Why You Must Insist On High Quality Tenancy Cleaning – The Landlord Perspective

You’re Damn Right To Demand It

Being a landlord in London isn’t just about watching rent money trickle in. It’s about protecting your investment, managing expectations, and yes, making sure your flat doesn’t end up looking like it hosted a student rave every night for six months straight. So when people ask, “Should I really insist on high quality tenancy cleaning?” my answer is short: absolutely. Not only should you insist, you should be downright stubborn about it.

This isn’t being fussy. It’s not about being the bad guy in a BBC drama. It’s about common sense. Your property is your business. Would you sell your car without cleaning it? Let someone borrow your designer coat and not expect it back in one piece? Of course not.

Yet every week, London landlords are guilt-tripped, gaslit or plain manipulated into letting cleaning standards slide. The culprit? Misunderstandings around the Tenant Fees Act, disorganised letting agents, or just pure apathy. And who loses? You do.

Don’t fall for it. Insisting on a professional deep clean at the end of a tenancy isn’t an act of cruelty—it’s your right. It’s how you keep your property market-ready, your agent happy, and your reputation intact. More importantly, it saves you time and money. Because a grubby flat doesn’t just stink of leftover takeaway—it stinks of lost opportunity.

Here’s exactly why you should never, under any circumstances, let high-quality tenancy cleaning slip off your checklist.

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Because It Is Your Right – Don’t Let the 2019 Tenant Fees Act Fool You

The Myth: “You Can’t Charge For Cleaning Anymore”

This is the line you’ll hear from tenants or lazy agents trying to avoid a confrontation. “Oh, you can’t charge for cleaning anymore—it’s against the law.” Rubbish. What the Tenant Fees Act 2019 did was ban landlords and letting agents from forcing tenants to pay for a professional clean upfront. It didn’t cancel your right to a clean property.

What it did say is that tenants must return the property in the same state of cleanliness it was in when they moved in—fair wear and tear excepted. So if you provided a spotless home at check-in, you’re entitled to a spotless home at check-out. Simple.

You can’t tell them which cleaning company to use, true. But you can deduct the cost from the deposit if they don’t return it clean. That’s not mean—it’s the law. And you’ve got inventory reports and check-in photos to prove it.

Clean Is Not Optional – It’s Standard

This isn’t you being picky. This is about fairness and standards. If tenants leave wine stains on your carpet, grease up your oven or forget what a mop is, that’s not wear and tear. That’s disrespect. You don’t need to accept it—and you shouldn’t.

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Because You Want It Back On The Market Instantly

Every Day It Sits Empty Is Money Lost

In London’s property market, time is cash. The quicker you can re-list a property, the quicker you can fill it—and keep the money coming in. But what slows everything down? Mess. Dirt. That sour smell coming from the fridge no one dared to clean.

If your flat isn’t ready for viewings the moment the last tenant shuts the door, you’re on the back foot. You’ll lose potential renters to the spotless competition down the road. Or worse, you’ll have to delay everything by days or weeks while you organise emergency cleaners.

A Professional Clean Is A Shortcut To Speed

Insisting on a high-quality clean at check-out means your flat is ready to go immediately. Professional cleaners know what estate agents look for—gleaming taps, sparkling ovens, streak-free windows. It’s the difference between a same-day listing and a fortnight of scrambling.

And let’s not forget: a fresh, clean flat photographs ten times better than one that’s just been “tidied”. You want the photos online before the smell of the last tenant’s dog disappears. That only happens with proper cleaning.

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Because It’s Industry Standard – Why Should You Be The Exception?

You’re Not Being Unreasonable – You’re Being Normal

There’s this odd idea floating around that asking for a professional end-of-tenancy clean is somehow “demanding”. That it makes you a tough landlord. That’s utter nonsense. This is not an unusual ask—it’s standard.

Speak to any seasoned landlord in Clapham, Hackney or even further out in Zone 6. They’ll tell you the same thing. Professional cleaning is expected. It’s in the tenancy agreement. It’s backed by the inventory. And it’s a normal part of renting.

So why are some landlords letting tenants off the hook? Usually to avoid a dispute. But what does that really do? It teaches tenants that being lazy gets rewarded. It encourages poor behaviour. And it sets a bad precedent.

If Every Other Landlord Is Doing It – So Should You

You’ve worked hard to buy your property. You pay your mortgage, your taxes, your insurance. Why should you be the only landlord in Islington handing back deposits without ensuring your property is cleaned properly?

Hold the line. It’s not about being stubborn. It’s about protecting your income—and maintaining professional standards.

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Because It’s The Best Way To Refresh Your Property

Cleaning Isn’t Just Cleaning – It’s Maintenance

Let’s be real: after a year-long tenancy, even the tidiest tenants leave behind a few battle scars. Scuff marks on the walls. A mystery blob behind the fridge. That stubborn patch of mould in the bathroom no one ever mentioned.

High-quality tenancy cleaning isn’t just about wiping things down. It’s a full reset. Professional cleaners notice the small stuff—grout, skirting boards, extractor fans. They get into the corners, behind the toilet, under the sofa bed.

What you get in return is not just a clean flat—it’s one that looks looked-after.

The Knock-On Effects Are Massive

A refreshed flat doesn’t just appeal more to new tenants. It stays in better condition for longer. Think of it like a regular service for your car. The more attention it gets, the fewer problems down the line.

Plus, if there’s anything seriously wrong—leaks, broken fixtures, dodgy wiring—you’re more likely to spot it once the place is spotless. Cleaning is the prelude to proper inspection.

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Because No Self-Respecting Estate Agent Will Touch A Messy Flat

They’re Not Paid To Clean – And They Won’t

Estate agents have a job: market your property, show it off, and close the deal. What they’re not there to do is act like your cleaner. If you hand them the keys to a messy flat, they’ll smile politely and ghost you within a week.

It’s embarrassing trying to show potential tenants around a flat that smells like wet laundry and still has crumbs in the toaster. It’s even worse trying to photograph it. You’ll end up with dark, miserable photos that make your place look like a squat.

The Good Agents Will Refuse To List It

Letting agents who care about their reputation won’t list dirty properties. It’s that simple. They’ll tell you to sort it first, or they’ll just move on to a landlord who’s got their act together.

And why shouldn’t they? In a city like London, they’ve got no shortage of fresh, clean properties to choose from. So if yours isn’t spotless, it’s not just the tenant who’ll turn their nose up—it’s the agent too.

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Final Thoughts: Standards Protect You – So Keep Them High

There’s no medal for being the “nice landlord” who lets tenants off the hook. No prize for saving a few quid on cleaning only to lose weeks of rent or hand your agent a headache. What you do get is stress, delays, and a property that feels a bit less yours every time it gets handed back grubby.

This is your investment. You have every right to expect it back in good condition. And insisting on high-quality tenancy cleaning is one of the simplest, most effective ways to make sure that happens.

So don’t apologise for your standards. Demand the clean. Hold onto the deposit if they don’t. Work with cleaners who know what they’re doing. And remember—you’re not being difficult. You’re being smart.…

Landlords’ Tips For End Of Tenancy Cleaning

A lot of the online advice about moving out cleaning has a tendency to forget an important stakeholder in the whole process, which is why it gets called moving out cleaning instead of end of tenancy cleaning. The focus is on the person moving out. However, in the case of a rental property in Bayswater, the other party involved is the landlord. The landlord seems to hover in the background of these sort of articles like some sort of shadowy Dark Lord who has to be placated in order to get the deposit money back.

However, the landlord is still an important player in the whole thing, being the person who actually owns the property and doing things like paying for maintenance and so forth. The deposit money isn’t a way for landlords to hold tenants to ransom; instead, it’s a protection for the landlord in case of terrible tenants who trash the place and ruin it.

The whole idea of end of tenancy cleaning is to leave the empty house clean and ready for new tenants to come in. After all, as a landlord, you’ve invested in the property, and you want to get a return on it. Any time that the house sits vacant is the time when it’s not earning your retirement fund for you like you’d planned.

The situation is completely different depending on whether the tenants moving out are good or bad. Naturally, I’m assuming that you’re a nice landlord who isn’t a greedy tyrant looking for any possible excuse not to give the deposit money back but a reasonable human being who wants to treat others fairly and be treated fairly in return.

End Of Tenancy Cleaning And Good Tenants

Good tenants are the ones you are sorry to see go. They didn’t cause any fuss, they paid the rent on time, and you only heard from them once in a while if a pipe burst or something along those lines. Tenants like this are usually good about maintaining the rental accommodation and may often have a go at doing the final cleaning job themselves with a little help from their friends. Others will take the initiative to contact a professional end of tenancy company in Bayswater to handle the task quicker, better and, in many cases, with guaranteed results.

With good tenants, good communication is a must. This is particularly the case if you plan to redecorate the property between tenants. It’s a bit sad if you discover when it comes to replacing the curtains that the tenants have carefully had them dry-cleaned. The same goes for other fixtures. When the tenants give notice, this can be a good time to let them know about anything they don’t need to bother cleaning because you’re going to redecorate anyway.

With all tenants, good and bad, it’s a must to go through the property together for the final inspection. This way, if your tenants have accidentally overlooked something – that bathroom cabinet that somehow got overlooked and didn’t get wiped out during the final cleaning session, for example – you can give them a chance to clean it themselves.

In some cases, the tenants will give you a completed cleaning checklist from a professional moving out company while they hand over the keys. This is the ideal situation, as you know that the place is clean. Now all you have to do is to wait for the new tenants to come in response to your ad.

If you started advertising the property as being for lease as soon as your current batch of tenants gave notice, you may get some eager beavers wanting to inspect the property right away before the old ones have moved out. In this case, you’ll need to give the current tenants plenty of warning so they can straighten the place up a bit or at least be prepared for people coming through (if the prospective tenants have any sense, they’ll know to overlook things like cardboard boxes being packed with household items). Set these inspections for reasonable times of day that work with your current tenants – after all, the old tenants still have the right to privacy and to go about their daily business (e.g. don’t expect them to take a day off work to open the place up for you and some prospective renters).

The only time when things get tricky with end of tenancy cleaning with good tenants is when something unfortunate has happened, and your tenant dies unexpectedly. Here, you’ll have to deal (sensitively) with the bereaved relatives while getting the place tidied up – and that’s a topic that deserves a whole post of its own. Again, professional cleaners can help take some of the sting out for everyone, including you.

End Of Tenancy Cleaning And Bad Tenants

Some tenants aren’t so easy to deal with. These are the ones who don’t seem to care what sort of house they live in, fill the place with junk, punch holes in the walls, set fire to the carpet, keep unauthorised dogs and all the rest of it. But can you tell your tenants how clean to keep their home? You will be surprised.

Some bad tenants are worse than others, but when they go, you are usually somewhat relieved, and you hope like mad that the next ones will be better.

With really bad tenants, you probably won’t be giving the deposit money back to them because of all the mess they’ve made – and in some cases, they don’t care (and in really bad cases, they leave the place in an atrocious condition then throw a hissy fit and try to explain how they’re entitled to leave it messy but still get the deposit money back – brats!). Exactly how you put that deposit money to work to repair the damage will depend on how bad it is. In some cases, you may have to do a complete redecoration job, replacing the carpet and repainting the lot. Hopefully, the deposit money will cover this!

In other cases, although the structure of the property is sound, the place is a mess. There’s rubbish in odd places, the carpet looks dingy, and the place smells funny. In this case, a professional end of tenancy cleaning company is your best friend. After all, you probably have another job that you have to take care of, and it can be heartbreaking to clean up the mess left of your place by a bunch of slobs, especially if the property has some sentimental associations rather than being a place bought simply as an investment. Spare yourself the rage, the frustration, the tears and the disbelief about what someone did to your property – get someone else to do the cleaning up. Honestly, as a professional moving out cleaner, I’ve seen it all before. We get to clean up all sorts of horror stories. We will sympathise with you but won’t be shocked – or fazed!

If you call on a professional team to tidy up after the Tenants From Hades have left (good riddance!), then good communication is important. The cleaners should know how to contact you if they discover something is too far to clean. For example, in the case of a carpet with single marks or that’s been graffitied, it’s probably easier to replace it than to try cleaning it. Burn marks can’t clean off.

It would be nice if you could make getting into an end of tenancy cleaning company a condition of the lease, but the law won’t let you do that. After all, if the tenant is a professional cleaner, it would be silly to ask him or her to call on someone else to do the job! Other hardworking people are capable of doing an adequate job by themselves. However, there are others… Best of luck with the new ones.…

A Clean Home – Mission Possible

Every woman strives to keep her home clean and tidy because a clean home is her “business card” as a housewife and an expression of respect for herself and her loved ones. However, even the most pristine home has dirty secrets, and we’ll reveal them.

The dirty secrets of a clean home hide in the details. Those details give cosiness and completeness to the interior. The exact information that women choose with their proverbial hesitation and meticulousness. And because of their aesthetic function, these decorative elements often do not receive the necessary hygienic attention. And this is the biggest mistake of most modern housewives – obsessed with hectic daily life. They find time only for the primary responsibilities of maintaining the home and do more thorough cleaning no more than once a month. Although she tries to make her home shiny, every woman will feel uncomfortable when dirty secrets come to light. Because this usually happens at the most inopportune moment. To save yourself unpleasant emotions, do not forget to thoroughly clean your home every few weeks to unravel its dirty secrets.

The pillows

Many housewives forget to wash the pillows in their homes. And over time, this can begin to affect not only good sleep but also health. Foam and synthetic pillows can be machine washed unless explicitly stated on their labels, separate from coloured laundry and in a slower program.

In contrast, feather and down pillows you must wash by hand. Otherwise, you will destroy them. Immerse them in warm water mixed with washing powder, and when soaked abundantly, gently wash them. Discard the dirty water and press the pillow down to squeeze the maximum water. Wrap them in a dry towel (to prevent them from tearing) and put them on a short program in the washing machine.

Keep in mind that the functionality of a pillow is between 3 and 5 years. It gradually deforms and begins to affect the quality of your sleep.

The windows

The windows are our view of the outside world and a good guide for the diligence of the owners. During the day, you want more light to enter the premises. Of course, the glass should be clean and bright. But many housewives make one major mistake: they try to wash the windows in the hot sun. However, direct sunlight causes the detergent to evaporate instantly before you can wipe it well. Thus, those blurred traces remain on the windows, especially clear during the day.

The best time to wash windows is early morning or evening when the windows have cooled. Touch them – if you feel them warm, you have to wait. First, apply the product with a slightly damp sponge over the window. Then wipe it with a cloth, washing it after each move. See more about the windows below.

Curtains and drapes

Light curtains (usually with a decorative function) are easy to maintain – you can wash them by hand or in the washing machine. But heavy curtains (usually plush or velvet) regularly create care for housewives. Due to their fluffy fabric, they collect a lot of dust, but there is an easy way to deal with this problem. Put a cloth in warm water, squeeze it carefully and run it lightly along the curtain. First, pick up the dust with a vacuum cleaner or a soft bristle brush. But you should do this carefully because you run the risk of the dust spreading around the room.

The upholstery

To freshen upholstered furniture, use a vacuum cleaner – set it to a higher speed and use a narrow nozzle to clean the cracks. Do not forget the corners and all sides of the cushions of upholstered furniture.

If you need to use a detergent to remove a stain of unclear origin, never apply the product before testing its effect on the fabric. Sometimes unpleasant chemical reactions occur that can destroy your furniture.

Regarding your pets, it is very likely the upholstery absorbs their smell. Sprinkle with baking soda, leave it for about 15 minutes, then vacuum. Leather upholstery will be much harder for you – you will not be able to erase the traces of nails permanently, but a cotton swab soaked in oil can do wonders with dark skin. Just smear the damaged areas, but remember – do not apply this trick to light leather upholstery.

The dirty secrets of a clean home are hidden in the wooden floor, the mattress and even the plush toys (at least one in every home). Vacuum cleaners, water and detergents will solve many of your problems, but the most important thing is to turn these procedures into systematic practice.

How do you handle the “Window Washing” mission at home?

Spring is usually a time for thorough cleaning and annoying window washing. It is one of the most labour-consuming tasks of the housewives and, at the same time, one of the most ungrateful because, after only a few days of washing the windows, they are again dirty from dust storms and rains. But whatever we do, clean windows create a unique feeling of freshness, space and light at home.

Usually, every housewife has a trained scheme of quickly and efficiently washing the windows. Some use a soap solution and a windshield wiper, others use a glass towel and glass cleaner, and still, others trust the rag and the good old newspaper to make the windows shine.
And it starts with climbing the ledge, hanging from the fifth floor, stretching and sweating until you wipe even the tiniest speck. In the spring, while walking on the sidewalk, you will probably see many women, including young and very old grandmothers, reaching out the windows in an attempt to clean them.

But more modern housewives spare their energy and prefer to hand over window cleaning to professionals. There are already so many companies for cleaning not only the windows but the whole house, and at reasonable prices, so that not only wealthy households can afford this luxury. And you can see the advantage of professional window washing. If you still leave a speck here and there, everything is polished to a shine after the professional cleaner experts.

Are you renting out a property? Check out our take on why you should insist on the tenancy cleaning!…

The Advantages Of Eco Cleaning

The eco wave increasingly captures many aspects of our way of life. The desire of people, businesses and society to take adequate care of the environment is highly valued today and implies a fair use of various cleaning techniques and detergents. 

Chemistry has become a part of everyday life and is still prevalent in cleaning products. But more and more people wonder if it is worth relying on it to achieve cleanliness in the home. 

Increasingly, people are interested in alternatives to aggressive products and return to already forgotten but effective cleaning methods with natural products. 

Upon entering each store, you will see many cleaners for different surfaces. They are products of modern chemistry and are preferred due to their aggressive effects, as they quickly corrode and remove contaminants. 

Principle of eco-cleaning 

Eco-cleaning aims to optimise non-chemical cleaning techniques, thus striving not to negatively affect the environment, which is already seriously threatened by human activities in the late 20th and early 21st century. 

During this cleaning, people avoid all preparations and methods harmful to health and the environment. 

Eco cleaning – a modern choice 

Pursuing a healthy life is already driving many people and families to reorient to eco-cleaning. That means using products that do not contain many harmful chemicals will not create an unhealthy environment. Increasingly, during the intermediate cleaning between the requests for basic cleaning by a professional company, the homeowners rely on products available in the cabinets – soda, vinegar, salt, for cleaning surfaces. The desire to clean with eco products is growing in families with people with allergic reactions and households with young children and pets.  

Advantages of eco-cleaning methods 

We have already mentioned some of the advantages of this cleaning above. We will systematise all the benefits below: 

Eco-cleaning products do not contain harmful ingredients such as chlorine and phosphates and do not cause allergies. After cleaning, the environment is not saturated with chemicals and cleaning with eco-friendly products is cheaper. 

The most popular eco-type cleaners 

Baking soda 

We will first look at baking soda. Many housewives clean sinks and pots with this product. It is an excellent product for achieving purity mixed with water to obtain a paste. It lights the silverware, and when we pour soda into the canal, vinegar and cover the hole, begins a powerful unclogging and corrosion of the accumulated deposits. 

Baking soda, which we know very well and find in every home, is ideal for cleaning many items. We can successfully use it to clean almost everything – from the sink in the bathroom and toilet to the silverware, which we use only on special occasions. In addition to soda’s excellent cleaning properties, it successfully removes unpleasant odours. 

Lemon juice – this everyday product that is entirely natural has unique properties when it comes to eco-cleaning. It can clean contaminated items and has properties that make it work as a slightly less reactive natural bleach. It will invariably come in handy. 

Apple cider vinegar: Another product that we find in virtually every kitchen. It has excellent cleaning properties, especially when removing grease or darkening metal containers. It is also ideal for cleaning some ornaments from the interior of a home, such as mirrors and windows. 

Vinegar is an acid that deals with unpleasant odours and corrodes contaminants on surfaces without corroding them, as it is not very strong or aggressive. With vinegar, you can remove the layer of limestone on the sink and bathroom faucets and clean windows and mirrors to shine. The blend of baking soda and vinegar is an even more effective cleaning agent due to the reaction between the two products. 

Soap nuts 

Using this product is very economical. Use soap nuts in a bag in the washing machine for washing. One dose of about ten halves of nuts can use up to 4 times. You can also prepare detergent for hand washing and washing dishes. 

The above cleaning substances can replace the chemical and unsafe agents you will find in stores. In practice, you can decide which detergent to use because even if you forgot to buy one, you will find something environmentally friendly and safe in your kitchen. 

A few additional ideas for eco-cleaning 

More tips to help you if you want to minimise the use of harsh chemicals that can be dangerous to you and the environment: 

• Use dishwashing detergents that do not contain chlorine and have a minimal presence of phosphates in their composition (phosphates are part of the compounds of the element phosphorus). 

• When cleaning the bathroom and other rooms, use non-aerosol detergents, as there is a risk of ignition. Although aerosol products have been subject to strict control in recent years, a small number still contain chemicals unfavourable to the atmosphere. And this can not fit into the idea of ​​eco-cleaning. 

• If you have decided to clean carpets at home, it is much better to turn to a professional company that uses far more non-toxic detergents. They achieve significantly better results thanks to sophisticated fabric-washing technologies. 

Eco steam cleaning 

Eco steam cleaning has become increasingly popular in recent years. There are reasons – many advantages and no disadvantages. This type of home cleaning uses the power of water heated to 160º, which produces the so-called “dry steam”. It cleans and disinfects every surface it comes in contact with, from soft floors, through windows and all kinds of faience, terracotta and other hard floors. 

Microfiber towels 

You can now find microfiber towels for different surfaces – for glass, for faience and others, and universal towels. With them, you can clean without any detergents. You may need to moisten the towel or surface. 

This way, you can clean windows, floors and other objects, which is the most environmentally friendly, as you do not use any detergent. 

Eco cleaning of the washing machine 

No matter how much time you have, set aside half an hour a week to clean this essential appliance. Each wash leaves some dirt inside the washing machine. Prepare a mixture of 2 teacups of vinegar and a cup of soda and water. Pour the mixture of soda and water into the detergent compartment. And pour the vinegar into the drum. Then run the washing machine for a long cycle at the highest temperature. Wait for the cycle to end, which will complete the cleaning of the drum. 

You need eco-cleaning products if you want to protect your health and the health of your loved ones while protecting the environment from pollution.  

In this regard, more and more households are looking for a safer and more natural way to clean their home with non-toxic products without causing allergic reactions and skin damage and effectively eliminating pollution. …