There has been an interesting report published by LandlordZone about how the pet advocacy charity AdovCATS helped a tenant challenge her landlord’s initial refusal to allow her to keep her cat in her flat.
Apparently, initially, the landlord told the tenant that she must not make any pet requests, saying “one-bedroom flats are too small for pets”
Something plainly untrue – many years ago, I kept my cat in a studio flat without problems.
Unlawful conditions for keeping a cat
The landlord’s agents (who should have known better) then apparently granted permission, but on condition that
- She took out pet damage insurance and
- Agreed to have the property professionally cleaned using the landlord’s chosen contractor at the end of the tenancy.
Both of these are clearly in breach of the Tenant Fees Act.
The insurance condition
When the Renters Rights bill was going through Parliament, it initially included an exception to the Tenant Fees Act that would have allowed landlords to require tenants to pay for pet damage insurance.
However, this was dropped when the government was informed, during the bill’s passage through Parliament, that no such insurance currently existed.
So landlords will now have to look to their own insurance to cover damage. They can’t require tenants to pay for this.
The end-of-tenancy cleaning condition
This is clearly in breach of the Tenant Fees Act, which limits the fees that landlords can charge their tenants.
A standard charge for end-of-tenancy cleaning is not one of the charges permitted under the Act. I am surprised that the agents were unaware of this.
However, there is a way around this. Although landlords cannot impose a set charge, they can charge for cleaning if the property can be proved to be dirtier than it was at the start of the tenancy.
In order to be able to claim this, the landlord will need a detailed inventory agreed by the tenant at the start of the tenancy, which clearly states that the property has been professionally cleaned.
Retaining the receipt for this work is also advisable.
Then, when the tenant vacates, if a detailed check of the property shows that it is in a dirtier condition than it was when the tenant moved in, this may justify the landlord charging the tenant for the reasonable costs of a professional clean.
The fair wear and tear exception to landlords’ claims for damage does not normally apply to claims for cleaning.
So it is not right to say that landlords cannot charge tenants for professional cleaning at the end of the tenancy. However, in order to claim it, they need to prove that they are entitled to it.
And finally
This all goes to show that the Renters Rights Act and the Tenants Fees Act do not prevent landlords from making valid claims, for example, regarding pet damage.
Although blanket bans and automatic cleaning charges are no longer allowable, landlords can claim compensation if they are able to prove that they have suffered genuine loss.
However, to do this, they need a properly drafted tenancy agreement, a detailed inventory, and documentary evidence of detailed check-in and check-out inspections of the property at the start and end of the tenancy.
See this post, which has further guidance for landlords.
Leave a Reply