End of Tenancy Cleaning Cost: 2026 Prices by Property Size

The end of tenancy cleaning cost in London runs from about £130 for a studio to about £425 for a four-bed, and the size of the home explains most of that gap. Our own flat rates start from £130 for a studio and reach £350 for four bedrooms. Bark, a marketplace that analysed over 6,394 UK quotes in 2026, puts the London average at £190 for a studio and £425 for four bedrooms or more, before VAT.

Those are the headline numbers. The sum you actually pay depends on four more things: whether carpets are included, the state of the oven, whether the home is furnished, and whether the cleaner can get in and park. Our recommendation is to treat any price you see online, ours included, as a starting point until a firm has confirmed it in writing for your home.

The rest of this guide takes you through prices by property size, what moves a quote, the extras people get caught by, the honest sums on doing it yourself, and the legal position if your tenancy agreement says you must hire professionals. If you want the job list and not the price, use our end of tenancy cleaning checklist.

The table below sets our flat rates beside two published market sources. Our Standard rate covers the tenancy cleaning checklist for the property. Our Premium rate adds carpets, plus other extras that vary by size, such as an upholstery refresh on two bedrooms. Everything is confirmed in writing before you book.

Read the market columns with care, because they do not measure the same thing. Bark's figures exclude VAT, and it says VAT-registered firms add 20%, so its £290 two-bed average could become £348 on the invoice. Less.co.uk is a comparison site that earns a referral fee when you request quotes through it. It gives UK figures, so a London firm may sit in the upper half of its range. It also groups studios with one-beds.

Bigger homes cost more, but not evenly. On our rates the step from a studio to a one-bed is £70, while the step from one bed to two is only £30. If you have a box room or a study that might count as a bedroom, say so when you ask for a price. Our recommendation is to describe the home by bedrooms and bathrooms, because Bark notes that an extra bathroom can raise a quote even with the same bedroom count.

Yes, but sources disagree on how much. Less.co.uk says London runs about 17% above the UK average, and gives £380 against £325 for a three-bed. Bark says about 28%, but its own table does not sit at one rate: the London premium works out at 36% for a studio and 20% for four bedrooms. Bark also gives £27 an hour for London against £24 across the UK.

Part of the gap in any London price is the cost of getting to you. Bark names parking and upper floors without a lift as things that take longer, and both are common in London flats. So the useful question is not what London costs in general, but whether your block, street and floor make the job slower.

End of tenancy cleaning in London is also priced against timing. Bark says demand rises near month-end, during the June and July student turnover, and on Fridays and Saturdays. Our recommendation is simple: if your tenancy allows it, check out midweek and away from the last days of the month, and tell the firm your dates are flexible. We cover all of London from Clements Road in Ilford, and we confirm the price for your postcode before you book.

Size sets the base. After that, a fair firm adjusts for how much work your home really needs. We ask about the same things on every enquiry: bedroom count, condition, whether it is furnished, appliances, carpets, upholstery, access, parking, key collection and handover timing. We do not publish a fixed surcharge for condition, furniture or access, because they depend on the home. We state any change in the written price before you agree to it.

Photos help more than descriptions. A picture of the oven interior, the shower screen and any stained carpet lets a firm price the real job, and it protects you from a change of price on the day. Send them with your first message, and ask the firm to confirm in writing that the quote is based on them.

The drawing below shows how a quote builds up for one example, and which questions come before any of the lines are added.

Carpets are where people most often pay more than they need to, because they book the base clean and then add rooms one at a time. Our single carpet room add-on is £35. Our Premium package costs £30 more than Standard on a studio or one-bed, £50 more on two or three bedrooms, and £70 more on four bedrooms.

So the sums are easy. On a studio or a one-bed, Premium is the cheaper choice as soon as you have one carpeted room. On two or three bedrooms, it wins at two carpeted rooms. On four bedrooms, it matches the add-on price at two rooms and wins at three. If your flat has hard floors throughout, stay on Standard and put the money elsewhere.

Ovens work differently. Our studio rate lists a deep oven clean and our four-bed rate lists oven degreasing, while other sizes list kitchen appliances or a kitchen deep clean, so we confirm the oven in writing for your home. The £25 oven or range degrease add-on is there for one that needs extra work. If the oven is the only problem in an otherwise clean home, our oven cleaning service starts from £45 per visit, which is often a better buy than a whole-home clean. Bark lists single ovens at £70 and double ovens at £105 before VAT, and Less.co.uk gives £50 to £70, so check whether a quote you are comparing includes the oven at all. Range cookers cost more: Bark says up to £160, and we quote them on our range cooker cleaning page.

If you would like to try the oven yourself first, read how to clean an oven and follow the maker's instructions, because the wrong product can damage some linings. Never mix bleach with other cleaning products, in the oven or anywhere else.

These are examples, not bookings or past jobs. Each one is a plain sum of our published prices, and your written price may differ once we know the condition, access and contents of your home.

One carpeted room in a studio is the simplest case. Premium at £160 is cheaper than Standard at £130 plus a £35 room, which would be £165. If you are thinking of saving that £30 by hiring a machine, the DIY section below shows why the saving is smaller than it looks.

A one-bed with carpets throughout, a greasy oven and a double mattress comes to £305: Premium at £230, the oven add-on at £25 and the mattress at £50. This is the example in the drawing above. Before you add a mattress, check it belongs to the landlord and that the check-out report is likely to mention it. Our guide on how to clean a mattress covers what you can do yourself.

A three-bed shared house with carpets, two double mattresses and a two-seater fabric sofa comes to £515: Premium at £350, two mattresses at £50 each and the sofa at £65. Shared houses often have more wear, more people moving out on different days, and more rubbish left behind. Agree in writing who is paying what before the booking, because the firm will invoice one person.

A price without a scope is not a quote. You are comparing two firms' work, and the cheaper figure may simply be for less of it. Ask for the following in writing, by email or WhatsApp, so you can check it on the day and show it to your landlord or agent if you need to. We confirm the price, scope and arrangement in writing before any work is booked, and you should expect the same from anyone else.

Consumer law helps here. The Competition and Markets Authority's guidance says a price advertised to you must be the total, including VAT and other unavoidable fees, and that even a "from" price must include all applicable taxes and charges. Optional extras can be shown separately. So if a firm adds a booking fee or VAT at the end, ask why it was not in the price, and be cautious about booking.

Most surprise charges are not dishonest. They come from something nobody mentioned when the price was given. Still, these are the items worth raising before you agree, each with a clear answer you can ask for.

Our recommendation is one question to end on: "Is there anything that could make this total higher?" Keep the reply. It costs nothing to ask, and it gives you something to point to if a new charge appears. If you do hit a problem with the invoice after the job, check it against the written quote first.

A DIY end of tenancy clean is cheaper in cash, and a lot of tenants do it perfectly well. What you save is less clear when you count your hours. Bark gives typical durations of 4 hours for a studio or one-bed, 5 for two bedrooms, 7 for three and 8 for four or more. Those are Bark's market figures, not ours, and we do not publish fixed cleaning times. Even so, they show the scale of the job, and few tenants will be quicker than a paid cleaner.

Divide our Standard rate by those hours and doing it yourself saves you roughly £33 to £50 for each hour you work. You also need supplies, which vary too much to price fairly, and you will likely do it in the same week as packing. If that hourly saving is worth it to you, do it yourself. If you are moving house on the same day, it probably is not.

Carpets are the job where DIY saves the least. Rug Doctor lists machine hire from £27.99 for 24 hours and £32.99 for 48 hours, and it asks you to use its own detergents, which are sold separately. A hand tool is £4.99 more. On a studio or one-bed, the hire alone nearly matches the £30 step to our Premium package, before you add detergent and the work of collecting, using and returning the machine. For a carpeted two-bed or larger, the saving is real but small. Follow the label and our guide on how to clean carpet before using water on any carpet.

There is also a middle route. Less.co.uk suggests that doing the bedrooms and living areas yourself and booking a partial clean can save 30 to 40%, though it does not price this. For a home that is already in good order, you could book just the hard parts: oven cleaning from £45 per visit, or a domestic clean at £22 an hour with a 3-hour minimum. Our recommendation is to spend money on the kitchen and bathroom first, because TDS names the oven, shower or bath, fridge and freezer among the areas that need the most attention.

Whichever you choose, clean to the check-in report and not to your memory of the flat. TDS points out how easy it is to forget the starting condition after a long tenancy. If you are going it alone, defrost the fridge and freezer in good time, and never mix bleach with other products.

Cleaning firms like to compare their price with your whole deposit. That is the wrong comparison. The law caps a deposit at five weeks' rent where annual rent is under £50,000, so the sum held can be large. On the ONS London average rent of £2,338 a month in September 2026, the cap works out at about £2,700. But a landlord can only claim for what is justified, so cleaning alone is unlikely to put all of that at risk.

The published examples are far smaller. In a mydeposits case, a landlord claimed £250 for a deep clean from a £634 deposit, and the adjudicator awarded 65%, which is £162.50. In the tribunal case below, the deduction was £210 from a deposit of £1,442.30. Citizens Advice uses a £100 cleaning dispute from a £500 deposit as its example. These are examples and not averages, and no scheme we could open published an average cleaning deduction.

So the fair comparison is this: the price of a clean against the likely cost of a landlord's clean, plus the time and stress of disputing it. A landlord's contractor can cost more than you would have paid. In the tribunal case the invoice was £280 plus £56 VAT, or £336 in total. On the other side, a professional clean is no promise of a particular outcome. The adjudicator compares the check-in and check-out reports, so a receipt supports your case but does not settle it.

Cleaning disputes are common, which is the real reason to take this seriously. The Deposit Protection Service says cleaning was the most common reason for claims in each year from 2021 to 2025, at 29.37% in 2025, up from 24.57% in 2021. TDS has said over half of its disputes include a cleaning claim. The two figures measure different things, so do not read one against the other.

Our recommendation: pay for a clean when the home is likely to fall short of the check-in report and you cannot fix that yourself. If it would not, keep your money and put your effort into evidence. Our guide to tenancy deposit cleaning deductions explains how to challenge one.

No, not in England. Section 1 of the Tenant Fees Act 2019 says a landlord must not require a tenant to enter into a contract with a third party for a service. Section 3 makes any payment prohibited unless Schedule 1 permits it, and cleaning fees are not on that list. A term that breaches section 1 does not bind you.

You should know where the sources stand today. The clearest statement came in the government's own 2019 guidance, which said a landlord cannot require you to pay for a professional clean at check-out, and that you cannot be required to use a particular company. That guidance was withdrawn on 8 May 2026 and replaced with shorter pages. Those pages do not mention cleaning by name. They do say it is prohibited to require a tenant to start a contract for a service, and the Act itself still says so. Shelter's advice, last updated in May 2024, says a clause making you pay for professional cleaning is unfair and such fees are banned.

The best worked example is a 2020 decision of the First-tier Tribunal, case CHI/43UC/HTC/2020/0002, about a flat in Epsom. The agreement required the tenant to have all rooms "professionally cleaned". He and his wife cleaned it themselves, the check-out report showed it was left clean, with three items at a very good domestic standard, and the landlord kept £210. The tribunal ordered it repaid. It decided that the clause required a contract with a third party, so it was not binding, so breaking it was not a breach, so the £210 could not be damages.

The wording matters a great deal. The tribunal drew a line between "professionally cleaned", which can only be met by hiring professionals, and "cleaning to a professional standard", which sets a standard and not who meets it. The withdrawn guidance also said a landlord may request a professional standard. Shelter adds a limit: that clause is only fair if the home was professionally cleaned before you moved in. TDS said in 2019 that a landlord cannot insist you use a professional cleaner, though you carry the risk if your own clean falls short.

This does not let you off cleaning. Paragraph 5 of Schedule 1 still permits damages for breach of a tenancy agreement, and the current enforcement guidance says the Act does not affect a landlord's right to recover damages through the deposit or the courts. If you leave the home dirtier than you found it, a reasonable, evidenced claim can succeed. One tribunal decision on its own facts is also not a rule for every tenancy, and a court could read different wording differently. If yours is in dispute, talk to Shelter or Citizens Advice.

If you have already paid a prohibited fee, GOV.UK says to ask for it back, and that your local council can investigate. The First-tier Tribunal can order repayment, and councils can issue penalties of up to £5,000, or up to £30,000 for repeat breaches. One warning from that same case: the tenant missed his deposit scheme's evidence deadline after an email went to his junk folder. Check your spam folder while a dispute is open.

The tenant pays to return the home as clean as it was at the start, by doing it or by hiring someone. The landlord pays for any improvement beyond that. TDS says cleanliness is not covered by fair wear and tear: a carpet can be worn and aged, but it should still be clean. So wear is the landlord's cost, and dirt is the tenant's.

The benchmark is the check-in report. Shelter says you only need to reach the standard recorded when you moved in. If the home was dirty at check-in, the landlord cannot use your deposit to improve on it. The DPS warns landlords against claiming for a full professional clean where there were cleaning defects at the start, because that gives them an upgrade at the tenant's expense. The mydeposits case above shows the limit from the other side: the check-in report said poor, but a deep clean invoice dated 10 days into the tenancy raised the standard, and the tenant still paid part of the claim.

Our recommendation is to find your check-in report today, before you ask anyone for a price. If you cannot find it, ask your agent for a copy. It decides how much cleaning you owe, and so how much it is worth paying for.

Book the clean for the day before check-out, after your belongings have gone. A home with furniture still in it cannot be cleaned properly, and if you clean a week early, dust and marks from the move will settle on the finished job. Moving day should come first, then the clean, then the inspection.

Work backwards from the inspection. GOV.UK says an assured periodic tenancy can be ended by a tenant with 2 months' notice, given in writing on or the day before the rent due day, and that you keep paying rent during the notice period. That gives you time. Use it to read your check-in report, get two written quotes and choose your date. Then tie the clean to your house removals date, and read our moving house checklist if you are doing both. For a budget covering everything, see what it costs to move house.

With us, timing also decides whether the re-clean is useful. If your letting agent or landlord raises a cleaning issue within 48 hours of our end of tenancy clean, we return and re-clean the areas concerned at no charge. It is stated on your booking confirmation. So a clean three days before the inspection leaves that window closed by the time anyone looks. Book us 24 to 48 hours before the inspection, and the day before is best. It is a promise about cleaning, not about what happens to your deposit.

On the day, walk through the home after the clean and compare it with the check-in report. mydeposits says the check-out report is usually done within two days of leaving, and should be as close to key return as possible. Ask to attend. Take dated photos and video in daylight. TDS has said photos are less useful alone because they cannot show smell or stickiness, while mydeposits sets out how to make them stronger, so take them and also write down what you see.

After check-out, GOV.UK says your landlord must return the deposit within 10 days of you both agreeing the amount. If you disagree, the deposit stays protected in the scheme, and its dispute service is free. Citizens Advice says claims are usually made within 3 months of moving out, and that any undisputed part should still come back to you.

Keys need one more plan. A cleaner needs to get in after you have left and before you hand back the keys, so choose who holds them and when they go back. Handing a key to the firm at the start of the job, or meeting them there, is usually easiest. Do not hand keys to the agent before the clean unless the agent has agreed to let the cleaner in. If you lose a key, GOV.UK says you can be charged the cost of replacement, with evidence in writing that it is reasonable.

If you want a clean between tenants, you can simply book and pay for it. Our end of tenancy service is for landlords and letting agents as well as tenants. For regular work across several properties, contact us with the list and we will confirm prices in writing.

If you plan to claim cleaning costs from a deposit, keep to what adjudicators look for. The DPS says landlords must not claim more than is necessary to compensate for any loss, and that contractors should itemise their costs. mydeposits says the burden is on the landlord, and that the check-in inventory is the baseline. A claim for a whole-home deep clean will struggle if only the oven and shower fell short. In that case, claim for those two jobs.

Sandy Bastin of TDS has written that the check-out report should show the home is less clean than at check-in, ideally with photos, and that invoices or estimates must show the cost is reasonable. Our recommendation is to have the home cleaned before each tenancy, record that in the check-in report, and write the agreement to ask for that standard and not for a named firm or for professionals. That is the distinction the tribunal drew, and it gives you a clear benchmark. Remove any clause that says "professionally cleaned".

It also pays to help tenants get it right. TDS suggests reminding tenants of the cleaning standard before they leave and offering a pre-inspection, so problems can be fixed without a claim. You may share a list of cleaners, as TDS suggests, but keep it as a suggestion and not a condition.

Tell us the property type, bedrooms and bathrooms, condition, whether it is furnished, your postcode and your check-out date, and send photos if you can. We then confirm the rooms, any priorities such as appliances or carpets, and the full price in writing before anything is booked. Your agreement to the price comes first, and the clean follows.

Our end of tenancy flat rates start from £130 for a studio, £200 for one bedroom, £230 for two, £300 for three and £350 for four. Premium, with carpets, is £160, £230, £280, £350 and £420. Add-ons include £25 for an oven or range degrease, £35 for a single carpet room, £35 for a single mattress, £50 for a double or king mattress and £65 for a two-seater fabric sofa. Five bedrooms or more is quoted in writing. Stand-alone services include carpet cleaning from £60 per visit and window cleaning from £40 per visit. If building work has been done, ask about after builders cleaning from £140 per visit. Every price is on our prices page.

If your agent or landlord raises a cleaning issue within 48 hours of the clean, we return and re-clean the areas concerned at no charge. We are based on Clements Road in Ilford, cover London and carry public liability insurance. Phone lines are open Monday to Saturday, 8am to 8pm. Book through our end of tenancy cleaning page, or see all our cleaning services if you need something smaller.