I have given notice on my current apartment in Basel Stadt, and have received a letter from my private landlord confirming acceptance of the end date.
He has also included a note that Basel Stadt tenancy laws require a cleaning fee, and a bill for CHF 679.
I was probably going to hire cleaners anyway so as far as I'm concerned, this makes my life somewhat easier. However, does paying a cleaning fee mean that I can't be held to account if something is deemed insufficiently clean when I give the keys back?
I will of course clean the apartment before I leave, but if professionals are going to come through afterwards anyway, how concerned do I need to be in case I unwittingly leave a water mark on the shower screen? The handover of accountability is what I'm not clear on.
Any advice, please?
Well, i lived in basel stadt before and did not payed such a fee (my rent was from livit).
When you move out , you search for a cleaner with a "Abnahmegarantie".
The cost of the cleaning depends on the size of your flat.
That sounds like a reasonable price, and depending on the size of your apartment, perhaps even a "bargain".
If the landlord wants to charge that cleaning fee and organize "their" cleaners, I don't see a scenario where they "wouldn't be satisfied with a result and blame you".
That was my logic too, although I’m glad I checked my assumptions here
And I agree, it does indeed seem a bargain. Some others that I had looked at previously charged 800 and 1200 respectively
What is the exact, verbatim wording of this "note"? Sound very strange, and there might be things lost in translation.
The price looks good, however I never heard of such a rule.
There are advertisements for "Endreinigung" in Basel
(e.g. https://cleanprofis.ch/endreinigung/endreinigung-basel/ )
so I don't completely understand how there could be a fixed Kantonal fee if there is also a free market with Abnahmegarantie.
Maybe you could reply that you are happy to pay that fee, but first you want a reference to the law and all fee conditions in writing?
If you get in writing that the fee completely removes any liability from your side, that you don't have to clean at all and guarantees that your mietdepot will be promptly unlocked, then go for it
I’ll take a pic when I get home and share it, I used Google translate to read it but I know that isn’t always super accurate
In basel Stadt this is very common. The fee ensures that you have to leave the apartment besengeputz, whose interpretation is very loose. My understa Is that besides the windows the kitchen has to be degreased and the bathroom descaled. Otherwise you just have to sweep the floor. So basically you do the normal things yourself and you pay only for the professional ones.
When you hand over the keys. That's why the handover protocol should be produced simultaneously.
It’s very common in Basel. I know of lots of people who have had that.
They basically had to leave it ‘swept clean’ and pay the fee for the cleaning to be done by the landlords.
Right, that's what I would expect to be logical... but (in addition to things in Switzerland not always being logical) another thread on EF indicated that landlords have 3 days after the key handover to make any additional-cleaning claims against the tenant (perhaps this was in another canton of course)
Thanks Belgianmum & cinzia for confirming this is normal in Basel.
Not all Cantons are the same. Basel, at least when I was living there, rented apartments were subject to what was called Besenrein - swept clean. No professional cleaning and anal handover ceremony required.
Your contract should stipulate the level of cleaning required: "cleaned carefully" or "cleaned properly"etc.
A good rule is to leave the apartment in the same condition in which you received it. If any stipulation of "cleaned carefully" or "cleaned professionally" is stated in the contract, then the fee you're being quoted is a fair "walk out" deal.
That's why it's absolutely necessary to have the handover protocol signed before you return the keys. No protocol, no keys, as simple as that.
When I moved out from the apartment in Basel, a month later I got a letter with a bill for the replacement of the kitchen extractor fan. The filter had been replaced and I had receipts for it, but it was the signed protocol that saved me.
We just paid almost triple that amount for our recent cleaning in Zug! In my experience, the responsibility lies with the cleaners. Ours had to come back for a few odds and ends. We left all discussions to the cleaners and our landlord.
This reminded me about
this thread. Something to keep in mind and closely follow-up with the cleaners.
Hidden/invisible damages yes, visible damages (plus cleaning as that's superficial and thus visible at handover) no.
Cheers everyone. As always, super helpful, I appreciate it
If I remember, I’ll update this thread once the handover is all done & dusted in case it benefits any future forum lurkers