End of tenancy cleaning in London

chewmylegoff

My tenancy ends at the end of the month and we're all moving out (3 bed flat, London, zone 2).

I asked what it would cost if we arranged cleaning through the managing agency they have, amusingly, quoted £550 for the flat to be cleaned.

In the past I have always gone with the agency's cleaner in order to avoid any disputes over whether the property was cleaned to a sufficient standard.

When we moved in it was cleaned by some people who charged £250 for the same service (the agent sent me a copy of the invoice when i disputed whether the carpets had been steam cleaned before we moved in).

What is the solution to this? If we clean the flat, they will inevitably send cleaners in and charge me £550, claiming it wasn't up to standard. If we arrange for it to be cleaned by an alternative company for a cheaper price then they will do the same thing.

If we get someone in and pay then for an end of tenancy clean, and then the agency tries to deduct £550 for our deposit, what do I do then?

sooz

£550 is high!
Do you still have the receipt from the first company? Can you ask why they are no longer using them, & why the price has gone up by £300?
Get them to send you a list, detailing exactly what needs doing. Then get quotes based on that list.

jaype

We used these people: TSD Cleaning Services Ltd

https://www.tsdcleaning.co.uk

The landlord was very pleased, it cost about 250 for a 3 bed house (we had to pay extra on top of that though as the carpets couldn't be steam cleaned - they were seagrass or something so had to be dry cleaned or theyd shrink!) But best of all was that the job was guaranteed so if the landlord didn't like it they'd come back and do that bit again (was important as we were moving across the country and couldn't come back and do it ourselves). I can't see how the landlord could dispute a guaranteed service?

HxBro

I used bond back, not sure if they do all of london, or if they are hertfordshire/north london only.

http://www.bondback.com/

£230 for everything (including carpets and curtains, scuff marks on walls etc) for a 2 bed flat and with guarantee if it's not clean enough they'll come back and do some more.

I rang a few companies in london and was quoted extortionate prices

chewmylegoff

thanks for your responses. i got in touch with the cleaning agency directly and they have reduced their price to £400, which still seems about £100 over the odds, but probably worth paying as split between three it is only £33 each as an "insurance policy" against the letting agent deciding that the cleaning is not up to a high enough standard.

BrandNewDay

I am looking forward to starting a cleaning business as soon as the little one is in school - I already clean some houses here and there - and it looks like cleaning after tenancies is easy money! I mean, the house is already empty. All you gotta do is go in and scrub off the accumulated grime, and steam clean the carpets. I can do that in a day, easy!

I wonder how people get into this line of work?