Cleaning when Moving out of Rental Accommodation

Posted on 25/06/2020

The Importance of Domestic Cleaning Before You Leave a Rented Property

When people move out, people should clean their former property before they go. This is especially important for renters and it may cost you dearly if you don’t!

Domestic cleaning before leaving your rented property and handing the keys back to the landlord ensures that you should get back the deposit you paid. Most landlords will check a property and look for signs of damage and wear and tear, usually a tenant will pay for any damages unless it’s a fault of general wear and tear and couldn’t be avoided, but what the landlord also checks for is the cleanliness of the place, if a property is in poor condition due to neglect (whereas a tenant has failed to maintain the cleanliness on the home) a landlord can reduce the amount of the deposit you initially paid because they are within their rights (if noted on the tenancy agreement) to do so, and they may take whatever they need to pay for the cleaning of the property or for damage repair if anything is required.

All tenants should take a good look at their tenancy agreement so that they can understand what they have to and work accordingly in order to avoid anything like this from happening. If you are unsure about what the requirements are? You should contact your landlord to discuss things further before leaving the accommodation so that you do not fall short at the end.

What are Normal Requirements?

Most tenants are required o take care of general cleaning duties in order to maintain the look and appearance of a property but also to repair any damage which is a fault of the tenant or another household member within the property or even a guest of the tenant.

Normal cleaning duties such as cleaning, emptying bins, keeping a home tidy and hygienically friendly is enough for day to day living in rental accommodation but on exit you may wish to clean other areas such as kitchen cupboards, tiles and windows.

It will depend on how you normally as to how much work will be required on exit. If you are a particularly clean person it may not be too much work at the end, however if things have not been properly maintained, it could be a hefty task.

Tip/ Keeping on top of the cleaning during your stay will help to ensure that there is not much to do at the end of the tenancy!

You may wish to clean the property once everything is moved out because at least you get to have a good look at it and also it will be easier to get to things and you should get a better result.

If you hire furnished accommodation you may have to clean upholstery if it needs it and this also goes for accommodation that is carpeted.

I’m too busy!

If you are too busy to do a deep clean of your rented accommodation prior to exit there is something else in which you can do.

Whatever you do, do not leave it due to lack of time as it may cost you dearly. Instead, look into hiring a domestic cleaning company and allow them to offer the property a through deep clean before you hand over the keys. Professional cleaners can also clean all upholstery if required so you get that sorted out too. Professional cleaners are also very fast and efficient so if you need fast results in a fast turnaround (because time is of the essence?) you cannot go wrong.