Clearing Out Your Rental Property Waste
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- Posted date:
- 25-10-2021
Find out more about Clearing Out Your Rental Property Waste. We look at the Landlords Role When Clearing Out A House and the role of the tenant.
If you regularly live in rental properties, or a rental owner yourself, you'll know the trials and tribulations associated with clearing the property out at the end of a tenancy. It can be strenuous work for both parties, but who's in the right?
This article will go over what role landlords play when clearing out a house and where you (as a tenant) should find yourself.
Landlords Role When Clearing Out A House
If you're a landlord, then you've probably spent many hours having a deep clean of your rented property. Sure enough, some tenants will be tidy and leave the property tidy and clean, but there are other spots that are missed or ignored because they believe it to be your job.
Unless you've stated otherwise, be it verbally or in contract form in the tenancy agreement, then there may still be rubbish and waste after tenants have moved out. Landlords will typically provide a checklist for tenants to complete before they can leave, especially if they want a full deposit back.
Many landlords ask that tenants put the rubbish out on the last available bin collection day before leaving and leave the property as they found it.
Of course, as tenants leave a property, there may be more rubbish produced than when they moved in.
Sometimes personal belongings are left behind, only for the landlord to deal with.
You have to adhere to the council and their rubbish restrictions, so sometimes hiring a professional cleaning service or collection company is less hassle.
Whose Responsibility?
Whilst the tenants are living at the home, they are contractually obligated to show good waste management. This means they should be disposing of their own waste, recycling, and doing so in the proper manner.
It's typical for a landlord to check all surfaces for dust and stains, as these are simple cleans to be done before moving out. More extreme issues such as mould should be reported and can be handled by the individual landlord-tenant combination.
However, once they have left (and rubbish has been unattended), it becomes your job, as the landlord, to dispose of this correctly. Some landlords will choose to fine the tenants or keep part of a deposit as payment for not succeeding in throwing out rubbish, but they must still find a way to dispose of it.
Unlike being in your own home, where you can realistically dispose of any rubbish however you see fit, this rental property is your business. This means the waste and rubbish must be disposed of in the same manner that commercial waste is. The responsibility for handling commercial waste is always up to the owner (in this case, you).
Associated Fines
What's involved in disposing of items and rubbish in a commercial waste manner, you ask? There are simple rules to follow, and if you're ever questioning these, then you can contact your local council or a professional clearing service. Both will have experience dealing with your issue.
Put simply; a landlord is obligated to dispose of waste correctly and not just leave it lying around.
If, say, carpets, cupboards, mattresses need replacing after tenants have left, then you must utilise a third party who specialises in house clearance.
If you are found dumping items and rubbish, then you are liable for a £2000-£50,000 fine or prosecution and a prison sentence in extreme cases.
To save all of this, hire a house clearance company and ensure that you're disposing of all waste correctly, in a skip, for example. A good contractor can perform most of this for you if they have the correct license and duty of care note.
Having a good and efficient disposal route for the waste is also important. This may all sound like a hassle that you'd rather the tenants deal with, but your business deserves this little bit of extra care from you.
Why should a tenant clean the property?
As a tenant, you should be cleaning a property before you leave. You should be cleaning it regularly anyway. You have contractual responsibilities to clean a house before you move out, and you cannot get a full deposit back if you don't do so.
There are a few good reasons why you should go out of your way to clean and clear the property, especially if you want to move out and hand your keys in.
Get Good References
In case you need references from your current landlord, you want to make sure that they are able to give you a good reference to future landlords. This can give you a hard time renting a new property if the word spreads that you're an untidy and difficult tenant.
Avoid Tense Disputes
You don't want to move out of a rental property only to be faced with a large sum of your deposit missing.
This can be because the landlord has taken some to pay for the cleaning of the house that you missed.
The Tenancy Deposit Scheme (TDS) has recorded that over half of the overall disputes are to do with the cleaning of the house.
This means that landlords are taking money (which is rightfully theirs when a property isn't cleaned), and the tenants are raising a dispute.
Now, sometimes landlords can be power-hungry and want additional money, so it's best you just clean the property yourself, and you'll probably get all your deposit back.
Do you need an end of tenancy clean?
If this is you, and you find yourself moving out of a rental property, then you may benefit from an end of tenancy clean.
This is what a landlord will be looking for, the bare minimum of what is expected before a new tenant can move into that rental property. A property proves harder to rent if it is untidy, and potential tenants will want somewhere that appears clean and tidy.
If you don't want to handle clearing an entire house out because some landlords require a deep clean, then there are services and companies you can hire to clean out your house. This can involve throwing out any rubbish and recycling in the correct manner, or tidying up the garden, and ensuring that no weeds are overgrowing.
These end of tenancy cleaning services will be experienced in knowing what standard to meet and ensuring that any landlords or estate agents are happy with the property before you officially move out. They take care to clean out each room, vacuum, and provide a clean household for the landlord.
Do I need to hire a skip for the end tenancy clean out?
Of course, if you'd rather do this job yourself, so you know it's done well, then you can hire a skip and ensure the property receives a deep clean before you move out.
There are many different-sized skips available to you, and you're able to hire them for however long you deem worthy.
You're able to hire a skip for garden clearances and end-of-tenancy cleanings and dispose of any rubbish or broken bits of furniture in the correct way.
Domestic waste and garden rubbish are expected when moving out of a property, as perhaps the landlord has made a desire to get new mattresses with the next tenant. These can be disposed of correctly with differing skip sizes.
If this is something you're interested in, then get in touch today, and we can organise for a skip to be delivered to your property.
We offer a range of sizes for all jobs and projects, from Midi skips (which fall between 3-6 yards) and builder skips, which will be larger than 6 yards and are typically used for retail and commercial property clear-outs.
Midi skips are even able to hold up to 35 bin bags worth of waste products, so they are ideal for smaller properties and could be useful for moving out of your rental.
We offer much larger skips too, but we must adhere to the local council and can aim to deliver the skip as close to your project as possible.
Call us today, and we can give advice on what would be the best-sized skip for your end of tenancy cleaning out.