An end-of-tenancy clean should leave the home clean enough for the next person to move in without redoing anything. It is a higher standard than an ordinary deep clean, and above all a different one: the things that normally never get done — behind the fridge, inside the oven door, in the bathroom grouting, on top of the door frames — are exactly what the inspection looks at.
This guide goes through what is covered room by room, what is normally not covered, what the landlord actually checks and what happens if the clean is rejected.
Room by room — what an end-of-tenancy clean covers
The kitchen
The kitchen is where most cleans fail, and it is also the part that takes the longest. A complete end-of-tenancy clean of a kitchen includes:
- The oven inside, including trays, racks and the oven door — also between the panes of glass
- The hob and cooker, plus underneath and behind the cooker
- Extractor hood and filter: the hood degreased, the filter cleaned or washed
- Fridge and freezer inside and out, defrosted, plus the floor and wall behind and beneath
- The dishwasher: door, rubber seals, filter and edges
- Cupboards and drawers inside and out — including tops, undersides and the edges of the doors
- Worktops, tiles, grouting and splashbacks
- Sink, taps, strainer and visible pipework
- Floors, skirting boards and trims
Bathroom and toilet
A bathroom is more about limescale than dirt. It is the scale around the taps, along the bottom edge of the shower screen and in the floor drain that makes a bathroom look uncleaned even when it has been washed.
- Toilet inside and out, including behind and under the base
- Basin, taps, bath and shower screen, descaled
- The floor drain: grate lifted, drain cleared and dried
- Mirrors, bathroom cabinets inside and out, light fittings
- Wall and floor tiles and grouting
- Washing machine and tumble dryer: door, rubber seal, detergent drawer and lint filter
- Floors, skirting boards and thresholds
Living room, bedrooms and other rooms
- Floors vacuumed and washed, including where furniture has been standing
- Skirting boards, doors, door frames, casings and handles
- Windows: inside, outside and between the panes where they open, plus frames, glazing bars and fittings
- Radiators, including the back where it can be reached
- Wardrobes and fitted storage: inside, outside and on top
- Switches, sockets and light fittings
- Vents and air intakes
- Walls and ceilings dusted, cobwebs removed
Hall, walk-in wardrobe and storage
- Hat shelf, shoe rack, wardrobes, walk-in wardrobe and cleaning cupboard — including the tops
- The front door on both sides, plus frame and threshold
- Electrical and fibre cabinets on the outside
Balcony, terrace and entrance
The balcony is swept, the floor wiped and the railing cleaned. If the balcony is full of snow or ice in winter, that is snow clearing rather than cleaning — it has to be agreed separately, and it affects what can reasonably be handed over as approved.
What is normally NOT included
This is the question almost nobody answers clearly, which is why it causes the most disputes. Here is how it works with us, and in the trade generally:
- Removal of rubbish and items left behind. An end-of-tenancy clean assumes the home is completely empty. Furniture, paint tins, rubbish bags or an old sofa in the storage unit is removal work, not cleaning. We can do it — but as its own line, not quietly absorbed into the cleaning hours.
- Storage units, attics, basements and garages unless agreed. An attic store is not automatically included just because it belongs to the flat. Say so when booking and we will allow for it.
- Repairs and damage. Holes from picture hooks, scratches in the parquet, a broken bathroom shelf or a cracked toilet seat are maintenance and inspection remarks — not cleaning tasks.
- Window cleaning beyond the home's own windows. Windows inside, outside and between the panes are included where they can be reached from inside. External cleaning that requires a ladder or a lift on upper floors, and cleaning a whole house, is a separate service.
- Wear that will not come off. Discoloured grouting, limescale that has etched into the porcelain, burn marks on the worktop, yellowed plastic and dulled lacquer cannot be cleaned away. We remove dirt — we cannot restore materials.
- Remediation. Mould, pests and smoke or animal odours that have settled into walls, textiles and ventilation require specialist remediation, not cleaning.
- Post-renovation builders' cleans. If anything has been sanded, stripped out or plastered, there is construction dust everywhere, including in the ventilation. That is a different job and a different amount of time.
- Gardens, patios, driveways and communal areas of the building.
- Taking down lights, curtain rails, shelves and furniture. We can help with it, but it is not cleaning.
An item not being included does not mean we will not do it. It means it should be priced and booked separately, so you know what you are paying for. If you want everything in one, we will quote it as a single fixed price after going through it with you.
What the inspection actually checks
The inspection is usually carried out by the landlord, a property manager or an inspector at handover. The person inspecting rarely looks at the middle of the floor. They go for edges, tops and backs — the places a quick clean always misses:
- The oven, especially between the panes in the door
- The extractor filter
- Behind and under the fridge, freezer and cooker
- The join between worktop and wall, and the seal behind the tap
- The floor drain under the grate
- Limescale along the bottom edge of the shower screen and around the taps
- The tops of door frames, wardrobes and kitchen cupboards
- Skirting boards, corners and thresholds
- Window frames and the top edge of the windows
- The backs of the radiators
An inspection rarely takes more than twenty minutes, but it always follows roughly this list. That is why a clean done by someone who knows what gets checked almost always passes, while an ambitious do-it-yourself clean often picks up three or four remarks.
If the clean is rejected
The sequence is usually the same: the landlord notes the remarks, you get a few days to put them right, and if you do not, the landlord orders cleaning at your expense. That bill is almost always higher than if you had booked it yourself, because it is arranged at short notice.
The remarks are nearly always details — not that the home is dirty, but that the extractor filter was never opened or the inside of the oven door was missed.
That is also the whole reason we give an inspection guarantee. If anything is marked, we come back and put it right at no extra cost. It is a fairly easy guarantee to give when you know what the inspection looks at — and a reassurance that is hard to buy for yourself if you cleaned on your own.
Levels and price
We work with three levels plus a complete option:
- Basstäd (basic clean) — from 595 kronor after RUT
- Flyttstäd (end-of-tenancy clean) — from 895 kronor after RUT
- Flyttstäd Plus — from 1,495 kronor after RUT
- Divine Total — fixed price after a quote, when the move, the clear-out and the clean belong together
Where you land depends on the floor area, the condition of the home and whether windows and a balcony are included. The final sum comes with the quote. RUT gives a 50 per cent deduction on the labour cost, with a ceiling of 75,000 kronor per person per year shared with the ROT deduction. The deduction is applied directly on the invoice.
Five things you can do to make it go smoothly
- Empty the home completely first. A clean in a half-empty flat is never as good, and the time goes on moving things rather than cleaning.
- Defrost the freezer the day before. A frosted freezer cannot be wiped out, and it is a classic inspection remark.
- Leave the electricity and water on. Without hot water and power the job cannot be done.
- Book the clean for after the furniture is out, not for the same hours as the move.
- Arrange keys or codes in advance and tell us if there is a laundry room, storage unit or garage included.
If you are unsure which level you need, call or send an enquiry — we reply within 24 hours and give a fixed price before the work starts. If we are handling the move as well, one company is responsible for the home being both emptied and approved on time.
