Are we being cheated by our landlady?

So my wife and I just moved out of a small 2 bedroom flat; we told the landlady we were going to hire cleaners to clean it but the landlady said she would take care of it because she had cleaners who did the work to her standards. Ok; sounds reasonable.

So now we have just been hit with a 798 GBP cleaning bill that she is going to take out of our deposit.

Here's the thing: the flat was not *that* dirty. It includes charges we are ok with (cleaning oven, sofa) but billing us for 26 hours of cleaning time seems a bit excessive (5+ hours per room). We have moved out of apartments before in the US (Washington DC area) and not been charged anything....this apartment was left in that same condition...

Are we being cheated? What recourse do we have to contest the charges?

Shifty, especially if she played it off as you presented, "Oh we'll take care of it, no worries!" A lot of management companies have forged relationships with cleaning services (sometimes they are related). Check your contract.

It is tricky because even if you clean the place spic and span they can still send the cleaners in claiming it wasn't up to standard (happened to me - £450 - and I cleaned liek a madman). You of course have recourse. Deposits are held in some sort of government scheme designed to prevent this (check direct.gov.uk). I have heard that it works well in getting back money - but the problem then becomes whether your ex landlord will give you a poor reference.

My grandfather would say they have you by the b*lls.

I have heard that it works well in getting back money - but the problem then becomes whether your ex landlord will give you a poor reference.

I had a professional cleaner do my last place when I moved out. Landlady took £57 out of my deposit thanks to some minor scratches from my cat (fine). And then, of course, she gave me a poor reference because while the place was spotless when I left, it happened to be dirty (according to her) once when she came by months earlier.

Wow, that's some cleaning bill! Did you have your deposit in a deposit scheme?

I've never got my deposit back (always one outrageous reason or another) and I've moved four times. Landlords are b*stards in my experience.

Thanks for the input. The resources at the direct.gov.uk were useful, especially this one: http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/HomeAndCommunity/Privaterenting/Problemsanddisputes/DG_189243 [nofollow]

So right now we are trying to figure out what the specific challenge/appeals process is here in the UK. Yes, the money is in a govt deposit scheme and yes, we did have an exit inventory that didn't note anything other than normal wear and tear/cleaning required. Despite that, however, its an £800 charge. We didn't take pictures, unfortunately....looks like that might have helped. But we'll give the challenge/appeals process a try... 

And, as FYI: The landlady cleaned the apartment herself. Talk about padding your hours/conflict of interest....

I hope you win the appeal, that is just ridiculous.

This is ridiculous! Good luck with the appeal!

Wow.  That is world-class bullsh!t.  Good luck with the appeal.  We had a very rough time with our first landlord and trumped up charges, and I was shocked and horrified by the whole dishonest ordeal.    

Wow, you must have had the same stupid cow of a letting agent I had as your landlady.  That lady was physcho.  I cleaned for like 35 hours straight and it still wasn't good enough for the witch and she had to get 'professionals' in. I think they just suck your will to live and all your ££££££

Even though you may have a problem with a reference I would make the landlady jump through the hoops and not let her steal your money.
Cheers

Outrageous! I’m assuming you’ve spoken to your LL to discuss the situation? If you have and she will not compromise then I would start the complaint process.

When I moved from my last flat, the managing agent tried to charge me for various items including a ‘light’ cleaning, even though I had taken a day off from work and scrubbed the place from top to bottom, including the oven which was wretched when I moved in.

The discussion to come to some sort of agreement did not go well so I sent an e-mail to the agent stating that they should not to return the deposit until the issues had been resolved and that I would be making a formal complaint to through the rental deposit scheme. Before I could follow up with a written letter they agreed to refund the entire deposit.

This was my second time renting through this particular estate agent and until this incident found them to competent and fair.

I think you should stand up to your LL. £800 is a lot of money to give away. She’s entitled to something since she did clean the flat but not that much.

Whatever you do, don't accept a partial refund if you plan to take it furrther and make a complaint.

Thanks all for the feedback and responses. Just a short update on this matter: we offered to accept deductions of 425 GBP from our deposit to pay for things with receipts (oven/carpet cleaning, etc) and one day of landlord cleaning. But we contested the rest. She acknowledged that asking us to pay for bedroom painting when it wasn't newly painted when we moved in (ie. check in inventory listed scratches/scrapes/scuffs) was a bit much, but there is still 250GBP under dispute. Have not heard back yet re: outcome of the offer. Will post the results when we know...