A professional end of tenancy clean costs roughly £120 to £300 for a one- or two-bedroom flat outside London, and more for a house or in London. In England and Wales your landlord can't make you hire one: you only have to hand the home back as clean as your check-in report says it was. If you dispute a cleaning deduction there, the deposit scheme decides it by comparing the check-out with that report, as long as you and the landlord agree to it.
Scotland and Northern Ireland handle it differently. In all four nations the deposit can still pay to put right real dirt, so skipping the clean isn't a plan. Prices first, though, because the two guides worth reading don't agree.
On this page
What an end of tenancy clean costs
Most end of tenancy cleaning prices are fixed by the size and condition of the home, not the hour. MyJobQuote says hourly rates of £20 to £30 suit small jobs. We've put two 2026 guides side by side, and the gap between them teaches you more than one tidy average would.
Prices by property size, from two published guides
What two published guides say an end of tenancy clean costs
| Property | MyJobQuote guide | Fantastic Services guide, rest of UK | Fantastic Services guide, London and South East |
|---|---|---|---|
| Studio | £100 to £120 | £120 to £170 | £150 to £230 |
| 1 bedroom | £120 to £150 | £150 to £200 | £190 to £280 |
| 2 bedrooms | £150 to £180, or £190 to £220 with a carpet clean | £200 to £300 | £250 to £375 |
| 3 bedrooms | £250 to £280 with a carpet clean | £300 to £450 | £375 to £560 |
| 4 bedrooms | £320 to £380 with a carpet clean, 4 or more bedrooms | £450 to £600 | £560 to £750 |
MyJobQuote prices its three and four bedroom rows with a carpet clean included. Fantastic Services is a cleaning company, and its own prices start above some of these ranges.
Why two quotes for the same flat can be so far apart
Carpets come first. MyJobQuote's two-bed is £150 to £180 without a carpet clean and £190 to £220 with one, so a quote that looks £40 dearer may simply include more. Next come the oven and extra bathrooms. Fantastic calls bathrooms and kitchens "the most labour-intensive rooms", and MyJobQuote warns that some firms leave ovens out of the standard price. Then there's the postcode: MyJobQuote's one-bed runs £150 to £195 in London against £105 to £135 in Glasgow.
Sellers' figures wander too. Fantastic's own one-bed starts at £238, above the £150 to £200 its guide gives for outside London. A seller's "typical" range isn't its price list. One firm prints the same end of tenancy cleaning price list for Belfast and Glasgow, so a city in a page title proves nothing about local prices.
Our own cost profiles for house cleaning put the fair price range at £169 to £503 across 759 profiles. That's one snapshot, and it covers every kind of house clean, not only move-outs. So when you ring round end of tenancy cleaners near you, ask what's included before you compare totals.
The extras that turn up on a quote
End of tenancy carpet cleaning and the oven are the add-ons you'll meet again and again. Fantastic says most quotes leave carpets out, and only some agencies include the oven. So ask: is the oven clean a full clean or a wipe? Fantastic also says bundling extras is cheaper, a handy thing for a cleaning firm to believe. Price specialist carpet cleaners as well.
Typical prices for common extras, from Fantastic Services' guide
| Extra | Rest of UK | London |
|---|---|---|
| Carpet cleaning, per room | £25 to £40 | £30 to £50 |
| Oven clean, single oven | £50 to £75 | £70 to £95 |
| Interior windows, whole flat | £20 to £45 | £30 to £60 |
| Sofa or upholstery, per item | £40 to £90 | £50 to £110 |
Can your landlord make you pay for a professional clean?
That depends on where you rent, because the four nations don't share one law. England and Wales stop a landlord forcing a cleaning contract on you, Scotland reaches a similar place by another road, and Northern Ireland has no such rule. Everywhere, though, real dirt can still come out of the deposit.
England: no compulsory cleaner, but dirt can still cost you
The Tenant Fees Act 2019 says a landlord "must not require" you to take out a contract with a third party for a service connected to your tenancy. That includes a clause that only applies when the tenancy ends. A clause that breaks the rule "is not binding" on you. GOV.UK's tenant guidance puts it plainly: your landlord "is not allowed to make you ... start a contract for a service as part of your tenancy".
Two limits matter. A landlord can offer a professional clean as one option, provided the alternative is lawful and one you could reasonably meet. And damages for breaching the tenancy are a permitted payment, so the reasonable cost of cleaning a home left dirtier than at check-in can still come out of the deposit.
A fixed cleaning fee charged whatever state the home is in isn't on the permitted list. Your local council can fine a landlord up to £5,000 for a breach. You can also ask the First-tier Tribunal to order the money back, including anything you paid a cleaner under a contract your landlord required.
Wales: a landlord who insists is committing an offence
Wales goes further. Under the Renting Homes (Fees, Discrimination etc.) (Wales) Act 2019, it's an offence for a landlord to require you to enter a contract for services, including through a term of your occupation contract (Wales's name for a tenancy agreement). The penalty is a fine. Demanding a flat cleaning fee is an offence too, and a court that convicts can order it repaid.
Real cleaning costs are another matter. A payment for breaking a term of the contract is permitted, and Welsh Government guidance says landlords can still reclaim actual losses from your deposit. The same guidance says "There is currently no limit placed on an amount of deposit", and we found no Welsh regulation setting one since. The landlord has 30 days from payment to protect it.
Scotland and Northern Ireland do it differently
Scotland bans extra charges by a different route. A "premium" means "any fine, sum or pecuniary consideration, other than the rent", and it includes "any service or administration fee or charge". Under the Rent (Scotland) Act 1984, which also covers private residential tenancies, demanding one as a condition of getting or keeping your tenancy is unlawful. A refundable deposit is allowed up to two months' rent, and mygov.scot gives the landlord 30 working days from the start of the tenancy to protect it.
No rule is aimed at cleaning clauses as such. Letting Protection Service Scotland says "Standard Charges" for cleaning are "often considered unreasonable by an adjudicator" unless they were explained to you at the start and you agreed to them, both in writing.
Northern Ireland has no statutory list of banned fees for private landlords. Housing Rights says the limits on letting fees bind letting agents only, and that agents shouldn't pass their own costs on to you. It tells tenants to check the tenancy agreement "to see what you need to fix or clean", so read that clause closely. nidirect caps the deposit at one month's rent and gives the landlord 28 days to protect it. If you agreed to a bigger deposit before 1 April 2023, it's still allowed.
End of tenancy cleaning and deposit rules in the four UK nations
| Where you rent | Can the tenancy make you pay for a professional clean? | Deposit cap | Landlord must protect it within | Approved schemes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| England | No. The landlord can't require you to take out a contract for a service, and a clause that tries isn't binding. | 5 weeks' rent, or 6 weeks' if the yearly rent is £50,000 to £100,000 | 30 days | Deposit Protection Service, mydeposits, Tenancy Deposit Scheme |
| Wales | No. A landlord who requires it commits an offence. | No cap set | 30 days | Deposit Protection Service, mydeposits, Tenancy Deposit Scheme |
| Scotland | Charging any fee beyond rent and a refundable deposit as a condition of the tenancy is unlawful. No rule is aimed at cleaning clauses. | 2 months' rent | 30 working days | Letting Protection Service Scotland, mydeposits Scotland, SafeDeposits Scotland |
| Northern Ireland | No law singles out cleaning clauses. Letting agents can't charge you for work they do for the landlord. | 1 month's rent, for deposits agreed from 1 April 2023 | 28 days | Tenancy Deposit Scheme Northern Ireland, My Deposits Northern Ireland |
In every nation, a landlord can still claim the reasonable cost of cleaning a home left dirtier than the check-in report recorded. A deposit scheme's adjudicator can decide that if you disagree.
How a cleaning deduction actually gets decided
Cleaning is the commonest deposit fight. The Deposit Protection Service (DPS) says it was the top reason for deposit claims in 2025, for the fifth year running, behind nearly three in ten of them. The Tenancy Deposit Scheme (TDS) puts cleaning at 54% of its disputes in 2024/25. Keep that in proportion, because the DPS also says under 5% of the deposits it protects end in a dispute. When one does, an independent adjudicator reads the evidence from both sides, and the paperwork usually settles it.
Your check-in report sets the bar, not the tenancy agreement
TDS publishes the principles it uses. It won't make an award "solely on the basis of an obligation in the tenancy agreement", so a clause demanding a professional clean doesn't win the argument by itself. It looks for evidence that the home was less clean at the end than at the start.
The best evidence of the start is an inventory that mentions cleanliness. Here's the line to keep to hand: "If the check in does not mention cleanliness, we will not assume the property is clean". A general note saying "good condition unless otherwise stated" doesn't count.
TDS calls photos and video "generally of little value" for cleaning, except for items like ovens. The DPS is warmer, listing date-stamped photos as good evidence, so take them anyway.
A check-out report persuades most when it refers back to the check-in. If you're a landlord, ask your letting agents and property managers to write it that way.
What a fair cleaning charge looks like
An invoice helps a landlord, but TDS "is not bound to accept the full amount claimed". It's likely to cut an award where the work went beyond what was needed, ignored problems recorded at check-in, or looks too high and isn't detailed. With no invoice or quote, TDS uses its own judgement and weighs things like the size of the property.
The schemes' joint guide lets a landlord do the cleaning themselves and claim their own costs, backed by a contractor's quotes. It also says "the tenant is only obliged to return the property cleaned to the same standard as at the start of the tenancy". "Standard Charges" are judged on how proportionate they are to the cleaning needed. The DPS treats a full professional clean, claimed when there were cleaning defects at the start, as betterment: an upgrade at the tenant's cost.
The schemes split on one point. TDS says "We do not regard fair wear and tear as relevant in cleaning claims", while Letting Protection Service Scotland says you return the home "after allowing for fair wear and tear". Read your own scheme's guide before you argue it.
If the charge is for mould on a wall, work out whether that mould is condensation or damp before you accept it as a cleaning bill.
Carpets: cleaning them versus replacing them
A new carpet is a harder claim to win than a clean. The DPS lists "Repair or cleaning where replacement cannot be justified" among the options adjudicators consider.
Where a carpet really is beyond saving, the joint guide's worked example shows the sums. Take a £500 replacement for a carpet that's two years into a five-year life. That leaves three years at £100 a year, so the fair charge to the tenant is £300 rather than £500. The guide says adjudicators decide on the evidence in each dispute, so treat it as a method and not a promise.
Housing Rights in Northern Ireland calls the same idea "like for like": a landlord can't deduct new for old.
Before you hand back the keys
Work through these in order, starting with the check-in report rather than the mop. If the list ends with you hiring end of tenancy cleaners near you, at least you'll know what you need them to do.
- Find your check-in report and read exactly what it says about cleanliness, the carpets and the oven.
- If the check-in says nothing about how clean the home was, note it. The Tenancy Deposit Scheme says it won't assume the home was clean.
- Clean to the standard the check-in records, not to a show-home standard.
- Give the oven and other appliances extra time, and photograph them when you've finished.
- If you hire a cleaner, get an itemised invoice and keep it with your tenancy papers.
- Go to the check-out if you can. If you can't, ask for a copy of the report and compare it with the check-in, room by room.
- Before you agree to any cleaning deduction, ask for the invoice or quote behind the figure.
- Find out which scheme holds your deposit while you still have the paperwork your landlord gave you.
If you think the deduction is wrong
Ask the landlord or agent for the check-out report and the invoice or quote behind the figure, then hold both against your check-in. Split the bill while you're at it. A cleaning line and a blocked-sink line are different arguments, and we've set out who pays when something goes wrong in a rented home.
Red flag: Three things worth questioning before you agree. A cleaning fee you have to pay whatever state you leave the home in, which England and Wales don't allow. A deduction for cleaning when your check-in report never said how clean the home was. A charge for a full professional clean when the check-out found only a dirty oven.
In England and Wales every approved scheme offers a free dispute service. GOV.UK's tenancy deposit guide says both you and the landlord have to agree to use it, you'll both give evidence, and the decision is final. Once you've agreed an amount, the landlord must return your deposit within 10 days.
In Scotland the scheme asks whether you agree with the deductions, and you have 30 working days to reply. Stay silent and, mygov.scot says, "The landlord will get the deductions they ask for". All three schemes offer a free adjudicator if you dispute them.
In Northern Ireland, Housing Rights says to speak to your landlord first and then complain to the scheme holding the deposit.
In England, a flat cleaning fee you paid on top of your deposit goes to the council or the First-tier Tribunal, not the deposit scheme.
Tenancy rules change and differ across the four nations. If a lot of money is at stake, Citizens Advice, Shelter or, in Northern Ireland, Housing Rights can look over your paperwork.
Start today by finding out which scheme holds your deposit. Your landlord should have told you in writing soon after you paid it.
Frequently asked questions
How much is an end of tenancy clean for a two-bed flat?
Outside London, expect £150 to £300 on the two guides we compared. MyJobQuote puts a two-bed at £150 to £180, or £190 to £220 with a carpet clean, and Fantastic Services at £200 to £300. In London and the South East, Fantastic's range rises to £250 to £375. A second bathroom or a heavily used oven pushes any quote up.
How long does an end of tenancy clean take?
Usually most of a day. Buzz Maids, a cleaning firm, estimates four to five hours for a two-bed and five to six for a three-bed. BestBuilders says a three-bed house takes six to nine hours, usually with a team of two or three. An empty home is quicker, so book the cleaner for after the removal van has gone.
Can my landlord charge me for carpet cleaning?
In England or Wales, not as a compulsory professional clean, and not as a flat fee you pay whatever the carpets look like. They can deduct a reasonable cost if the carpets are dirtier than your check-in report recorded. If the check-in says the carpets weren't professionally cleaned, you only owe them back in that state. A carpet that's beyond cleaning is charged on its age, not at the price of a new one.
Can a landlord take cleaning costs out of my deposit?
Yes, if the home was left less clean than when you moved in and they can show it. If you disagree, you can ask the deposit scheme's adjudicator to compare the check-in and check-out reports. The Tenancy Deposit Scheme says it won't make an award just because the tenancy agreement has a cleaning clause, and it weighs any invoice rather than accepting it.
Do I have to pay for cleaning if the flat wasn't clean when I moved in?
Not to a higher standard than you got. You only have to return the home as clean as it was when you moved in. The Tenancy Deposit Scheme is likely to cut awards that ignore problems noted at check-in, and the Deposit Protection Service treats a full professional clean, claimed despite cleaning defects at the start, as betterment.
Will paying for a professional clean guarantee I get my deposit back?
No. It deals with cleaning, which is the commonest reason for deposit claims, but not damage, missing items or rent arrears. Many firms sell a re-clean guarantee, which mostly writes down a right you already have. Under the UK-wide Consumer Rights Act 2015, a cleaner must work with reasonable care and skill, and you can require it to redo work that falls short, at its own cost.