over time, and the mortgage will at some point, be paid off, whereas you'll always be paying rent - or as we call it, someone else's mortgage.

Cheers, Pete.

'Affordable' new houses now are little more than flimsy breeding boxes.

Christ knows what the average price (and average quality) will be when my kids are old enough to consider moving out.

But they'll have moved on before they pay the mortgage, it's only three beds. I don't know the length of the mortgage, but I bet it's more than 25 years. Plus if they want to get their money, they have to sell their house. I'm not anti owning, but when prices are like this, I'd rather live somewhere nicer for less money. I can spend the rest in other ways like stocks, shares, Isas, pensions or simply on shiny stuff!

Not that it matters, but our house is part of an estate, so no mortgage on it.

Mine can suck on a large equestrian phallus if they think we are losing any of our deposit, had damage to the house since we moved that we are not to blame for and 7 months down the line there have still been no repairs, or progress. Landlady had a contract which meant she had to sign off all work apparently and that includes fixing batteries in an alarm...

I don't object to taking money off if cleaning is needed. That's normal.

It's the obligation to pay even if the house is in perfect condition.

I guess the key difference is that she's not spending a hundred quid a month more than you. She's only spending the fraction of that that's the interest on the mortgage. (Hopefully) the majority of the money she pays on the mortgage is just being invested into her house.

Trouble here is that it costs twice as much if the landlord does it, and yet you can't do it yourself. Everyone complains, but it's just the way it is.

Fortunately we've just found an apartment to move into and the landlady hasn't had a chance to get it done before we move in, so we'll be exempt from those charges and the flat is in good condition as well.