Cleaning your rental property at the end of your tenancy is a necessary – but time-consuming and stressful – process. Failing to properly clean your home can lead to disputes with your landlord and risks you not getting all of your deposit back.
So, what are some common pitfalls when it comes to end of tenancy cleaning, and how can you avoid them? Let’s find out.
Avoiding Common Pitfalls in End of Tenancy Cleaning
1. Remember It’s More Than a Regular Clean
This should be obvious but it’s worth mentioning. Your end of tenancy clean is more than just your weekly hoover and dust. It should involve cleaning everything in your property, so it’s spotless.
As such, it can take a long time. Expect to spend a couple of hours per room, as you’ll need to get in every nook and cranny, clean furniture, dust light fixtures, and so on.
To avoid this issue, set aside enough time. You should start cleaning at least a week before you’re due to move out.
2. Don’t Ignore Unseen Areas
If your landlord is planning a walk-through during handover, assume they’re going to look everywhere. This means you need to clean those hard-to-reach and unseen areas, such as:
- Behind furniture
- In cupboards, wardrobes, etc.
- Behind appliances
This is an easy one to avoid: just clean everything. Be methodical in your approach, move as much stuff as possible, and ensure you’ve cleaned behind things!
3. Not Documenting Stuff
Ideally, you’ll have taken pictures of the property when you moved in to document marks, stains, and so on. If not, make sure you do next time!
But when it comes to moving out, the same logic applies. Take pictures of areas commonly disputed, such as carpets, mattresses, ovens, and so on. Landlords can only claim for reasonable and excessive damage, which doesn’t cover regular wear and tear.
So, to avoid any issues, take pictures. They’ll come in very handy if your landlord tries to open a dispute because you can use them as evidence to back up your counter-claim.
4. Not Getting the Right Tools
At the very least, you’ll need a hoover and a mop, as well as smaller cleaning items. But make sure you rent larger tools if needed, such as a carpet cleaner (which you can also use on upholstery). There’s no harm in giving the carpet a shampoo before you leave, regardless of whether it’s stained.
Also, keep your rental invoice for something like a carpet cleaner. It can be evidence if your landlord tries to claim for a professional carpet cleaning.
5. Don’t Forget About the Oven
Your home’s oven is another common dispute area, so make sure you give it a good clean. You might need some pretty strong products to do this, but it’s better than having to pay a professional (at least at the rate your landlord will use!).
To avoid this issue, clean your oven. Spend a few hours giving it a really thorough clean with products that’ll cut through any food build-up to ensure it’s as clean as possible for handover.
6. Worrying About Redecorating
This might not apply to everyone, but don’t stress about redecorating walls if they’re marked. Provided it can be classified as wear and tear rather than intentional damage, your landlord won’t be able to make a claim.
It’s not your job as the tenant to ensure the property is perfect for the next tenants. You only have to leave it in the condition it was when you moved in, excluding wear and tear from everyday living. This includes marks on walls that might be caused by you moving furniture or simply bumping into things.
7. Not Reading Your Tenancy Agreement
In theory, you should have done this already. If not, make sure you give your tenancy agreement a good read before moving out. It should outline the landlord’s expectations for the property’s standards when moving out.
Not doing so could mean you overlook something really obvious. It could be something like paying for a professional carpet cleaner, completing an inventory checklist, or anything else. In short, give it a good read and make sure you conform to the (reasonable) expectations.
Final Thoughts
Overlooking common pitfalls when cleaning your rental property is easy. To avoid them, put together a clear timeline for cleaning your property, including all the forgettable or one-off jobs. Provided you do this, and keep evidence of your efforts or cleaners you’ve hired, there shouldn’t be anything that your landlord can dispute.
We hope you found this blog post on Avoiding Common Pitfalls in End of Tenancy Cleaning: What Landlords Expect, useful. Be sure to check out our post on Hiring a Professional Cleaning Company For a Home for more great tips!
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