Priority Summer Job: Do the Cleaning - TDS Tells Students

LONDON, June 25, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --

University students leaving their accommodation at the end of the summer term are being presented with a check list of cleaning tasks and the likely costs that could be incurred for failing to do the chores. These are costs that should not fall on the Bank of Mum and Dad.

And the price of failing to put in a bit of elbow grease does not come cheap. Getting a cleaning company to clean the bathroom properly can come out at up to £100, cleaning the oven £95 and the fridge £40. Just paying someone else to throw out the rubbish can cost as much as £50.

These warnings have been issued by the Tenancy Deposit Scheme and Unipol, the student accommodation providers in a joint effort to make students aware of the savings to be made by leaving their rented student housing spick and span.

Said Steve Harriott, Chief Executive of the Tenancy Deposit Scheme, "Students everywhere are a bit inclined to rely on the Bank of Mum and Dad, particularly if it saves them from doing the chores!  Not only that, they often forget how deposit protection works, how and why deposits are paid and how to get them back at the end of a tenancy."

The campaign comes in the shape of a Door Card which is being circulated through all the student accommodation provided by Unipol, the country's biggest provider of student rentals. The cards provide examples of deposit deductions, and other potential reasons for the legitimate non-return of deposits. These include non-payment of rent and other bills and what happens in the event of leaving early as well as the costs of cleaning and making good.

The cards also suggest asking for a pre-leaving inspection to double check precisely what needs to be attended to before leaving. They also warn that if cleaning contractors have to be called in, the costs of travel, VAT and management time can leave the landlord with bills that are higher then the deposit paid. These amounts, which are recoverable in law, have to be added to the bill for deposit clearance.

Said Martin Blakey, Chief Executive of Unipol Student Homes, "As the weather improves and friends leave town, it is all too easy not to clean and tidy the house but the cost to a landlord to get this work done commercially is often a lot more than students think. The easiest way to avoid any deposit deductions is to leave the house in a good, clean condition and then everyone is happy. We hope this card campaign will give students the information and incentive to end their tenancy well."  

If the initial Door Card Scheme proves successful, it could be rolled out through other university towns.