Did you clean your old house before you moved out?

Gagajo
The deposit scheme does allow you to claim, but maybe not for cleaning. We let out my late brother’s flat, nicely renovated, left to my daughter till she was in a position to use or sell it after Uni. One family wrecked the shower room, looked as though candles had burnt down onto the surfaces. Carpets and suite had to be replaced, bed looked as though somebody had had a baby in it, maybe they had (the mattress protector I put on had been removed for some reason). Hob was so encrusted with burnt on food it had to be replaced. And everything needed a professional clean before new people could go in, I could have tackled it but too disheartened. Plus the flat was empty while all that got done. They didn’t get their deposit back, but it cost double the deposit to put right, and no more money forthcoming. We could have taken them to court, but the stress, time and money put us off

We'd cleared and cleaned the loft before we put the house on the market and the agent said he couldn't believe how clean the loft was. We'd had the roof replaced when we moved in and had everything insulated and boarded.

I thought eveyone did or at least have a firm to do it, isnt there some kind of law about leaving houses clean before moving, maybe an unwritten law.

We moved into a very fancy flat in Chelsea a few years back, but the shock in bathroom cupboard was a rubber tube and “accessories” - a full blown (not medical) enema kit. We laughed but was shocked anyone would leave that when rest of place was spotless.

I was under the impression that when selling property (rather than vacating rented property) there was a clause in the legal documentation to the effect that it had to be free of all movable items and clean. And yes, I would expect 'clean' to mean no grime or cobwebs, and vacuumed carpets. However, the reality of house moving is that one sits in one's property on the day of departure until the phone call comes from the solicitor to say that the purchaser's money has arrived in his/her bank and then it's a question of getting out while the purchasers wait outside to come in - so realistically there is always going to be a need for some level of cleaning. When I last moved five years ago, I walked into house to find the fridge still full of the vendor's food, and when I contacted her she asked me to keep it for her until she came this way again!!! When I asked where she thought I might keep my own frozen and larder food until she was able to collect this she had no answer. However you look at it, moving is stressful.

Everytime I sold a house, I cleaned every inch from top to bottom, hoovering or mopping myself right out of the front door.

Everytime I moved into a new house, it was filthy ?

Amazing......everyone on here leaves the home they are moving from absolutely spotless -and equally everyone on here has found the place they are moving to absolutely filthy!!!!

Obviously, none on here have moved into the homes of others on here!!!!!

'Doesn't everyone want to give a good clean to their new home when they move in.??

Always have left a clean house. But when I moved into this council house it was filthy. The lady who lived in it before me had dementia so I didn't expect it to very clean but 15 years later I still have not been able to get rid of the limescale from the toilet. I have tried everything on the market and every hint and tip, but nothing works. Have asked for a new toilet and bath but so far have had no response from the council, even though the toilet has leaked 5 times and flooded the place.

I clean every house I leave, leave a moving in card and a bottle of wine, but every one I've got have been disgusting. When I bought this bungalow it had an 80's fryer built into the hob( weird I know) which I thought was a griddle until I lifted to to find rancid oil in it. The bungalow had been empty for over a year, it was disgusting.
The last one had that much grease the kitchen walls,cupboards, light switches, etc were all yellow. The toilets were replaced the first week....I'd borrowed the keys from the estate agent for my plumber to check the leaking overflow and he couldn't get into loft for kids toys and rubbish. It amazes me how they had the cheek to leave it all, it filled 2 skips and they were billed for it.
I would be embarrassed leaving a dirty house, but on seeing some I've moved into, some people just don't care.

I polished and scrubbed our seven bedroom house when we moved,with the help of friends and relatives as we had teenage boy Foster children and heaven only knows what they might have left! One house we moved into,on Christmas eve,I snow and six months pregnant had no light bulbs or curtain rails,but even worse,the electricity sockets had never been upgraded and they were the old three pin round ones so we couldn't use anything. Luckily my mother in law lived opposite and we were able to stay with her until we were able to rewire the house.

I rented a property around 10 years ago,and when i left i received a lovely letter from the landlord thanking me for leaving the house spotless.
That was a lovely gesture,but i coudn`t help but wonder how previous tenants left it.
I couldn`t believe it when i bumped into the landlord and he showed me some photos of the house left by previous tenants ,OMG i was truely shocked.
My attitude is leave a property as you want to find one.

My house was cleaned thoroughly when I moved and I let it to a large family with a big dog. Three years later when they moved out I didn't bother with an inspection from the letting agent as I knew the house would be spotless, and it was! I moved straight back in. It was as it should have been and they had even decorated a couple of rooms which looked better than when I left them. Not all tenants a filthy.

The reality of buying and selling property is that if you're in a chain, you wait outside the house you are moving into until the vendor receives a call from his/her solicitor to say that your money has been received in his/her account. That means you move in as soon as the vendor moves out and there's bound to be areas of the property that are not cleaned to satisfaction. When I moved five years ago I entered the house as the vendor left and as I opened the fridge and freezer doors to do what I thought was the most important thing and protect my food, I saw that she had forgotten to empty the fridge - much more of a problem than a few cobwebs for me, especially as she asked me to keep it for her until she could return!

DD has just moved out of military quarters to their own home - they are 'marched out' (inspected) and everything has to be spotless. Sadly their new home wasn't - greasy oven and dirty work surfaces and so on. It's a shame people don't have the same standards but there we are!

Each time we have moved I have paid a cleaning company to come in and clean all paintwork, cupboards, windows, carpets etc - well worth the expense

I have moved several times and always tried to leave each house 'As I would wish to find it'. I remember moving out of our first home when my late Mother hoovered herself backwards out of the door, ensuring that there wasn't a speck on the hall carpet. Our last move was from a house that I had found in a spotless state, and we left it just the same. I put clean guest towels, soap and a loo roll in the bathrooms, and a bottle of wine and a card for the new owners, a delightful couple. We then drove to our current home, which had a filthy oven that didn't work, carpet that made me feel itchy to look at it, broken garage door, broken cistern handles and windows too dirty to see through. I don't think the owners had made any gesture towards cleaning anywhere since we agreed to buy it.

Me and my DS#1 cleaned our old home inside out! It was spotless a very different story to how I found it, filthy, disgusting and all the detritus of 2 "professionals"(yeah right!) And a huge spaniel! It also took me weeks to 'bottom it out' . I always think it's very telling how people live in private. I'm always gobsmacked at what a friend thinks acceptable for her bathroom to look like whenever they have a BBQ etc. Knowing that people will be using facilities and not bothering to even give a cursory clean is disrespectful to guests and more pertinently- herself too!

I cleaned out my home before leaving,left loo paper and all bulbs in place,when I moved into my home many years ago the previous owner had left it in a good condition and it really helped.
I take on board the leaving numbers of reputable tradesmen etc-very good idea.

I haven't moved for ages, but helped my daughter and son in law move onto theirs about 8 yrs ago. It was filthy!! Like a midden! Hair all over stairs, blood spatter on radiators, shower cubicle had been used as a tanning booth, dried eggs on outside of 1 big picture window (wondered why blind was pulled down!) Took a full bottle of cillit bang and a scraper to remove it!! Even left a freezer in the garage unplugged with food in!!! Minging!!! How can people live like that??! I complained to estate agents about it

I've never had to...still live in my childhood home. Four generations of our family have lived here.

Can't you have one fitted yourself? I wouldn't bother asking twice! If they don't like it keep the old one and plonk it back when ya move on!

You can have a clause put in tenancy agreement that must be in clean state with no belongings or rubbish left, the security deposit would cover and breaches

By law in Denmark, a property has to be emptied completely of furnishing and private property, including lamp and light fittings when you leave it. A ceiling light has to be left in working order in the kitchen and in the bathroom, but everywhere else they are the property of the person moving out.

Attics, cellars, garages and garden sheds have likewise to be cleared.

If this is not possible, in the case of an elderly person with no help moving out, or a property bought as the estate of a deceased person with no heirs, it has to be clearly statedsin the sales contract and lowers the price of the property.

Anything left in the house when you move in, except kitchen fittings such as the sink and cooker is yours to dispose of.

We moved into a scrupulously clean house, with more than the regulation light fittings, but found there was furniture left in it. Not much, but we made the mistake of asking the daughter of the previous owner whether she wanted any of the things and it took her months to come and collect them.

I have always made sure that all fitted cupboards were clean, the attic emptied and swept, the bathroom fit to be used and the kitchen clean.

By law there is nothing you can do in a private property if it resembles a pig-sty when you move in, except contact the estate agent, who might well help you recover the cost of professional cleaning from the seller.

Building society houses and flats have completely different rules and moving in to them, you can demand the former occupant or the society clears and cleans a property left full of things and filthy at their expense.

Gardens too are expected to be moderately well-kept and an estate agent will point out that a neglected property will be harder to sell and that the buyer will demand a substantial lowering of the price.

It's not always possible to leave an immaculate house, sadly. When we moved from our first house, I had been ill for a week with the flu (the real flu not the "bad cold" type of flu) and my husband had been doing all the packing, as well as working full time, so he was exhausted. The most we could do was leave the kitchen and bathroom as clean as we could, and we hoovered as each room was emptied. I would hate to think that the couple who moved in would have judged us as harshly as some of the people on here.

A few days before we left our house of 29 years my cleaner came in and did a good clean (I'm disabled, and had needed a cleaner for a while) and on the day we moved out a friend vacuumed every room as it was emptied. I don't suppose it was immaculate but it was as clean as we could make it.
We already knew the doors were hanging off the kitchen cupboards of the house we were moving into so we weren't really surprised to find a layer of grease over the counter tops in the kitchen and the whole place a mess. But then that's how it was when we saw it and decided to buy so I can't really complain.