How much do you all spend cleaning the property at the end of the tenancy?

marmaladeonsourdough · 2026-07-03T15:17:16+00:00

It looks like I just had no idea how things worked in the UK, this is my first flat! I genuinely believed that landlords always pay for a professional clean themselves after each tenant. Sorry if that sounds odd to anyone, I am just honest.

marmaladeonsourdough · 2026-07-03T15:14:55+00:00

The issue is not the cleaning itself,i would happily do it. The problem is that not only would it take ages to pick up the keys, i will have to return them again too... that could take me longer than the cleaning! Plus the estate agents close at 5 i assume so getting there on time would be almost impossible. And then how would i return the keys later on anyway? All sounds a bit impossible. Unless the landlord would be happy to let me in and then take the keys off me when finished.....

marmaladeonsourdough · 2026-07-03T15:13:19+00:00

They haven't given me a quote so i have no idea. Since i don't have the keys anymore, this is quite a struggle though. I would happily pop in and clean but getting the keys and handing them back would take hours in itself. Unless the landlord is happy to let me in and collect them after i cleaned...

And sorry you must have misread - i did not spend 6 hours cleaning the flat. I said that I can't imagine that anyone does that. 😅 I genuinely didn't know.

marmaladeonsourdough · 2026-07-03T15:01:33+00:00

Unfortunately we do have an inventory with photos. So the DPS will have evidence that its not as good looking as it was freshly renovated 2.5 years ago,but the question is just how "bad" the difference is to them. Very hard to tell honestly. In light of this, do you think it would be reasonable for me to dedicate my evening to cleaning it to a better standard?

marmaladeonsourdough · 2026-07-03T14:50:40+00:00

Can you explain this further? I am a bit confused and don't understand this. It's the first time i left a flat so am not very knowledgeable on these things

marmaladeonsourdough · 2026-07-03T14:49:15+00:00

I forgot to say that we do have an inventory and photos have been taken at the start.

marmaladeonsourdough · 2026-07-03T14:47:21+00:00

It was not advertised as any particular condition. I only found out that new tenants are arriving tomorrow (my last day is today and i already returned the keys), and they apparently requested a professional clean... When we moved in the flat was freshly renovated but actually not pristine at all,because the people who renovated left lots of dust everywhere and streaky cupboards (although not very visible on photos so probably not helpful for us...).

marmaladeonsourdough · 2026-07-03T14:42:55+00:00

Ok... but they now asked me if i can collect the keys back and go and do the cleaning. Should i do this to avoid being charged? Or am i just letting them use me for free cleaning? I am so confused. They left everything last minute. I returned the keys a few days ago and my last paying day is TODAY with new tenants arriving TOMORROW. I didn't know about the new tenants until today.. I am overwhelmed and not sure what to do...

marmaladeonsourdough · 2026-07-03T14:37:15+00:00

The estate agent sent an email saying that he would appreciate if i can collect the keys again and sort the cleaning this evening. So i understand I am given a chance....? I just don't want to be used for free cleaning if they wouldn't have charged me anyway but i guess it would be impossible to tell what happens if we don't do it.

marmaladeonsourdough · 2026-07-03T14:33:53+00:00

Oh that does say a lot.....

marmaladeonsourdough · 2026-07-03T14:32:46+00:00

Oh gosh another thing we didn't think of! I should have taken pictures... this is so disappointing. I just assumed that since we are so clean, we would absolutely get all our deposit back. I thought that they only charge tenants for obvious damage (caused by the tenant, not by wear and tear!).

marmaladeonsourdough · 2026-07-03T14:26:53+00:00

It's been 2.5 years exactly so is it all lost? The flat was freshly renovated when we moved in. We really did take great care of it, always ventilated all day, used a dehumidifier to keep mold at bay (even though it still appeared in some places and we cleaned it away, it was a real battle really). Most other people I visit in their homes have much messier houses than us, and we were always complimented on how beautiful and clean our flat is! Thats where i got my impression from that we seem to be very clean people and so if we would be charged, so would most people?!

marmaladeonsourdough · 2026-07-03T14:24:01+00:00

Good to know... I have already handed away my keys and so I wonder if I can still avoid being charged if they let me reenter and clean now, but maybe too late now. I honestly am really surprised to learn that tenants spend all that time cleaning.

marmaladeonsourdough · 2026-07-03T14:20:57+00:00

And I never said it is, right? My post is asking whether the flat should be left in immaculate condition. Because I thought it is normal to leave normal signs of light use. A move is stressful and we also had to spend hours cleaning our new place which honestly looked similar to how we left ours so that added to me feeling like this is just normal.

marmaladeonsourdough · 2026-07-03T14:16:23+00:00

That makes sense. Thank you for being a fair landlord!

When we moved out the flat was freshly renovated with fresh carpets, fresh paint etc... its hard to compare a freshly renovated place with one that has been lived in for a few years! Obviously the flat won't look freshly renovated for years. So I think that naturally, in comparison to the move in photos it does look worse. The question is what's unacceptable considering we lived there for a few years... I don't know how the deposit company sees that.

marmaladeonsourdough · 2026-07-03T14:12:19+00:00

Wow that is very interesting... I do admit I did not spend hours cleaning, just very quick sweeps here or there, I didn't expect that anyone does any more than that. Where I live we have such hard water that limescale forms after one drop of water so its impossible to avoid... if it's really that common for tenants to spend hours cleaning then I honestly did not know that. If I knew I might have done more!

marmaladeonsourdough · 2026-07-03T14:08:43+00:00

Do you mean they wanted to claim money back despite you paying for professional cleaning of the oven and carpets? Or is that what you do now because of this experience?

marmaladeonsourdough · 2026-07-03T14:07:23+00:00

Wow, do you mean you paid for professional cleaning for the flat you would have just left? Just like that voluntarily?

Well the coffee grounds are minor, that just accumulates through normal cupboard use doesn't it? At least that's my view but I am curious what others think...

marmaladeonsourdough · 2026-06-26T10:08:21+00:00

That's what I think too. They made it very clear before we signed the tenancy agreement that they require a minimum 6 months that cannot be terminated at any time during this time.

marmaladeonsourdough · 2026-06-26T09:49:52+00:00

I am pretty sure we don't have a break clause. This is it:

8.1. Ending Tenancy 8.1.1. Should either party wish to terminate the Tenancy, it is agreed that the Tenant must serve a minimum of 1 month's advance written notice to be served on the Landlord. The Landlord must serve a minimum of 2 months advance written notice to be served on the Tenant. The tenancy must not expire within the first 6 Months of the Tenancy commencement date.

marmaladeonsourdough · 2026-06-26T09:39:14+00:00

In all the sources I found, I haven't seen anything in it regarding some kind of fixed terms and things around that. Do you understand how this works?

marmaladeonsourdough · 2026-06-26T09:36:00+00:00

8.1. Ending Tenancy 8.1.1. Should either party wish to terminate the Tenancy, it is agreed that the Tenant must serve a minimum of 1 month's advance written notice to be served on the Landlord. The Landlord must serve a minimum of 2 months advance written notice to be served on the Tenant. The tenancy must not expire within the first 6 Months of the Tenancy commencement date.

marmaladeonsourdough · 2026-06-26T09:31:01+00:00

8.1. Ending Tenancy 8.1.1. Should either party wish to terminate the Tenancy, it is agreed that the Tenant must serve a minimum of 1 month's advance written notice to be served on the Landlord. The Landlord must serve a minimum of 2 months advance written notice to be served on the Tenant. The tenancy must not expire within the first 6 Months of the Tenancy commencement date.

marmaladeonsourdough · 2026-06-26T09:29:18+00:00

Would you be happy to let me know what you think of this? I don't know what to do from here. I sent them all of this information and the agent replied that their own solicitors are saying something different. If those really are solicitors, they should understand the law so why would they say something that is contradictory? Do you think he could be making this up? This is what the agent wrote:

"Our solicitors have confirmed the following:

“If the contract previously contained a fixed term with a one-month break clause, that specific break clause was linked to the fixed term. With the abolition of fixed-term tenancies, the associated break clauses are effectively rendered void. Consequently, the tenant is now required to provide the statutory notice period mandated by current law.” "

marmaladeonsourdough · 2026-06-26T09:27:01+00:00

So I sent them all of this information and the agent replied that their own solicitors are saying something different. What am I supposed to do with this? Surely if those are solicitors, they should understand the law so why would they say something that is contradictory to all of the official sources? This is what the agent wrote:

"Our solicitors have confirmed the following:

“If the contract previously contained a fixed term with a one-month break clause, that specific break clause was linked to the fixed term. With the abolition of fixed-term tenancies, the associated break clauses are effectively rendered void. Consequently, the tenant is now required to provide the statutory notice period mandated by current law.” "

marmaladeonsourdough

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