Who is responsible for end of tenancy cleaning?

The End of Tenancy Cleaning Service is a popular home cleaning procedure in the UK. As well as requiring considerable effort to achieve perfect results, it arrives with several specifics you will not find in standard seasonal cleaning. To answer who is responsible for End of Tenancy Cleaning correctly, clarifying these specifics in advance is essential. By the way, they will give you accurate guidance on dealing with the cleaning itself seamlessly and adequately.

What distinguishes End of Tenancy Cleaning from any other type of home cleaning?

In the most general sense, End of Tenancy Cleaning is cleaning the entire property. It can be both a modest studio apartment and a three-story house. In any case, a well-done End of Tenancy Cleaning means perfect hygiene for the entire property. In other words, all rooms should be immaculate, and the surfaces must be glossy. 

Not to mention that the peculiarity of the End of Tenancy Cleaning London Service requires that special care be taken when cleaning heavily soiled areas, including those that are not visible at first glance (for example, cleaning cabinets inside, removing stains on the floor under furniture, and so on). In addition, an End Tenancy Cleaning  is characterised by the following specifics:

• It is a cleaning procedure for an apartment or house rented out. Next, you will find out who is responsible for the cleaning – the landlord or the tenant.
• An EOT is a procedure that depends on the rental agreement. It is often the answer to the question of who is responsible for the cleaning itself. But not always.
• Unlike the standard cleaning we do every day, and with the beginning of the new season, End of Tenancy Cleaning is not imposed on the principle of recommendation. It is binding. With the onset of spring, there is an unwritten rule worldwide for people to carry out spring cleaning at home. But if one misses it, the fatal consequences will not come. With the End of Tenancy, things are different.  It is not a recommendation but an obligation. But who has to fulfil it?

The question of who is responsible for the End of Tenancy Cleaning as standard is based on the relationship between the tenant and the landlord and the contract they have. However, in the UK (by the way, recently and in other parts of the world), the terms of this agreement are not limited to the price of the lease, its term and a set of obligations and rights to use the property. The particular End of Tenancy Cleaning clause is almost always included in such a contract. 

According to this clause, upon permanently leaving the property, the tenant is obliged to return it to its original state. As you can see, the purpose of the clause is to let the tenant deal with the necessary responsibility for maintaining the integrity and the excellent condition of the home and to take some responsibility for future tenants. After all, no one would want to rent an apartment that looks like a bomb has been dropped just because previous tenants didn’t clean up after themselves. 

And like any other obligation, this for carrying out a thorough End of Tenancy Cleaning is accompanied by a specific sanction. If you, as a tenant, do not manage, you will be punished. In particular, the clause of your rental agreement mentions that the penalty equals a tenancy deposit. You pay this deposit when you sign the contract with your landlord for your new home. It may vary in amount, but in any case, it will be returned to you after the end of the lease only if you have done an End of Tenancy Cleaning.  

According to one study, the most common problems between tenants and landlords are related to this tenancy deposit. This may lead us to assert that, even while the two parties were making the lease to understand each other perfectly, a dispute is inevitable in an untimely and poorly executed End of Tenancy Cleaning.

How to fulfil your obligation as a tenant: get your deposit back. Well, you have to clean the apartment. But this task is not as simple as it sounds. To recover your deposit, you must prepare for a top-to-bottom, comprehensive End of Tenancy Cleaning. And here comes the new question – are you prepared to handle this task? Do you have the necessary skills, products, and equipment? 

More importantly, do you have time to do an End of end-of-tenancy cleaning yourself with the removal process that we all know is neither easy, quick, or cheap? When checking with your landlord, showing satisfactory End Tenancy Cleaning results is best. And when it comes to verification… The tenant cannot avoid this obligation.

It is because of the check-out inspection. When leaving the property, do not expect a quick return of the keys or a painful and emotional farewell. In fact, under the contract and the End of Tenancy Cleaning clause, your landlord will check your apartment in detail to ensure that you have not caused permanent damage and cleaned the property thoroughly. 

It is after this check that you will get your deposit back. You may have been wiping the floor for hours; the next day, you may have rubbed the bathroom until you faint. You may have even washed all the stains on the carpet in the living room and the windows, but the landlord can always find other gaps during the inspection. This can cost you the deposit.

Remember that if you rent a home through an agency, the check-up could get rough and thorough. In this case, professionals – tenancy or rental agents – will evaluate your End of Tenancy Cleaning results. Usually, they are more demanding than landlords.

End of Tenancy Cleaning  obligation – how to handle it perfectly

So it is your responsibility to clear the property before leaving. End of Tenancy Cleaning itself is a standard for cleaning the property. This will fulfil your obligation. But to perfect it, that is, to avoid further problems with your landlord and get your money back, you will need to do more.

There are two options:

Option 1

You can handle the task responsibly and with considerable effort and time. This is a kind of DIY EOT project where you should involve the whole family if you need help from friends, colleagues and neighbours. You must check yourself so you do not forget a critical room and do not miss a spot to achieve the desired result. 

If you are far from the definition of a cleaner, likely, you do not have the necessary equipment for EOT. Buying detergents, special equipment, and supplies such as a sponge, mop, towels, and even cleaning supplies is a good idea. Spend at least two days just for EOT. Otherwise, your efforts will be in vain.

Option 2

This is less labour-intensive, but to some, it sounds more expensive. It’s about hiring a professional cleaning company. The good news is that almost every modern UK professional cleaning company offers the End of Tenancy cleaning service. 

The option costs money. But the big BUT is that the DIY EOT project also costs you money. If you do not have the necessary cleaning supplies, you must buy a lot, while companies never require their customers to provide detergents or specific equipment. 

Specialised products  (e.g., dry cleaning solutions for delicate upholstery or hot water extraction machines for carpet steam cleaning) may be required if the property is filthy. You may be able to find them for rent somewhere but don’t expect a low price for it. In other words, a professional End of Tenancy Cleaning does not cost as much as it sounds. 

And if an EOT with a company goes as far as DIY EOT preparation, remember that the professional service option saves you much time and effort. Time is money, and effort is sometimes invaluable.

What are the benefits of having a professional cleaning service if you are a tenant and are obliged to do End of Tenancy Cleaning?

Don’t be fooled that the only advantage of having a professional End of Tenancy Cleaning is that you will save yourself all this exhausting wiping, rubbing, drying, etc. As you have already understood, in some cases, it even comes out to save you money. But it also has other advantages for the tenant:

The result is flawless simply because professionals do it. That’s their job. These cleaners are trained and equipped with the necessary materials and equipment. They have experience, unlike you, who may face this obligation for the first time and may not even know where to start.

• With the years and practice gained, End of Tenancy cleaners know the weak points during an inventory check. They have performed several such services and have remembered, for example, that landlords like to look for stains on the carpet or to claim that the wardrobe is not cleaned on the inside. These cleaners are ready to go and have a solution to any problem.
• The cleaning company always complies with your time and conditions and the rental agreement. It is flexible enough to carry out an End Tenancy Cleaning when convenient, including if you need an emergency service. In addition, the cleaning company is also obliged to consult your contract to make sure that the landlord does not have any specific requirements (for example, some owners insist the cleaning be done with eco-friendly products in case they accept new tenants with young children, people with allergies or pets).
• Service guarantee is a crucial advantage of a professional End of Tenancy Cleaning. A guarantee is always included in the service package price (usually 48 hours). If omissions are found during the inventory check or the landlord is unsatisfied with the results, you can contact the cleaning company again. If there are issues,  the cleaners will re-do the service free of charge. In other words, an End of Tenancy Cleaning guarantee guarantees you will get your full deposit back.

Could another person be responsible for the End of Tenancy Cleaning and not the tenant?

In 90% of the cases, the tenant must clean the property before leaving it. However, this is explicitly stated in the contract or by oral agreement with the landlord. Therefore, cleaning companies always comply with the specific tenancy deposit. 

It is possible, for example, to have specific cleaning instructions and an arrangement for sharing the cost of End of Tenancy Cleaning between the two parties. And although these are pretty rare cases, they exist and should be considered. 

Sometimes, the landlord takes a more significant tenancy deposit, stipulating that he will return some of it to the tenant if there is no severe damage (such as broken furniture, for example). Still, he remains responsible for the End of Tenancy Cleaning. Rental agencies can include the End of Tenancy Cleaning obligation to the tenants at the end of each rental on behalf of the landlord. 

Also, future tenants may have to pay for End of Tenancy Cleaning. This happens when the landlord is obliged to clean but has not done so and instead has reduced the down payment of his subsequent tenants. In any case, contemporary property experts in the UK recommend a proper End of Tenancy Cleaning to prevent allergic reactions, illnesses, and, in general, future comfort. Naturally, a clean home attracts more customers, so landlords are responsible for thorough cleaning if previous tenants have not fulfilled their obligations.

End of Tenancy Cleaning is brutal, but it is a must and should not be underestimated. According to statistics, 85% of people who do this cleaning alone cannot receive the entire tenancy deposit back. Today’s End of Tenancy Cleaning is perceived not as a household task but as a profitable and quality professional cleaning procedure.