End of tenancy clean: What you need to know

One of the most important things you'll need to sort out is cleaning your rental. To help you, here's a guide to getting your place ready to hand over to your landlord or their agent.

As part of your rental agreement, when leaving the property, it should be left in the same state as it was at the beginning of your tenancy.

An end-of-tenancy clean therefore goes beyond regular cleaning as it involves a much more detailed approach to ensure the property's cleanliness meets the landlord's expectations.

This means it's important to ensure that you've thoroughly cleaned every room. 

As of the Tenant Fees Act in 2019, landlords aren't allowed to require tenants to pay for a professional clean, so legally, it isn't required.

However, as you do have an obligation to return the property to its original state, whether you feel like you require one is up to you. 

You may opt for professional cleaning if you don't feel confident in your cleaning abilities or you feel that you don't have enough time to clean the property yourself to the required standard. 

It's important to remember that the cleanliness of the property when you leave may impact getting back your deposit, so it's worth weighing up the costs.

Here are the answers to a few more questions you may have around the end-of-tenancy clean:

What should I include in my end-of-tenancy cleaning checklist?

As you need to clean every area of the property, a good place to start is looking at the inventory you first received when you moved in. 

While the big jobs such as vacuuming and mopping need attention, so do the smaller ones. Dust is something that gets everywhere and causes many problems for tenants when they come to move out. Skirting boards, wardrobes, coffee tables, and shelves gather dust, so make sure you clean every surface.

In addition, you'll need to wash the windows, frames and doors. These can be easily missed while you're dealing with other tasks on the list, but they're the things that will be checked carefully by your landlord or letting agent.

Other details to focus on include:

• cleaning inside drawers and wardrobes
• wiping sockets and light switches
• removing stains on carpets, walls and upholstery, as well as cobwebs
• wiping appliances down, from the toaster to the soap drawer in the washing machine
• cleaning the bins

Can I lose my deposit if the property isn’t cleaned properly?

The property's cleanliness is one of the most common reasons behind tenancy disputes. According to the Tenancy Deposit Scheme (TDS), over half of the disputes it adjudicates concern cleaning. By ensuring the property is as clean as when you first moved in, you're more likely to get all of your deposit back.

Is it better to hire professional cleaners or do the end-of-tenancy cleaning myself?

Cleaning the rental property yourself will be a much cheaper option, meaning you'll have more money available for your new house move.

The downside to doing this is that it can be time-consuming. You'll have to put in the hours to give the property a thorough and intensive clean to get it back to the standard of before you moved in.

Do I need to provide proof of professional cleaning to my landlord or letting agent? 

Some tenancy agreements contain a clause that asks for a professional clean at the end of the tenancy; however, the Tenant Fees Act 2019 has changed things somewhat. Under the Act, which came into force on 1 June 2019, it's no longer legal for landlords to ask in the tenancy agreement for a range of previously enforceable charges, including clauses to have their property professionally cleaned.

 What’s the difference between a standard clean and an end-of-tenancy clean?

The main difference is that an end-of-tenancy clean should be much more thorough - you will be cleaning the entire property, including areas you may not normally clean regularly.

However, when it comes to cleaning your rented home, your landlord or letting agent should only expect you to clean the property to its standard when you moved in while accounting for general wear and tear.

What should I do if I disagree with my landlord about the cleanliness of the property?

The expected level of cleanliness is generally open to interpretation. What one party may consider spotless may be very different from someone else's opinion. This is possibly why so many disputes adjudicated by the TDS are about cleanliness levels.

Whether landlords have a case is ultimately decided by the TDS in instances where they can't agree with the tenants. For example, if you feel that you have cleaned to the standard the property was at when you moved in, but the landlord is withholding your deposit to pay for a professional clean – and if you can prove that you've cleaned it to the standard it was initially at – you will have to dispute your landlord's claim.

What should I check before handing back the keys to ensure the property is clean enough?

The inventory is your guide for the deep clean, so keep it with you as you go from room to room and check off every detail listed. If you or your landlord took photos of the property when you moved in, even better. This means that you have a visual and written account of how everything looked when you arrived. Remember, the aim is to get it back into this state, so using these details is the most reliable way.

Make sure you allow time for a final check. Run through your inventory one last time and walk around the property to ensure you've ticked every box. If you can, get a friend to look over it as they may spot something you missed.