End of tenancy cleaning

QuirkyChemistry

Hi,

At the end of June we will be moving out of our 5 bed student house. We're intending to clean the house ourselves, which is fine with the letting agency. Do you have any advice on anything which tends to be overlooked or that the people doing the check will be particular about? I'm also wondering if marks on the carpet caused by the sofa - just indentations from where it's been resting, is that a problem or fair wear and tear? Thank you for any suggestions.

tbs624

You could ask the LA/LL to come round at an agreed time a couple of weeks before you go, and ask him/her to confirm what they think needs doing. Indentations from the LL's own furniture are not your problem, unless you’ve been dragging heavy stuff about and actually damaged the flooring.

Useful info here: http://www.thestudents.net/students-advice-acc-dep.asp and this cleaning checklist below is from a firm who do end-of tenancy cleaning. However, although you do need to make a reasonable effort, so as to ensure the return of your deposit, do remember that you only have to return the property in the same state as it was when you moved in.

KITCHEN
• Wash and polish all work surfaces.
• Clean inside all cupboards and drawers. Remove all old food stuffs, carrier bags etc. and dispose of.
• Clean sink and taps and remove lime scale and polish where required.
• Wall tiles to be degreased, cleaned and polished (mould growth if any removed from between grout).
• Clean oven internally to remove all built up grease as well as clean exterior and polish any external chrome.
• Clean and remove grime from extractor.
• Clean and defrost refrigerator removing all grime, mildew and food deposits. Leave switched on.
• Clean washing machine inside and out. Clean rubber at the door. Clean soap drawers and filters.
• Clean dishwasher inside and out (if any).
• Clean exterior of all appliances including kettle, toaster. Clean microwave inside and out.
• Bins to be cleaned inside and out.

BATHROOM
• Shower screen de-scaled, cleaned and polished.
• Wall tiles degreased, cleaned and polished (mould growth if any removed from between grout).
• Bath , basin, taps, shower and fittings to be cleaned, de-scaled, dried and polished.
• Toilet to be de-scaled, and brushed clean. Seat to be cleaned.
• All soap and shampoo etc. to be removed.
• Mirrors to be cleaned and polished.
• Floors to be washed and sanitised. If carpet, floor to be hovered.

GENERAL
• Dusting throughout, including: light fittings and shades, light switches, dado rails, skirting, spindles and banisters, curtain rails, wall pictures, mirrors, fire surround and radiators.
• All furniture to be moved and carpets to be vacuum cleaned. Dust skirting boards behind furniture.
• Mattresses to be lifted and vacuumed under.
• All other floors to be washed using correct type of cleaning materials.
• All glass (furniture tops, mirrors, picture frames etc) to be cleaned with window cleaner.
• Windows to be cleaned internally. Windows sills to be wiped down.
• All doors and top of doors to be cleaned. Door handles to be polished.
• Drawers and shelves to be cleared of any rubbish (newspapers and magazines etc.) and telephone directories to be kept and stored neatly.
• Upholstery vacuumed, also cushions lifted and cleaned underneath.
• All wooden furniture to be carefully wiped clear of dust.

BEDROOMS
All bedroom furniture/storage units will be cleaned inside and out.

Make sure you remove all Tenants' possessions plus any remaining household rubbish.
Have well-deserved beer :beer: to celebrate the return of your deposit money.

Jingojango

I will just add a few things that my friends and I have been caught out on over the years.

Wipe down all the sockets and light switches
Dust on top of the door frames
Make sure that all of the furniture is in the correct room according to the inventory - letting agents have been known to charge for moving chairs!
Check out your agreement to see if you are responsible for the outside of the windows and the garden/yard

If the sofa belongs to the landlord it is not your problem. If not try putting an ice cube in each of the dents on the carpet and leave overnight. (it only works on some types of carpet but doesn't hurt to try)

At the end of the day, if you leave the place in a good condition you should get your deposit back, but take photos when you leave and keep any receipts for window/carpet cleaning etc just in case!

Also it is a good idea to go round with the letting agent/landlord when you leave to confirm things like final meter readings and you can argue out any wear and tear matters then.

Good luck

barnaby-bear

tbs624 wrote: »

You could ask the LA/LL to come round at an agreed time a couple of weeks before you go, and ask him/her to confirm what they think needs doing. Indentations from the LL's own furniture are not your problem, unless you’ve been dragging heavy stuff about and actually damaged the flooring.


Useful info here: http://www.thestudents.net/students-advice-acc-dep.asp and this cleaning checklist below is from a firm who do end-of tenancy cleaning. However, although you do need to make a reasonable effort, so as to ensure the return of your deposit, do remember that you only have to return the property in the same state as it was when you moved in.

KITCHEN

• Wash and polish all work surfaces.

• Clean inside all cupboards and drawers. Remove all old food stuffs, carrier bags etc. and dispose of.

• Clean sink and taps and remove lime scale and polish where required.

• Wall tiles to be degreased, cleaned and polished (mould growth if any removed from between grout).

• Clean oven internally to remove all built up grease as well as clean exterior and polish any external chrome.

• Clean and remove grime from extractor.

• Clean and defrost refrigerator removing all grime, mildew and food deposits. Leave switched on.

• Clean washing machine inside and out. Clean rubber at the door. Clean soap drawers and filters.

• Clean dishwasher inside and out (if any).

• Clean exterior of all appliances including kettle, toaster. Clean microwave inside and out.

• Bins to be cleaned inside and out.

BATHROOM

• Shower screen de-scaled, cleaned and polished.

• Wall tiles degreased, cleaned and polished (mould growth if any removed from between grout).

• Bath , basin, taps, shower and fittings to be cleaned, de-scaled, dried and polished.

• Toilet to be de-scaled, and brushed clean. Seat to be cleaned.

• All soap and shampoo etc. to be removed.

• Mirrors to be cleaned and polished.

• Floors to be washed and sanitised. If carpet, floor to be hovered.

GENERAL

• Dusting throughout, including: light fittings and shades, light switches, dado rails, skirting, spindles and banisters, curtain rails, wall pictures, mirrors, fire surround and radiators.

• All furniture to be moved and carpets to be vacuum cleaned. Dust skirting boards behind furniture.

• Mattresses to be lifted and vacuumed under.

• All other floors to be washed using correct type of cleaning materials.

• All glass (furniture tops, mirrors, picture frames etc) to be cleaned with window cleaner.

• Windows to be cleaned internally. Windows sills to be wiped down.

• All doors and top of doors to be cleaned. Door handles to be polished.

• Drawers and shelves to be cleared of any rubbish (newspapers and magazines etc.) and telephone directories to be kept and stored neatly.

• Upholstery vacuumed, also cushions lifted and cleaned underneath.

• All wooden furniture to be carefully wiped clear of dust.

BEDROOMS

All bedroom furniture/storage units will be cleaned inside and out.

Make sure you remove all Tenants' possessions plus any remaining household rubbish.
Have well-deserved beer :beer: to celebrate the return of your deposit money.

There's NO POINT doing any of the above UNLESS you can prove you did. TAKE PHOTOS/VIDEOS especially things like both sides of mattresses, skirting, inside of oven (LA favourite for shafting you).

You can hire a carpet shampoo-er from B&Q for ~£30 (keep receipt and give LA copy) and Argos do an external upstairs window washing set on a stick for £15 if those might be necessary (we got the neighbours to watch and video us doing it :rotfl: ).

Also check the inventory that's the legal reference for the state on moving in, ask to be there at checkout and if they say it's ok ask them to write that on the inventory and sign it. If they won't say it's ok they haven't given you the chance to rectify any issues.

barnaby-bear

QuirkyChemistry wrote: »

Hi,

At the end of June we will be moving out of our 5 bed student house. We're intending to clean the house ourselves, which is fine with the letting agency. Do you have any advice on anything which tends to be overlooked or that the people doing the check will be particular about? I'm also wondering if marks on the carpet caused by the sofa - just indentations from where it's been resting, is that a problem or fair wear and tear? Thank you for any suggestions.

Take photos but sounds FW+T - was it supposed to rest in suspended animation for a year above the carpet?

laurenzo99

out of interest if you have a lodger are they expected to do the same cleaning when their tenancy ends?


I wouldnt expect imaculate kitchen as obviously i will be staying on but what bout their own room?

Phunky

Make sure your there when they do the checks as they will be stupidly picky with things, i had to complain about Whitegates when we last moved for the following

Units Clean but could do with a final wipe over. - what a joke
Slight burn hobs
Slight burnt on grease to pan - frying pan that we left behind on the draining board by accident
Smear on towel rail - a finger print smudge
Shower Slight smear - from the leak we had on day 1 from living there

We got charged £90 for the above...

poppysarah

Any letting agent so fussy and mean deserves people with muddy wellies and sticky fingers to view their properties.

tbs624

Jingojango wrote: »

....Check out your agreement to see if you are responsible for the outside of the windows.....

barnaby-bear wrote: »

...... Argos do an external upstairs window washing set on a stick for £15 if those might be necessary ......

AFAIAA tenants cannot reasonably be required to clean the outside of inaccessible windows - doing the inside of all of them ,and the outside of downstairs ones that can be easily reached should be more than enough. Unfair Contract Terms regs suggest that cleaning the outside of the windows should fall under the LLs obligations.

QuirkyChemistry

Thank you for all your suggestions. We are expected to do inside and outside of windows. Some are definitely inaccessible such as the one above an extension. We're also expected to do the garden but it's not described on the inventory as the LL was doing work in it as we moved in.