End of tenancy cleaning - any tips?

[thelegohooverer]

So 4 hours to clean a 3 bed house. All our belongings will have been cleared out. I’ll need to clean the oven and fridge, defrost the fridge and freezer.

I’m used to cleaning around children and their craft projects, and splitting tasks across the week so my floors are clean one day and my windows another.

Where’s the best place to start? Is there a logical order to follow? Grateful for all and any tips.

Following

Are you sure you don’t need to get a professional cleaner?

If you can I'd try to condense yourselves into a couple of rooms for your last few days. Put stuff in storage or with friends if you need.

Do these empty rooms, and then on the last day do the kitchen and bathrooms.

Remember to scrub skirting boards and window sills. touch up the paintwork or fill any pin holes where you had hung pictures. Clean to tops and undersides of the kitchen cupboards

Once you have finished, take photos of every inch of the house.

I cleaned a 1 bed flat before leaving, taking an entire weekend to make sure it was perfect. The agents rang me and said the flat required some light cleaning and would £120 be ok! I asked what needed cleaning and sent them the photos, at which point they returned my deposit. CFs.

4 hours is pushing it. You have to clean everything. Even the cupboard door handles if they feel sticky underneath. Under the fridge if its to remain. Deconstruct the extractor to degrease it if there is one there. I used to do it for a living. I'd move out and pay someone to do it if you can.

Pay someone else to do it!
Most landlords specify a professional clean, including things like carpet cleaning and it's unlikely you'll be able to do it to the required level yourself in just 4 hours. A proper oven clean will take an hour on its own!

• carpets and curtains/blinds cleaned
• all marks cleaned from walls and paintwork
• bathroom and kitchen spotless
• all appliances - cooker, fridge/freezer, microwave, washing machine, dishwasher
• inside shelves of cupboards cleaned (kitchen/bathroom/wardrobes etc)

Seriously, it's a big job when done properly. Have you checked what your tenancy document says is expected?

It would be £10 an hour depends where you are for a couple of cleaners to do the job.

You need a professional cleaner.

We never used a professional cleaner when we left our last rented But we did clean it over an entire weekend as we had moved into our new place by that point.

OP please do check. I have an apartment I let out. The tenants do have to leave it relatively clean and undamaged for their deposit to be returned. But under my agency I had to bear the cost of a deep clean before the new tenants moved in this week.

4 hours is not long enough. If you can ask around for a recommendation for a professional I'd do that.

Is it too late to ask the letting agency to come round and agree a checklist of what they say needs doing to reclaim your deposit?

I say this because I've lost so many weekends scrubbing and cleaning only to have LL come up with some excuse to withhold a deposit. Otherwise I just wouldn't bother and tell them to use your deposit to sort it themselves.

We were told when we moved out of the last rental we lived in that we had to either pay for a professional clean or clean to the same standard. In my experience of people I know who have rented in London, however clean you leave it the agent will charge for a professional clean regardless, so you may as well save the backache and heartache and just walk away from the mess and pay the money for the professional clean.
In my experience of renting out a house we owned up north, the tenants invariably left it filthy and the agents just shrugged their shoulders .

I wouldn't bother trying to do it yourself. Unless it's professionally cleaned they'll find an issue and you will have wasted your time and energy and end up paying for it anyway (either by losing some deposit or paying for the professional clean).

Cleaner here. I do end of tenancy cleans but not ovens. A proper mobile oven cleaner works out cheaper!
Usually I spend at least 5 hours on a 3 bed clean that's not worse than day to day living!

Dust the tops of plug sockets and check inside lampshades - both things I’ve been docked money for forgetting 🙄

Oh and take photos of everything when you’re done - I had one landlady who left the place empty for a few days and then charged us for cobwebs that definitely weren’t there when we left!

Is it furnished or unfurnished? If unfurnished, work on each room from top to bottom:
Open all windows
Dust corners of ceiling
Wipe down walls, remove splashes etc, clean plug sockets and light switches
Clean windows and mirrors
Vacuum carpets and clean floors, and don’t forget to stick the nozzle on for skirtings
Bathrooms;
As above, plus clear drains of hair and other minginess, bleach grouting
Clean toilet - under seat, around screws, inside bowl, down sides if you have a bloke who can’t aim.
Bath and sink - clean and polish with your used towels - don’t forget to clean and polish taps too.
Kitchen - top to bottom and do sink and floor last. Polish taps and sink with used towel (better than kitchen roll) and do the same with the dishwasher if you have one - inside needs to be dried and polished.
Clean tile work and cupboards with soda crystals - gets rid of grease.
Don’t forget all door handles.

I don’t do this for a living but was a chambermaid when I was a student and we always used the top to bottom rule.

Pay for an oven clean unless you're particularly inclined to spend a week on it!
Tile grout. Light bulbs. Grimy corners. Taps. Light switches.

@Mintjulia

Remember to scrub skirting boards and window sills. touch up the paintwork or fill any pin holes where you had hung pictures. Clean to tops and undersides of the kitchen cupboards

Once you have finished, take photos of every inch of the house.

I cleaned a 1 bed flat before leaving, taking an entire weekend to make sure it was perfect. The agents rang me and said the flat required some light cleaning and would £120 be ok! I asked what needed cleaning and sent them the photos, at which point they returned my deposit. CFs.

Sane here. I queried why any clean 3 bed house would need ten hours of cleaning! (I think it was 16 in our case). I also showed them the photos I took the day we moved in when they tried to charge us for damage. I'd emailed them to the letting agent at the time and made them acknowledge them. Its realky no wonder LL get such bad press.

Letting agency docked me £80 from my deposit for forgetting to clean inside the soap-drawer of the washing machine... so remember that if you have one that stays with the flat hmm]

Is paying for a professional clean feasible? Ask the agents if there is an agency they recommend and send them a copy of the receipt. Do a walk through afterwards with a cloth and a bottle of spray.

I think under the latest tenant fees law a landlord can't insist you pay for a clean by a company even if they do put it in in their contract (but probably doesn't apply if your tenancy predates this law), only can insist you do to a same standard. However, it will be easier if you get it done by a company. The house I'm currently renting was cleaned before and the agent recommended using the same cleaners to avoid any trouble with the landlord when vacating.

If you are doing it yourself, can you chip at it before by vacating a room at a time. or e.g. not cooking for a day or two so you can get the cooker/oven done in advance.

Rental agencies cannot insist on a professional clean even if it’s in your contract..
I am both a property manager and a cleaner moving house next Monday and dreading the clean I’m going to have to do for my new tenant..😉

It really isn’t worth the hassle to try and clean it yourself. The Estate Agent you are letting through will usually have a —sideline— recommend company, use them and you are guaranteed to get your deposit back.

I cleaned myself - got my full deposit back. I think the law has changed and landlords are no longer allowed to make a "professional' clean compulsory. I'm a clean person by nature - I think it was cleaner when I moved out than when I moved in! No advice though really OP.

Forgot to come back and say thank you. We checked the contract and it wasn’t specified. We did the big stuff in the week leading up to the move and then 6 hours on moving day.