Question about leaving a rental property

[seren_ccd]

Okay, I have a question about something that is really, really bugging me.

When I left the house I was renting, I made sure to clean it. I scrubbed the bathroom, bedroom, kitchen, refrigerator, vacuumed, etc. I did everything that I could in a limited amount of time and with only my two hands.

Was it professional-grade clean? Probably not, but it was certainly liveable.

My former landlady is planning to take out £360 out of my rental deposit for the cleaning of two professional cleaners over the course of two days. Basically, she's charging me for a professional cleaning.

This is not sitting well with me. I was under the impression that landlords were obliged to clean the rental property under their own steam. There was no damage and I don't think comparing the job I did with that of professional cleaners is fair.

What does everyone else think?

Comments

[miera-c.livejournal.com]

No. They should not be taking that much money out unless there was damage to the apartment that you caused. Cleaning and painting should be the owner's expense, not yours, unless there was excessive dirt or damage. I've gotten all or almost all of every security deposit I ever made back because I never left damage behind. That's not right.

[seren-ccd.livejournal.com]

That's what I thought. At the very least, they should have notified us at the beginning that this is what they wanted to do. I'm in the midst of negotiations, so hopefully we can come to a happy medium. Ugh. This just makes me want my own house.