Deposit Deductions for Cleaning: What Landlords Can Charge

Tenancy deposit deductions for cleaning are allowed when two things are true. The home was less clean at check-out than at check-in, and the landlord has lost money putting that right. Shelter sums up the tenant's side in one line: you only need to clean to the standard the home was in when you moved in.

So a landlord cannot charge because a flat looks tired, because they want it perfect for the next tenant, or because every tenant pays a set cleaning fee. They can charge when the oven was spotless at check-in and is coated in grease at check-out, or when rubbish is left behind. The charge should match the work: a clean oven and a top-up clean of the bathroom is not a whole-house deep clean.

Our recommendation for both sides is the same. Open the check-in report first, before arguing about anything. Nearly every cleaning dispute comes down to what that report said, what the check-out report says, and what the work really cost.

This guide is general information for private renters and landlords in England, not legal advice. Most assured shorthold tenancies became assured tenancies on 1 May 2026, as Citizens Advice notes, but deposit protection still applies. Wales has its own renting rules, and Scotland and Northern Ireland have separate schemes.

The Deposit Protection Service (DPS) published its claim figures in June 2026. Cleaning was the top reason for claims in 2025, at about 29% of claims, and had been the top reason in each of the four years before. Its share has risen from 24.57% in 2021. Shelter and mydeposits say the same thing in general terms: cleaning is the most common reason money is kept from a deposit.

Keep that in proportion. The DPS also says fewer than 5% of the deposits it protects end in a dispute, so most end-of-tenancy disagreements are settled by the two sides. An older, undated DPS article gives under 3%, so treat these as rough and specific to that scheme.

Cleaning causes so many claims because it is a matter of degree. A broken door handle is broken. Clean is an opinion unless someone wrote down what clean looked like on day one. The Tenancy Deposit Scheme (TDS) has said the main problem is often that the two sides understand the required standard differently. The fix is to agree that standard in writing, as early as you can, and it costs nothing.

Before you argue about a cleaning charge, check the deposit is protected. GOV.UK says a landlord or agent must put it in a government-approved scheme within 30 days of receiving it. In England and Wales there are three: the Deposit Protection Service, mydeposits and the Tenancy Deposit Scheme.

Within the same 30 days, the landlord must give you written details under section 213 of the Housing Act 2004. These include which scheme holds the money, how to contact its dispute service, the grounds for keeping some of the deposit, and what to do if you disagree at the end. Shelter says you can search each scheme's checker with your postcode, surname, tenancy start date and deposit amount.

Each scheme runs in two versions, and it matters which you have. In a custodial scheme, the scheme holds your money. In an insured scheme, the landlord or agent holds it and pays a fee for protection. The table sets out what changes at the end of a tenancy.

The legal ceiling on the deposit is also worth knowing. GOV.UK caps it at five weeks' rent where annual rent is under £50,000, and six weeks' rent where annual rent is from £50,000 to £100,000.

The joint guide from the three schemes calls signed check-in and check-out reports required evidence in most cases, and says an adjudicator uses them to compare the start and end of the tenancy. Without them, it says, a landlord's claim is highly likely to be rejected. It also warns against vague words such as 'fair' and 'ok', which different people read differently.

The best reports, the guide says, are prepared by a third party such as an inventory clerk, contain dated photos and are signed by the tenant. Reports written by a landlord or agent need something showing the tenant saw them and had a chance to comment. The DPS is blunter: unsigned, unsupported reports written by a non-independent person are unlikely to carry much weight.

A good report records cleanliness separately from condition. mydeposits makes this point in a carpet case where a tick-box check-in report rated the carpets 'good' but said nothing about how clean they were. The landlord had a clear large stain to point to, yet only a small sum was awarded for the carpets, because nothing showed how clean they had been at the start.

Tenants: read the check-in report the day you get it. mydeposits says you usually have about a week to raise anything wrong, so photograph problems and email them to the agent straight away. If the oven was dirty when you arrived, that email can be worth more than any cleaning you do later.

Landlords and agents: book the check-out for as soon as the keys are back. mydeposits says delay lets a tenant argue that the damage happened after they left. Invite the tenant, because the joint guide says a missing party can undermine confidence in the report. A pre-check-out inspection helps both sides, and Shelter says it is usually a good idea to agree to one.

Tenants should attend if they can, and ask for anything they disagree with to be written down. If the inspection happens after you have gone, Shelter says it is not illegal, but it can lead to disputes. In that case, film the home on the day you leave and keep the file with its original date.

Fair wear and tear is the natural decline of a home through reasonable use. The DPS uses the phrase 'reasonable use', and the joint scheme guide quotes the House of Lords definition, which adds the ordinary operation of natural forces. Shelter gives examples such as small wall scuffs, faded curtains and worn flooring or frayed carpets. A landlord cannot keep any of the deposit for these.

Cleaning is treated differently, and this catches many tenants out. mydeposits says fair wear and tear applies to the condition of items and areas, but does not apply to cleanliness. You cannot call a greasy oven wear and tear, however long you lived there. A long tenancy earns you allowance for a worn carpet. It does not excuse leaving that carpet dirty.

There is a middle ground, and the DPS has described it well. Grease left for long enough can turn into damage if a professional cleaner cannot shift it, and the tenant may then be liable. The reverse applies too: a mark that would come out with cleaning should not be billed as a replacement.

Adjudicators also think about who lived there and for how long. Shelter's example is that more wear is allowed for a family with children leaving after 5 years than for one person leaving after 6 months. The joint guide agrees, and lists the length of the tenancy, the number of occupiers, and the item's age and quality. When a mark is on your report, take it through the questions in the drawing below.

No, not as a condition you must pay for. The Tenant Fees Act 2019 lists the payments a landlord or agent may require, and any other payment is prohibited. Cleaning is not on that list. The government's original guidance for landlords gave this exact example: a tenant cannot be required to pay for a professional clean at check-out. That document has since been withdrawn, but Shelter's current advice says the same.

Shelter separates two kinds of clause. 'Tenant must pay for professional cleaning' is not fair, and such fees are banned. 'Tenant must clean the property to a professional standard' is fair only if the property was professionally cleaned before you moved in. The DPS also calls clauses that demand professional cleaning regardless of the condition at check-in potentially unreasonable, and points out that tenants can usually reach the standard themselves.

A landlord can still claim the reasonable cost of a professional clean after the event, if you left the home below its check-in standard and they have evidence. The rule stops them forcing you to buy a service. It does not stop them recovering a real loss. mydeposits puts it neatly: the point is the standard, not the cost.

We recommend that tenants decide on the condition of the home, not on the wording of a letter from the agent. If you can reach the check-in standard yourself, do so and keep dated photos. If you cannot, or you have no time before handover, paying for help is your choice and a sensible one, but it is not a legal duty. Landlords should rewrite any clause that names a compulsory cleaning firm or a fixed fee.

Betterment means leaving the landlord better off than before. The DPS says adjudicators cannot make awards that do this, and its examples include returning a home cleaner than it was at move-in and replacing old items with new ones. The joint guide adds that a deposit is not an insurance policy paying new for old.

For cleaning, three questions set the figure. How much of the home needed work? What did that work reasonably cost? Was the start standard as high as the standard being charged for? The joint guide says the adjudicator looks at the size and type of property and the cleaning the evidence shows, and that standard charges are judged by whether they are proportionate. A flat fee for every departing tenant is hard to defend.

A landlord can do the work and claim for it. In a mydeposits case, a landlord claimed five hours of their own time plus £42 of equipment against a contractor's estimate of £180 plus VAT, and the costs were found reasonable. mydeposits says a rate of around £20 an hour is a fair average, and that organising the work or travelling to the property cannot be claimed.

For items that must be replaced, adjudicators reduce the claim for age. The joint guide's example is a £500 carpet that was 2 years old with an expected life of 5 years. It has lost 40% of its life, so the tenant's share is the remaining 60%, or £300, and the guide adds that this will not suit every case. TDS adds that a carpet at the end of a five-year tenancy would not justify the full price of a new one. Replacement also needs justifying first, because repair or cleaning is the more likely award.

Real scheme decisions show how this works in pounds. These are published mydeposits case studies, chosen because each turns on one point. They are examples and do not bind any future decision.

The deposit is the tenant's money until the claim is proven. The DPS calls this a fundamental legal requirement, and mydeposits says that without enough evidence the adjudicator returns the deposit to the tenant. Adjudicators decide on the balance of probabilities, and the landlord has to show both a breach and a loss. The government's enforcement guidance also says a landlord or agent needs evidence to support any deductions.

If you are a landlord or agent, assemble this pack before you propose a figure. If you are a tenant, use it as a test of the claim you have received.

Most reports raise the same handful of items. The table below sets out where they tend to go wrong and what to do about each one, in the order a check-out clerk usually walks the home. Use it alongside our end of tenancy cleaning checklist, which covers the cleaning itself.

Clean safely as you go. Never mix bleach with other products, and open a window while you work. Follow the appliance maker's instructions for ovens and hobs, and the fabric label for curtains, mattresses and upholstery. Our guides to cleaning an oven, cleaning carpet and cleaning a mattress give the detail.

Act in writing and act early. A dispute is won with documents, and the earlier you start the more choices you have. Shelter and the schemes give the same basic order, set out below.

Tenants do not have to prove their case, but evidence wins cases. The joint guide says the tenant has no obligation to prove their position. Even so, a tenant who shows nothing leaves the landlord's account as the only one in front of the adjudicator, and the adjudicator will not visit the home or speak to anyone.

Shelter's list is the one to follow: the inventory and check-out report with changes noted, a short factual video on your last day, dated digital photos with a note of what each shows, letters and emails about repairs, and written statements from people such as a contractor or previous tenant. The scheme will not contact witnesses, so get their statement yourself. Film the meter readings too.

Write a short statement that goes through the claim item by item, using the report's own wording. Keep it factual. 'The report says the oven was clean at check-in, but it has no photo of the inside, and I emailed the agent on day two about grease' is far stronger than 'the agent is being unfair'. On the DPS system, the additional information box takes 1,000 characters, so a longer statement should be uploaded as a separate file.

If you paid for a clean, include the invoice and a list of what was done. Treat it as support, not proof. An invoice shows work was bought, while the check-out report shows the result. If the report flags something, read the scheme's guidance before you pay a further charge, and look at whether a small fix now, such as a single oven clean or window clean, is cheaper than the disputed sum.

The main rule is short, and people often misread it. GOV.UK says the landlord must return the deposit within 10 days of you both agreeing the amount. mydeposits stresses this means 10 days from agreement, not from moving out, and that silence does not count as agreement. Citizens Advice says agreed money usually arrives within about two weeks, so the sources differ slightly. Use the GOV.UK figure when you write to the landlord.

Decision times differ by scheme, and even within a scheme's own pages. The DPS estimates about 44 days from a claim entering dispute to the parties hearing the decision. mydeposits gives four to six weeks on one page, about 60 days on the same page, and six to eight weeks on another. Plan for around two months, and expect longer if evidence has to be queried.

If your deposit is protected, use the scheme's service first. It is free, it is usually faster than court, and for most cleaning charges the sums are too small to justify anything else. Both sides must agree to it, and the decision is final. The adjudicator works from written evidence only. It is not mediation, and neither side has to meet anyone.

Court is the route when the deposit was never protected, when the landlord refuses the scheme's service, or when the scheme will not take the case. For insured deposits, Shelter says a landlord's silence may be treated as consent, so a landlord who ignores the scheme may not avoid a decision. The DPS says adjudicators may decline matters better suited to court, such as highly complex disputes or those involving the police.

An unprotected deposit changes everything. Under section 214 of the Housing Act 2004 the court must order the landlord to pay between 1 and 3 times the deposit, as well as being able to order it repaid. GOV.UK says to write to the landlord first, and that a letter alone can bring an offer to repay. For a tenant owed a deposit by a landlord who never protected it, court is usually worth pursuing even for a modest sum.

No cleaner, checklist or receipt guarantees what happens at check-out, because the result depends on the report, the home and the people reading it. You can, though, make a fair outcome far more likely. Start with these steps, from a month before you leave.

Our end of tenancy cleaning is priced at a flat rate by property size, starting from £130 for a studio flat. It is move out cleaning for tenants, landlords and letting agents across London. Tell us the property type, condition, furniture, postcode and handover date, and tell us anything the check-in report or your agent has flagged, so it can go into the agreed scope. We confirm the full price and scope in writing before booking, and condition, access and add-ons can change the price.

End of tenancy cleaning prices depend mainly on size. For a closer look at what moves the price, read our guide to end of tenancy cleaning cost, or see all our prices. If only one thing was flagged, you may not need a full clean. Our standalone carpet cleaning starts from £60 per visit, oven cleaning from £45 per visit, mattress cleaning from £45 per visit and window cleaning from £40 per visit.

End of tenancy cleans include our 48-hour re-clean guarantee. If your letting agent or landlord raises a cleaning issue within 48 hours of the clean, we come back and re-clean the areas concerned at no charge. That is all it covers. It is a promise about our cleaning, not about your deposit: the decision on any deduction belongs to your landlord, your scheme or a court, and depends on things we do not control, such as what the check-in report says.

We are based on Clements Road in Ilford, cover London, and carry public liability insurance. Our phone lines are open Monday to Saturday, 8am to 8pm. You can see the rest of our cleaning services or contact us for a written price.