Cleaning is the number one cause of disputes in the private rental sector since the introduction of tenant deposit protection in 2007 according to a lettings technology firm.
Imfuna says the latest data from the Tenant Deposit Scheme shows that cleaning continues to take the lion’s share of deposit disputes, up almost 50 per cent over the last five years.
According to Imfuna, agents and landlords are increasingly facing filthy properties at the end of tenancies, exacerbated in those cases where there are no inventories accompanied with photographs and detailed descriptions.
It says the biggest issues are:
Ovens causing the most problems, while burn marks to any part of the appliance means it is not clean;
– Stained and marked carpets, often attempted to be hidden by tenants with furniture and rugs. Tenants are also known to cut out the stain and fill the hole with carpet they have cut from a hidden part of the property, such an underneath the bed;
– Heavy limescale on kitchen and bathroom taps and showerheads, sometimes inaccurately blamed on ‘hard water’;
– Grease deposits throughout the kitchen, with surfaces sticky to touch;
– Thick dust and cobwebs, particularly around furniture and on ceilings
