Cleaning is the most common deposit deduction in the country, and the one most often reduced or thrown out when it is challenged.
That is because two different things get confused: a tenancy clause requiring you to pay for a professional clean, and a deduction for the property being returned dirtier than you got it. The first is unenforceable. The second can be perfectly valid. Knowing which one you are looking at decides how you respond.
The professional cleaning clause is unenforceable
Under the Tenant Fees Act 2019, a term requiring you to pay for professional cleaning at the end of the tenancy is a prohibited payment in England. It does not matter that it is printed in the agreement and you signed it. It is not enforceable.
What a landlord can require is that you return the property to the standard of cleanliness it was in at check-in — and if it was professionally cleaned when you arrived, that is the standard. But the standard is the obligation. How you reach it is your business. You can hire a company, or you can spend a weekend on it yourself.
So if the deduction is described as "professional cleaning fee as per clause 14", that framing is wrong and worth saying so.
If instead it is "the oven and bathroom were not returned to the check-in standard, here is the invoice for putting that right", you are in the second category, and the argument is about facts rather than the clause.
The standard is check-in, not showroom
You are not required to hand back a property cleaner than you received it.
This is where the check-in inventory earns its keep. If it recorded the oven as clean and it is now greasy, that is a fair deduction. If it recorded "oven: heavy soiling to interior" and you leave it in the same state, a cleaning charge should not stand.
And fair wear and tear applies here too. Grout that has gradually discoloured over three years is not a cleaning failure. Limescale in a hard-water area is not a cleaning failure. Those are deterioration over time, which is fair wear and tear and not chargeable.
That is why it helps to record how clean the property was on day one. Our move-in checklist shows you how.
The deduction has to be proportionate
Even where some cleaning was genuinely needed, the amount matters.
A landlord who finds the oven dirty and charges for a full professional clean of the whole property is claiming more than the shortfall. An adjudicator will look at what was actually wrong and what it reasonably cost to fix, not at the round number on a cleaning company's standard price list.
So when you see a cleaning deduction, ask three questions:
- What specifically was not clean? A charge that cannot name the rooms or items is weak.
- What did it actually cost to rectify that? Not to clean the whole property.
- Is there an invoice, and does it match what was claimed?
A quoted estimate is weaker than a paid invoice. An itemised invoice is stronger than a lump sum. A lump sum with no breakdown, against no named problem, frequently fails.
What usually is chargeable
- An oven left with baked-on grease where it was clean at check-in
- A fridge or freezer left with food in it, or not defrosted
- Bathroom fittings left with soap scum, hair or visible grime
- Rubbish or belongings left behind, including in the garden, shed or loft
- Carpets left with spills or marks that cleaning would remove
- Kitchen surfaces, cupboards and extractor left greasy
What usually is not
- The property not being cleaner than it was at check-in
- Grout and sealant discoloured with age
- Limescale in a hard-water area
- Carpets showing ordinary wear along walkways
- Dust that has settled between your leaving and the inspection
- A charge for "professional cleaning" with no shortfall identified
What to do on your last day
The cleaning argument is won by photographs taken at the end, in the same way the damage argument is won by photographs taken at the start.
Before you hand back the keys, with the property empty:
- Photograph every room wide, from the doorway, the way you did at move-in
- Photograph inside the oven, the fridge, the washing machine drawer and the extractor
- Photograph the bathroom fittings close up
- Photograph the meter readings with the serial numbers visible
- Keep any receipt if you did pay someone, because it evidences both the standard and the cost
Do it after the last box is out. A photograph with your belongings still in the frame proves very little.
Then email the set to the landlord or agent the same day, with a line saying this is the condition the property was left in. A dated record that they received before any inspection is much harder to argue with than one produced weeks later.
Our move-out checklist helps you photograph each room after cleaning, in the same order as at check-in.
If you are already facing the charge
Respond in writing, and be specific rather than indignant:
- Ask what was not clean, room by room
- Ask for the invoice, itemised
- Point to your check-in evidence where the item was already in that condition
- Point to the inventory wording if it supports you
- Accept what you should accept, and dispute the rest — a file that disputes everything reads worse than one that concedes the oven and challenges the other £200
If it does not resolve, the scheme's free adjudication is the route. What evidence to send in a deposit dispute covers what to send, and how long a landlord has to return your deposit covers the timeline.
A note on the rest of the UK
The Tenant Fees Act applies in England. Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own rules on prohibited payments, broadly similar in effect but not identical. If you rent outside England, check the position where you are before relying on the clause point.
Put it in writing
If you disagree with a deduction, or the deposit has not come back, reply in writing, one charge at a time. Our free deposit letter can help: choose England and Wales, list each charge you dispute and why, and it writes a polite, dated letter asking for the money or for the check-in inventory and receipts, and saying you will use your scheme's free dispute service if you cannot agree. Nothing you type leaves your browser.
Where RentSeal fits
RentSeal keeps the before and the after in one place for one tenancy, so the comparison a cleaning dispute turns on is a file rather than a memory. You can see how it works first.
This guide explains the rules in general terms and is not legal advice. For your own situation, speak to Citizens Advice, Shelter or a housing solicitor.