FAQs

Once you have vacated the property at the end of your tenancy, your agent will be required to close your flatfair plan. This is because your agent is responsible for completing the end of tenancy process on the flatfair platform and we are unable to action this on their behalf.

If you have vacated your property and you can see that your flatfair plan is still active, we would recommend that you get in touch with your agent to discuss closing this.

Once your tenancy has ended you should request a copy of the check-out report/inventory ASAP. If the check-out report is inaccurate you should note these issues and submit them to your landlord or agent in writing so they can be added to the report.

If you and your landlord go into a dispute over damages or cleaning, the inventory will be the most significant piece of evidence.

Knowing the standard of the property at the start of your tenancy helps to set clear expectations of the maintenance required of you. Inventories also help safeguard tenants against unfair charges when moving out of a property.

There are no early termination charges to flatfair if your tenancy ends earlier than expected. However, If you need to leave before the end of your tenancy, your landlord or agent can charge an 'early termination' fee to cover any reasonable costs. For example, rent up to the end of your fixed tenancy period or costs to find a new tenant.

It is important that you speak to your agent or landlord to discuss this with them directly.

Your landlord or letting agent can charge you at the end of your tenancy if you have broken the terms of your tenancy agreement. Common reasons for deduction include:

- Cleaning
- Damage
- Redecoration
- Unpaid rent
- Gardening

The landlord can only claim to restore any issues in the property to the position they would have been in had you met the terms of your tenancy agreement. The normal decline in the condition of the property and its contents (known as wear and tear) cannot be charged to the tenant and must be factored into the amount charged for repairs, redecoration or replacements.

It is easy to forget how clean the property was at the start of the tenancy, especially if you have lived there for several years. Therefore, you should refer to the check-in report which was agreed upon at the start of the tenancy. The check-in report should give you a good idea of how clean the property was when you moved in and therefore how clean the landlord expects the property to be when you move out. If the inventory states that the property was cleaned to a professional standard, then you must clean the property to the same standard as it would be had you hired in a cleaning service. If the inventory states that it is clean and tidy, there may be photographs of or additional descriptions next to items such as the oven or hallway carpets, which will give you a better idea of how clean it should be when you move out.

Cleaning is very subjective as one person’s view of cleanliness can often differ from another’s. It is important that tenants are aware that the condition of a property in respect of cleaning is not subject to fair wear and tear. This means that even if something was damaged when you moved in, it should still be clean when you move out.

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There is no ‘one size fits all answer to this as it depends on the state of the property at the start and end of the tenancy, what is detailed in the tenancy agreement and a lot of other factors. For simplicity’s sake, let’s make a few assumptions. First, if the tenancy agreement requires that the property must be cleaned to a professional standard and that the property was noted as ‘cleaned to a professional standard’ in the check-in report. Let’s also assume that while the property is clean on the check-out report, there are areas that weren’t cleaned to a professional standard – e.g. the oven wasn’t cleaned, and the shower had the early signs of mould in the grout.

In this case, the landlord would be able to make a good case for a claim for a compensatory amount to be charged at the end of the tenancy. Therefore, it’s important for tenants to be aware of the cleaning standard of the property at the start of the tenancy and ensure this is noted in the inventory check-in report, a critical record of the property’s condition.

If you believe a charge, or a charge amount, that was raised against you is inaccurate, you can always counter it.

If your landlord or agent submits a charge against you at the end of your tenancy, you will receive an email notification complete with the charge details.

Once a charge has been submitted, tenants must respond within 10 days, otherwise the charge will be deemed as accepted.

If you'd like to counter a charge (for example, because you don't agree with the amount being charged), follow these steps:

- Log in into your flatfair dashboard
- Open your current membership and review the charge(s)
- Select Counter for the charge(s) you'd like to negotiate
- The negotiation stage is now active
- Add documents as evidence for your counter charge (evidence such as receipts for professional cleaning will work strongly in your favour)
- Enter the details of your counter charge
- Suggest an alternative price and click Send.

(Note: an alternative price can be anything from £0 upwards. For example, if you think that you should not be charged anything for a specific charge, simply input the number zero.)

Your landlord or agent will receive the counter charge which they can then either accept, counter (again) or dispute.

If they accept, you'll be notified by email. You will then have five days to complete the payment for the accepted charge(s) using a card of your choice. All tenants in the household must complete payment for their equal share. Once payment has been received and reviewed, the membership will be closed.

If they respond (with their own counter charge), the process will continue until an agreement is reached.

In an instance where no agreement can be reached, you may send the charge to Independent Dispute Resolution by clicking Dispute.

The payment link enables tenants who have opted to use flatfair instead of a traditional deposit, to share their account details so that an end of tenancy payment can be paid for.

The payment link is a secure and reliable way to share payment details to settle end of tenancy charges. The link enables tenants who have opted to use flatfair instead of a traditional deposit to share their account details. The link gives access to our secure payment infrastructure to pay for charges at the end of your tenancy.

Each link is unique and linked to a specific account. The link can be shared by tenants via email, text message or any other way they prefer.

We offer a returning tenant discount on a conditional basis; tenants are eligible for a 20% discount on their new flatfair check-in fee if their previous plan was closed without charges and tenants are eligible for a 10% discount on their new flatfair check-in fee if their previous plan was closed with charges, but these must be settled and not include any rent arrears.