Ask three companies what an end of tenancy clean costs and you can get quotes anywhere from £79 to £550 for what sounds like the same two-bedroom flat. Almost every price guide online prices London and stops there, which leaves anyone moving in Dartford, Bexleyheath or Gravesend doing their own maths.
So here is the short version. Across Kent, the end of tenancy cleaning cost for most homes sits between £180 for a studio and £300 for a three-bedroom house. South East London runs around 10% higher. Oven and carpet cleaning are billed as extras by plenty of companies, and both are part of our standard clean, along with a free re-clean within 48 hours if your inventory clerk flags anything.
This guide is for tenants getting their deposit back, landlords turning a property around, and letting agents booking between tenancies. You can get a quote in about a minute.
Typical End of Tenancy Cleaning Prices in London and Kent
The table below uses UK market averages published by Checkatrade in its August 2026 cost guide, with figures its estimators check against completed jobs. End of tenancy cleaning prices in Dartford and North Kent read against the UK column. South East London and Central London read against the London column.
| Property size | Typical hours | Kent and rest of UK | London |
| Studio flat | 4 hours | £180 | £200 |
| 1 bedroom | 4 hours | £220 | £240 |
| 2 bedrooms | 4 to 6 hours | £260 | £285 |
| 3 bedrooms | 7 hours | £300 | £330 |
| 4 to 5 bedrooms | 8 hours | £370 | £405 |
| 6 or more bedrooms | 8 hours and up | £415+ | £450+ |
For a 2 bed flat the end of tenancy cleaning cost is £260 in Kent and £285 in London, and a 3 bed house runs £300 and £330. Those averages explain why online cleaning quotes look so far apart. A company advertising “from £79” is quoting its smallest job with nothing added. A guide quoting £550 is pricing a large furnished London property with carpets and oven included. Some sites quote inclusive of VAT and some exclusive, which moves a £260 clean by more than £50.
We price by quote, because a well-kept two-bedroom flat in Greenhithe and one with a year of oven grease are different jobs. Tell us the property size, condition and move-out date, and you get one fixed price with the extras in it.
What Affects the Cost of an End of Tenancy Clean?
Labour is almost the whole cost, so hours drive the price. The National Living Wage rose 4.1% to £12.71 an hour in April 2026, which is the main reason quotes across the industry moved this year. Five things change how many hours your property needs.
Property Size and Number of Bathrooms
Bedrooms set the baseline, bathrooms set the actual workload. Limescale across North Kent and South East London is heavy, and descaling a second shower, screen and taps can add an hour. A two-bedroom, two-bathroom flat often prices closer to a three-bedroom house.
The Condition of the Property
A home cleaned regularly through the tenancy prices at the figures above. Heavy oven grease, mould on bathroom silicone, nicotine on ceilings or a property left after pets takes longer. Describing it accurately saves money, because a quote built on the real condition rarely moves on the day.
Furnished or Unfurnished
Furnished properties cost more. Every wardrobe and cupboard gets emptied, cleaned inside and out and dusted on top, and sofas and mattresses add time. Price guides commonly show a furnished property costing £30 to £60 more than the same unfurnished one.
Parking and Access
A terraced house in Swanley with a driveway is quicker to service than a third-floor flat in Woolwich with a permit bay two streets away. Carrying equipment up stairs costs time, and Central London jobs carry the congestion charge. New-build flats often need a loading bay booked, so mention it when you ask for a price.
Timing
The last three working days of the month are the busiest in the calendar, because most tenancies end then. Book a week ahead for a month-end Friday. Midweek dates mid-month are easier to schedule around a check-out appointment.
Extras: What Other Companies Charge For, and What We Include
This is where quotes stop matching. Many companies advertise a base price, then bill the oven, the carpets, the fridge-freezer and the exterior windows on top. That is how a £150 quote becomes £260 by the time it is itemised.
All four are part of our standard end of tenancy clean. The oven, hob and extractor are degreased, carpets are shampooed throughout, the fridge and freezer are defrosted and cleaned, and windows are cleaned inside and outside where access allows. The 48-hour free re-clean covers the lot.
Tenants on the MoneySavingExpert forum keep landing on the same conclusion: the oven is worth paying for even when you clean everything else yourself, because the products cost nearly as much as hiring someone. Carpets come second, since a hired machine pulls less water back out. With both in your price, comparing quotes gets simpler.
Are Kent Prices Cheaper Than London?
Yes. The end of tenancy cleaning cost in London is consistently higher, and the gap is smaller than most people assume. Comparing the two columns in the table above, London prices run between 8% and 11% above the UK average at every property size. In cash, that is £20 more on a studio, £25 on a two-bedroom flat and £35 on a four-bedroom house.
The reasons are practical: paid parking and permit zones, the congestion charge on Central London jobs, and travel time between bookings. Being based at Crossways in Dartford puts us on the Kent side of that line while still covering Greenwich, Lewisham and Wandsworth, so a job in DA1 is priced as a DA1 job.
How Long Does an End of Tenancy Clean Take?
Most of our end of tenancy cleans take 3 to 6 hours depending on property size. Market figures run slightly longer, at around 4 hours for a studio or one-bedroom flat, 4 to 6 hours for a two-bedroom, 7 hours for a three-bedroom and 8 hours or more for four bedrooms and up.
The difference is team size. Those market hours assume one cleaner working alone. Send two or three people and the same three-bedroom house is finished in half the time, which matters when a check-out is booked for midday. For scale, three hours of one cleaner covers about one kitchen and one bathroom to end of tenancy standard.
You do not need to be there. We can collect keys, clean while the property is empty, and work evenings and weekends when a check-out lands awkwardly.
What Is Included in an End of Tenancy Clean?
Our end of tenancy cleaning service is a top-to-bottom clean built around what inventory clerks actually inspect.
- Kitchen: Oven, hob and extractor degreased, taps and sink descaled, the washing machine drawer and drum cleaned, and the fridge and freezer defrosted and wiped inside and out.
- Bathrooms: Taps, shower heads, screens and ceramics descaled, toilets, sinks, showers, baths and tiles disinfected, extractor fans dusted and drains treated.
- Bedrooms and living areas: Surfaces, fittings and skirting boards dusted, cupboard and wardrobe interiors cleaned, cobwebs removed, and bins washed out.
- Windows and floors: Windows cleaned inside and outside where access allows, mirrors and sills wiped, the whole property vacuumed, carpets shampooed and hard floors washed.
- Appliances: Dishwasher filters cleaned and the machine treated, plus cookers and microwaves.
Check your check-in inventory against our end of tenancy cleaning checklist first: the inventory is the standard your check-out is measured against.
Hourly Rate or Fixed Price?
Most cleaning companies quote a fixed price per job, and for an end of tenancy clean that is the better structure. The job has a defined end point, a property that passes a check-out inspection, so paying by the hour puts the risk of a slow afternoon on you.
End of tenancy cleaning prices per hour sit at £20 to £25 across the UK and £22 to £27 in London. If you are wondering whether £20 an hour is a lot for a cleaner, set it against the £12.71 minimum wage: the rest covers travel, products, equipment, insurance, holiday pay and tax.
When you compare quotes, check five things: VAT, whether the oven and carpets are included, the re-clean policy and how long it lasts, any minimum charge, and who pays for parking.
Can Your Landlord Charge You for Cleaning?
They can charge for cleaning. They cannot make you buy a professional clean.
The Tenant Fees Act 2019 works by listing the payments a landlord or agent may require in England. Anything outside that list is a prohibited payment, and professional cleaning is not on it. A tenancy clause requiring you to pay for a professional clean, or to hand over a cleaning receipt, is not binding. Government guidance for tenants explains how to ask for a prohibited payment back and how to apply to the First-tier Tribunal if a landlord refuses.
A landlord can expect the property back in the condition recorded at check-in, allowing for fair wear and tear, and claim from your deposit if it falls short. That claim goes through your deposit protection scheme, and the evidence is the inventory.
Tenancy Deposit Scheme data reported by the NRLA shows cleaning featured in 54% of dispute cases in 2024/25, the most common claim area, against an average protected deposit of £1,175. The reassuring half of the same dataset: only 1% of deposits reached formal adjudication, so 99% of tenancies ended without a dispute.
Sandy Bastin, Director of Resolution at the Tenancy Deposit Scheme, puts the lesson plainly: “Photographic or video inventories remain the single most effective way to support a claim.” Dated photographs taken after your clean are the cheapest protection you can give yourself.
Tenants on r/AskUK often summarise the law as compulsory cleaning fees having been banned in 2019, and that is broadly right. A booked clean is your own choice, made to save time and meet a standard.
How to Get the Best Price for Your End of Tenancy Clean
Book early, especially for the last few days of the month. Clear the property first, because cleaners work around boxes slowly. Describe the condition honestly so the quote holds. Send your check-in inventory, which sets the standard you are measured against. Then ask what happens if something is missed: ours is a free re-clean within 48 hours.
FAQs
What does an end of tenancy clean include?
A full top-to-bottom clean of every room, with the kitchen and bathrooms taking most of the time. Ours covers the oven, hob and extractor, descaling throughout, carpets shampooed, the fridge and freezer defrosted, cupboard interiors and windows inside and out where access allows.
How long does an end of tenancy clean take?
Usually 3 to 6 hours depending on property size. A studio or one-bedroom flat is normally a morning. A three or four-bedroom house takes most of a day with one cleaner, or half a day with a team.
Is it cheaper to clean the property myself?
On paper, yes. In practice, the gap narrows once you buy oven cleaner, descaler, a carpet machine hire and a day of your own time mid-move. Threads on r/london and MoneySavingExpert land in the same place: people clean the rest themselves and pay someone for the oven and carpets.
Will I get my deposit back if I use a professional cleaner?
A professional clean improves your position and gives you a dated receipt. No company can promise the outcome, because the decision belongs to your landlord, agent and deposit scheme. What we do promise: if the check-out flags something we cleaned, we re-clean it free within 48 hours.
Which areas do you cover?
Dartford and the DA postcodes, across North Kent to Gravesend, Northfleet, Swanley, Rochester and Gillingham, and into South East London. That includes Greenwich, Lewisham, Wandsworth, Bexleyheath and Dartford.
Get a Fixed Price for Your End of Tenancy Clean
An insured team, all products and equipment brought with us, evenings and weekends available. Oven, carpets, fridge-freezer and windows are all included in the price, with a free re-clean within 48 hours.
Get your quote or call 01322 250 632.
