To think that this end of tenancy clean is too expensive?!

[boffin9207]

OH and I rent a 1 bed flat and moving soon. Asked the agency if they had any recommended cleaners as wary of just picking someone off the internet and both places they have recommended have quoted £250+VAT. Is this steep or am I just naive?

Would also be grateful if any recommendations can be sent for end of tenancy cleaners in London!

[Dragongirl10]

A 1 bed flat? unless you have plenty of money to spare clean it yourselves....read the tenancy agreement first, be thorough and just do it.

[Dragongirl10]

A 1 bed flat? unless you have plenty of money to spare clean it yourselves....read the tenancy agreement first, be thorough and just do it.

[Hissy]

Get it done, get receipts and you will have done everything you can to protect your deposit

Your deposit is your money. They have to prove they need to spend money to bring the property back ready for rental.

For peace of mind it will be worth it I think

[boffin9207]

Hissy - that's kind of why I want to make sure we have someone to do it. They can take it up with them then! Definitely don't have time to do it before vacating really.

[Hissy]

rightsaid don't be daft.... Of course it's enforceable, if the property has been given over professionally cleaned for your tenancy then absolutely the ll or agent can and will charge you for a professional clean.

I'm an ex inventory clerk, I know.

I used to stress this at every check in and show them receipts to evidence of the clean and say that if they could not show me or a colleague the same, it would be deducted from their deposit.

I was surprised at those that thought a whip round with a hoover was enough.

[rightsaidfrederickII]

If I were you'd I'd do it myself, unless you have a particular reason why you can't (e.g. disability).

I've always done the end of tenancy clean myself. Even if says it has to be professionally cleaned, it's unenforceable as the property must only be in the same state it was at the start of the tenancy, minus fair wear and tear. I've got my full deposit back on every tenancy so far (5 + 1 current tenancy)

[boffin9207]

Thanks all! I only just checked my notifications to see the other comments. I have rung a few more places and they seem to be closer to £180 in all. Much more reasonable than £300 imo!

[donajimena]

One thing that might be worth a try is a counter offer. Not a silly one. I don't like it taking reductions but if I'm quiet I might knock off a bit.

[singme]

Ended up paying 200 pounds for our latest end of tenancy clean (2 bed flat including windows). It looked brilliant when it was done and I went through it with the manager of the cleaning company to check I was happy. Lo and behold on inspection the letting agent said the property needed a "light clean" due to fluff on the mattress and that the hoover was full (had no idea as always used my own hoover, but my cleaner must have used the landlords one at some point). Charged 50 pounds for that!

Still, after a stressful couple of days years ago cleaning a flat myself (got one of those carpet cleaners and took ages to dry!) I'd always rather pay someone and maybe do an extra shift at work to pay for it!

[Majorgoodwinschickenbeatstrump]

Cross posted earlier- sorry!

[DontTouchTheMoustache]

Make sure to check Groupon, Livingsocial and Wowcher as you can sometimes find local cleaners at a discounted rate.

[bibbitybobbityyhat]

£250 for a day, even in London, is almost the price you would expect to pay for a plumber or an electrician. It's too much for cleaning.

We've just had external painting and decorating done in London - that was £180 per day.

Don't be hoodwinked into thinking that £250 is reasonable to clean a 1 bed flat just because other people have paid it.

[LuxCoDespondent]

Seems about right to be honest. Moving out is expensive. I cleaned out my last flat myself and it took a day and a half to get everything clean enough. £250 for a day seems reasonable - provided they offer a guarantee that they will do it to a standard that means you get your full deposit back.

[Majorgoodwinschickenbeatstrump]

Why can't you do it?

[Unpropergrammer]

Manchester City centre here and we were charged for our one bed £100. And our landlord was always trying to stiff us for extra money! I think 250 is way too much.

[bibbitybobbityyhat]

boffin - do you have a local Facebook buying/selling group or a Local internet forum? I am sure you could get recommendations from there. Ask them how many hours it will take ... if you are paying more than £20 per hour, it is definitely too much!

[boffin9207]

Thanks all. There is a clause in our contract that stipulates that the flat has to be professionally cleaned when we leave the property and we are happy to pay for this as 1) we don't want to do it ourselves and 2) wouldn't want to be lumbered with a bill for it anyway if they nit picked. When we moved in it wasn't cleaned properly but hey ho. It just seems that £300 (£250+VAT) is a lot of money for not a very large space.

Of the places the agents recommended, they had really mixed reviews when I googled them. One had one 5 review, the other has 2 reviews and averages as 2.5. When I rang them the first was professional and the second was just a bit off and it felt like I was disturbing them. Has anyone used end of tennancy cleaning who may also be referred to as end to end tenancy cleaning and moving services? I got a quote from them for about £170/180 inclusive of VAT and they seem to do all of the same stuff. They have lots of positive reviews but again still a bit wary of just picking someone off the internet because they seem ok.

[chitofftheshovel]

When I moved into my current house it was filthy. I spent an entire day cleaning it. I e-mailed the estate agent giving two options: when I moved out I would leave it in the same state (I had photographic evidence) or to be reimbursed my time and materials, but did not name a price. They chose to pay me £200 plus paid my first months council tax for me.

I would have thought £250 was about the norm for EOT cleans.

[Needmoresleep]

Sounds about right, as I would expect them to shampoo carpets, clean the outside of windows as well as inside, run product through the dishwasher and clean the oven and fridge, and clean marks off shower screens, clean light fittings etc. It would be more if the flat is fundamentally dirty.

This cleaning thing is weird. I like tenants to use a firm I know rather than finding someone off the internet, as I have had a few real disasters with the latter. I don't want to take money out of the deposit, I want the flat clean ready for new tenants. I ended up in a bizarre row with the tenant in a Central London flat who argued that the price of my cleaner was too high. The knob was a hedge fund manager earning a silly salary, yet could not comprehend that the rate he was being quoted from an internet firm, along with the hours they suggested, meant that staff were probably only earning about half minimum wage, and so effectively the firm was dishonest. The money meant nothing to him, yet he was prepared to exploit others.

[ZilphasHatpin]

I'd rather go out, do no cleaning and spend £200 than spend a day scrubbing and risk still spending £300! grin though obvs that's a personal call.

Good point!

[Enko]

I think that sounds a lot. We are in SE and moved last year end cleaning was quoted at £350 for a 4 bedroom 2 story house.

[Scribblegirl]

Sorry hissy, that may well have been a bit much. I'm just smarting from a bad experience a few months back.

As it was our LL agreed it was a really bad check and thankfully she had been to the flat and knew they were talking bollocks. I will chalk it up to a bad experience!

[Kewcumber]

I paid £250 for a two cleaners to do a complete house clean in SW London for a three bed house . Not including an oven clean or carpet cleaning.

For a 1 bed flat:
say £15 each per hour for two cleaners = £15x2x 4hrs = £120 plus oven clean about £60. Tops £180.

If you find independent cleaners you rarely have to pay VAT.

[Hissy]

The problem is the ridiculous jobsworths that are inventory clerks

Scribblegirl I think that is unfair tbh, it's a tough job to be an inventory clerk and it generally ( or should say at check in) to make sure things are put in their original rooms

the amount of detail and things a clerk has to check is mindblowing, and thankfully the photo evidence prevented you from being charged, yes they should have double checked etc.

The job of an inventory clerk at check in is to make sure that YOU are not taking on a responsibility for an existing issue/damage/defect

At check OUT it's to make sure that the LL doesn't get saddled with dealing with damage/defect that YOU have caused, with allowances for fair wear and tear.

If a property has been cleaned professionally, the clerk will know, and the tenant can ask for copies of receipts to prove that the property was cleaned specifically for the beginning of the tenancy. If it is proven that there has been subsequent access to LL or builders or any third party before you have taken possession, it may be possible for the tenant to prove that the check in was compromised, Or certainly they can insist on the condition update is added to the report. Likewise check out, if the property was cleaned but a builder or LL/agent entered the property before check out

The main issue with tenancies is usually the LL or letting agent are considering the deposit as theirs and they are trying to hang onto as much as possible of it.

the deposit belongs to the tenant. full stop, if a LL/Agent wants to keep any of it, they have to prove it.

If a property has been cleaned professionally, the tenant is frankly foolish to return it in any other condition than professionally cleaned WITH RECEIPTS.

[MusicToMyEars800]

I forgot to say that's if it's just me if I am with another cleaner it is split and we get £60 each