Can landlords charge for cleaning? UK (2025)

If you’re getting ready to move out of a rented property in the UK, you might be wondering if your landlord can charge for cleaning after your tenancy.

It can be a daunting experience navigating your tenancy agreement and reading between the lines. However, we have all the information on tenancy laws on whether your landlord can charge you for a professional cleaning below.

What will your landlord or letting agent be looking for?

The letting agents or your landlord will be looking for any issues with the cleaning. They will typically look at commonly missed areas like behind the toilets, inside kitchen cabinets and for any stains on the carpets. They will also look at the general cleanliness of the entire house, of course.

Most tenancy agreements in the UK state that a tenant should leave a property in a good enough condition so the landlord can move in new tenants.

Therefore, they will examine all areas of the property to ensure there is no damage during the handover process. Your tenancy agreement is there to protect you too, which we’ll go through below.

Can landlords charge for wear and tear?

Landlords cannot charge tenants for repairs or replacements which are caused by fair wear and tear. Fair wear and tear may sound quite ambiguous, and it can be. However, examples of fair wear and tear include minor scruffs and scrapes on the walls, faded curtains, worn carpets, dirty windows and worn keys.

If there are stains on the carpets, or damage to plaster, for example, a landlord can deduct money from your deposit protection scheme for damage like this.

Of course, very heavy damage, like damaged carpet, interior doors and countertops may need to be replaced. Currently, there is no maximum limit to what a landlord can charge for replacing things that are damaged.

Can landlords charge for carpet cleaning?

If there is minor wear and tear to your carpets, then landlords usually won’t charge you to have them cleaned. Faded or slightly worn carpets are usually accepted as minor wear by most landlords in the UK.

However, if your carpets have a lot of wear, perhaps from pets scratching them, or stains from food and pets, a landlord may deduct money from your deposit for carpet cleaning.

 

Can landlords charge for professional cleaning?

If your rented property has been left in a clean and tidy condition, then your landlord cannot charge you for professional cleaning services. You are also completely in your right to do it yourself or enquire with a cleaning company of your choosing.

If you have hired a professional cleaning service to do your end of tenancy cleaning, keep the emails and receipts as evidence.

Also, give the property a thorough check after the cleaning company has left and take photos. If you notice any areas they have missed, give them a call and arrange for them to come back and put things right.

Whether you do the end of tenancy clean yourself, or you hire professional cleaners to do the work for you, most landlords will consider this a good quality clean, and you won’t have anything deducted from your deposit. Unless there are areas missed, stains you couldn’t get out, or anything that they consider to be more than fair wear and tear.

Can landlords charge for end of tenancy cleaning?

According to the tenant fees act 2019, landlords, letting agents and estate managers cannot force tenants to pay for end of tenancy cleaning fees. They also certainly cannot force you to use a cleaning company that they are affiliated with.

If your landlord has requested that you use a certain cleaning company for your clean, you can use that company, or you can use another cleaning company of your choice.

How much can landlords charge you for cleaning?

While a landlord cannot charge you for additional end of tenancy cleaning, a cleaning charge may be applied if the cleaning that you have done doesn’t meet their requirements.

The easiest way of ensuring that everything goes smoothly is to hire a professional company to do the cleaning for you and secure your tenancy deposit.

The average end of tenancy cleaning cost in the UK is about £300. Although this depends on how many rooms the property has. It will often work out cheaper for you to pay for this rather than your landlord.

Can you clean the property yourself?

Yes, you can do an end of tenancy clean yourself. If you are planning to clean a rental property yourself, use an end of tenancy cleaning checklist to help clean the property thoroughly and not miss any areas.

An end of tenancy clean is a really big job. Unless you love cleaning, you will likely get very bored with cleaning by the end, especially when you have to do oven cleaning yourself.

Of course, moving homes is also pretty stressful, so adding the biggest cleaning job you’ve ever done into the mix can be a bit more stressful than most of us are willing to accept.

Read our article on how long does an end of tenancy clean take.

Pro tip: Wherever possible, try and remove all of your stuff from the flat or house before you start this clean. This makes it much easier to clean only the areas you have to clean. And ensure that all commonly missed areas are cleaned thoroughly. It is also worth taking photos as you go, so you have evidence of the cleaning.

Cleaning Express end of tenancy cleaning service

If you are in London looking for end of tenancy cleaning services, we’re here to help you secure your tenancy deposit. We are Cleaning Express. We have expert cleaners that follow a strict checklist during all of our end of tenancy cleans, and inspectors that check all of the work.

Using Cleaning Express for your end of tenancy cleaning gives you a professional cleaning service that you can depend on. You’ll have access to additional cleaning services like carpet cleaning, upholstery cleaning and window cleaning.

You can book our cleaning session in advance, or we can be with you as quickly as tomorrow. Cleaning Express offers the most comprehensive and trustworthy end of tenancy cleaning in London.

Please also read our article on how much does a cleaner cost?