Moving In To New Flat - Problems!

We got the keys for the flat today and went to look at it and it's filthy! It obviously hasn't been cleaned since the former tenants moved out (despite the letting agents saying they would give it a "blitz" before we moved in.) They're fixing a leaky boiler, so the landlords have been in and seen the state of it. We called and complained, and we're meeting with the landlord tonight at 7pm to discuss what needs to be done in order for it to be livable for us. This includes recarpeting, repainting the baseboards and a major cleaning.

This is reasonable, correct? Does anyone know of a site that states our rights as tenants?

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Try Shelter & CAB websites. Shelter also has an email query thing.

Our flat was dirty when I got the keys last month.  I was not amused and pitched a fit with the estate agent who claimed it was some sort of oversight.  Yeah, whatever.  They sent another set of cleaners, who I think *might* have swept a bit, but still didn't do much.  At that point, I just gave up and cleaned myself.  BUT it was just cleaning it needed and not re-carpeting and painting.  Had there been paint/carpet issues, I'd have stuck with it -- especially if it was laid out and agreed to in the offer.

Ugh.  Moving is so much fun.  Sorry.   

Oh no SAAWP, that is no good.  Good luck sorting it tonight!!! 

This includes recarpeting, repainting the baseboards and a major cleaning.

Always get this kind of stuff in writing before moving in...

I'm sorry. That really sucks.

Our flat was a mess when we moved in too. The landlord claims she hired cleaners, but if she did, their standard of clean definitely isn't up to par. They may have swept the floors, but the cupboards were filled with trash and things left by the previous tenants, the kitchen was one sticky mess, there were dirty hand/footprints on the walls, crumbs and nasty wrappers in the couches and chairs (thankfully a couple pounds too!) and none of the window ledges or surfaces had been dusted in what must have years. After talking to our landlord, it was clear she had no intention of rectifying the situation, so I just cleaned it all myself. At least now I know it was cleaned thoroughly.

Hopefully you will have more success getting the landlord to take responsibility.

So how did it turn out? 

Ah, yes! I forgot to update everyone. Oops! 

That night we met with the landlord, and he came and said right away that we were right, it was unacceptable and he'd fix everything. We agreed to stay with my DBF's parents for 6 days and move in Sunday (rather than Tuesday) and begin the lease then. When we got in on Sunday it wasn't 100% clean, but it had all new carpet, new wallpaper and had been lightly cleaned. DBF's family and I did a major clean and moved our things in Sunday at 1pm. We're pretty happy now!

My guess is that they just move students out and immediately in, and only if they complain do they fix it up. They know if someone cares enough to complain the tenants will keep it up, and they can charge more rent next year and recoup their losses. I think I'm pretty right on about this, especially because immediately when he came in he said, "This is unacceptable. We will fix it," without trying to deal at all or throw the lease agreement in our face.

It's different here in the UK. I've never walked into a new place in the US that wasn't immaculately clean, and I got the feeling from everyone I spoke to that having to clean a new place was not unusual.

My suggestion to people renting flats in the UK is to get in writing any repairs or cleaning the letting agent says they'll do. Our letting agent told my DBF when he looked at the place, "Usually before a tenant moves in we send in a cleaning crew to blitz the place." We should have gotten that in writing.

Overall, though, it turned out well. 

I just had the same thing happen as well! Moved into a new flat last weekend and it was FILTHY. We called the estate agent and they basically said: the previous tenants should have cleaned it, oh well, too bad. We managed to get the landlord's number and she was not that bothered either, until we pointed out some obvious health and safety violations in the flat and threatened to withhold rent until they were fixed.

What helped in our case was pointing out to everyone that with the new deposit scheme, they can withhold some money from the previous tenants' deposit and use that to reimburse us for cleaning, so they wouldn't be out of pocket themselves. (We had lots of photos of how filthy things were, so keeping some of the deposit would not be difficult.) The agency agreed to reimburse us at the rate they would pay cleaners, 14 pounds an hour, so at least we will get something back for the hassle.

I do sense a bit of a cultural difference here as well, not sure if I'm right? But I have moved around a lot in London, and the sense I get is that landlords don't expect to have to fix things up between tenants, unless the place is completely destroyed. Back home, even moving into really cheap apartments, everything would be clean and ready to go. Here, it's much more hit-or-miss. From talking to friends as well, it seems like landlords are willing to let a property slowly degenerate until finally it's nasty and they have to do something.

(I realise these are big generalisations, again just my perceptions from my experiences and talking to friends.)

Anyway my two cents: just because you're dealing with an agent, don't expect a higher degree of professionalism (if anything, they can just trade blame back and forth with the landlord). Obviously it's good to get something in writing but this can be hard dealing with an agent (we were told for example that they can't modify the lease template that all their offices use, which is probably BS but what can you do?) And take photos of everything and demand compensation for cleaning. Sometimes the 'pushy American' stereotype comes in handy...

The two places I've moved into here were both very dusty/dirty and needed some cleaning. At the place we currently live in, the builders left a lot of stuff lying around, too, and we had to store it in the garden until they could come and get it. There was some hassle involved, but DH didn't seem to think much about it (everything was newly refurbished, even though some of it was cheaply done) so we just sucked it up and wiped everything down and moved all the builder's junk outside so we could move our stuff in.

I once moved into a room, and the old guy had not even moved out yet. Turned out that the the primary tenant had kicked this guy out against his will, changed the locks, and told me I could move in before the old guy had moved out. When I showed up, all his stuff was still there, and I had to put my stuff in the hall way. It was a pretty uncomfortable situation because she had kept his deposit and just threw him out on the street. He didn't come back for his stuff until the 2nd day that I moved in. After he moved out, the room was dirty, and I had to clean it myself. The primary tenant had gotten weirder each day, and I wanted to move out the day that I moved in. She had also scammed other people, and lived a scammer lifestyle in general, including using other peoples credit cards to order things to the flat. There would be angry people knocking on the door, and the primary tenant would not open the door or pretend not to be home.

I once moved into a room, and the old guy had not even moved out yet. Turned out that the the primary tenant had kicked this guy out against his will, changed the locks, and told me I could move in before the old guy had moved out. When I showed up, all his stuff was still there, and I had to put my stuff in the hall way. It was a pretty uncomfortable situation because she had kept his deposit and just threw him out on the street. He didn't come back for his stuff until the 2nd day that I moved in. After he moved out, the room was dirty, and I had to clean it myself. The primary tenant had gotten weirder each day, and I wanted to move out the day that I moved in. She had also scammed other people, and lived a scammer lifestyle in general, including using other peoples credit cards to order things to the flat. There would be angry people knocking on the door, and the primary tenant would not open the door or pretend not to be home.

  That is truly shocking.

I'm English and have lived in the United States for many years.  I agree, there is a big difference between American norms & expectations and British.  I've always been amazed in America, that the general expectation here is that not only will the whole place be very thoroughly cleaned and in good order, but that walls will be repainted and carpets either steamcleaned or (if necessary) replaced.  My son lives in England now; when he first rented in London, he rented a one bedroom flat, unfurnished.  He was expecting to sleep on the floor until he could get a cheap mattress.. imagine his surprise, when he found that the place was completely furnished!  I think what had happened was each successive tenant had bought odds and ends at IKEA, or secondhand and just left them there when they went back to Italy or wherever.  Of course, this was cheapest grade IKEA; one chair just collapsed when my son sat on it.. but, better than nothing! The landlord obviously couldn't care less..!