Landlord commenting on cleanliness

D

dustie

Registered User
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42
Hi,
My OH and I have been renting house from landlord for past 15 months. Had landlord in today to fix boiler as it wouldnt start having been off for the summer months. He said to my partner that he wasnt satisfied with the "state of the house" and that it was "grubby". He is apparently coming back in 2 weeks to inspect. Now i'm not questioning the houses state, I was travelling with work last week and my partner is useless around the house. It certainly wasn't filthy but probably did need a hoover and a minor clean. There is no mould, dirt or anything potentially damaging the house.

My question is that, is a landlord entitled to dictate how one lives in your home? As we are renting this house, it is our home. We both work full time and we tend to go home to parents houses at weekends. So its not like we actually spend a lot of time except for weekday evenings. When we leave the house it will be professionally cleaned as we got it.
My OH doesnt seem bothered, but I am kinda annoyed at the intrusion. Should I just ignore it?
 
This probably amounts to nothing. But is there anything in the contract or lease re cleanliness?
 
I'd be annoyed too, and feeling like I was being judged for want of a better way of putting it! But for the sake of amiable relations and avoiding regular 'inspections' maybe best off just doing a spring clean?
 
From a landlord's perspective-
My comments are ,of course, biased and generalise, but are based on decades of experience in letting proeprty.

Generally, untidy tenants tend to be the ones who seem to have more wear and tear on furniture and appliances. more broken microwaves, toasters, washing machines,dryers, fridges etc than tenants who are very tidy.

i repeat this is a generalisation . Maybe it could be the basis of a doctoral thesis;- untidy tenants =more cost to landlords.

Again ,even more generalisations.:- Untidy tenants seem to have a higher incidence of late or forgotten payments, of letting water overflow and causing leaks, of forgetting to lock the building doors, of have equally untidy friends stay over.

Maybe I'm suffering from false memory syndrome and my generalisations are based on odd cases from the past. But,sadly, i must confess that little alarm bells go off when I see an untidy apt and I take note of requests fro things to be fixed/replaced and watch the payments.

But I wouldn't be as blunt as the OP's LL. I'd have to see a messy place a few times before making a (hopefully jokey) comment ("it remind me of my daughter's place2 / "give us a tenner and I'll tidy up" etc)..

Forgive me OP if in anyway I'm suggesting you're like this . I'm just giving possible reasons why a LL may be critical of an apt's appearance.

(on the flip side I've often found messy tenants to be more jovial !)
 
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I would be as upset as you are. This was not a pre-arranged inspection after all for which notice is needed.

Many leases state that the LL is to inspect ONLY the structure. I refused to allow a LL to open cupboards etc and would do so again. Tenants are to be given privacy in law.

Make sure that the appointment is made at YOUR convenience also!

And please, make your partner do some of the work.
 
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