How to get your deposit back: the cleaning side of moving out

Five weeks’ rent is a lot of money to leave behind because of a greasy oven.

Cleaning is one of the most common reasons for deposit deductions. The good news is that most of it is avoidable, and the rules are on your side more than many tenants realise. This guide covers how it works in England.

Where your deposit actually is

If you have an assured shorthold tenancy, your landlord or agent must protect your deposit in a government-approved scheme within 30 days of receiving it. There are three: the Deposit Protection Service (DPS), mydeposits and the Tenancy Deposit Scheme (TDS).

You should have received paperwork telling you which scheme holds yours. Find it before you move out. If there’s a disagreement later, that scheme is who you’ll be dealing with.

What a landlord can deduct for cleaning

A landlord can deduct a reasonable amount if the property isn’t returned as clean as it was at the start of the tenancy. The benchmark is the check-in inventory, not what the landlord would like the flat to look like.

Two phrases matter here.

Fair wear and tear. Normal use over time isn’t your responsibility. Carpet that’s slightly flattened in the hallway after two years, faded curtains, light scuffs by a door. Those are expected.

Evidence. If the landlord wants to keep money back, they need to show the difference between check-in and check-out. That usually means the inventory report and photos from both ends of the tenancy.

What they can’t do, under the Tenant Fees Act 2019, is require you to pay for a professional clean just because it’s written into the contract. If you clean it yourself to the check-in standard, that’s enough.

Five things that protect your deposit

1. Clean to the inventory, not to your usual standard. Pull up the check-in report and go room by room. Our end of tenancy cleaning checklist follows the same order most inventories do.
2. Take dated photos when you finish. Every room, plus the oven, fridge and bathroom close up.
3. Be there for the check-out if you can. Problems spotted on the day can sometimes be fixed on the day.
4. Keep receipts. If you book a professional clean, keep the invoice. It shows you took the handover seriously.
5. Hand back every key and get it confirmed in writing. A text or email from the agent is fine.

If you don’t agree with a deduction

Once you and the landlord agree the amount to be returned, it should come back to you within 10 days.

If you can’t agree, don’t just accept it. Each scheme offers free dispute resolution, where an independent adjudicator looks at the evidence from both sides. This is where your photos and receipts earn their keep. Adjudicators decide on evidence, not on who argues loudest.

Where a professional clean helps

You don’t have to book one. But if you’re short on time, moving on the same day, or the oven and limescale have got away from you, it can cost less than the deduction you’re trying to avoid.

Our end of tenancy cleans start from £150 for a studio or one-bedroom property, planned around your handover date. Get a quote or call 020 7205 7386.

This guide is general information for tenants in England, not legal advice. Rules in Wales and Scotland are different.