Every day a property sits empty costs you a day's rent, so the temptation is to compress the turnaround. The mistake most landlords make is compressing the wrong part. Cutting the clean saves a day and costs you the next deposit dispute, because the check-in inventory you create becomes the standard the next tenant is judged against.
Deposit Protection Service data reported in 2026 shows cleaning is the largest single cause of deposit claims, at 29.38%, and the top cause for five years running. A weak check-in baseline is what makes those claims impossible to win.
The correct sequence
Order matters more than speed, because doing these out of order means redoing work.
- Check-out inspection, photographed against the previous check-in, before anything is touched
- Repairs and maintenance, meaning anything that makes dust or mess
- Decoration, if needed
- Deep clean, after every trade has finished
- Carpets, last, because everything above walks on them
- Check-in inventory, photographed, on the clean property
- Compliance checks: gas safety record, EICR, EPC, smoke and carbon monoxide alarms tested
Cleaning before the plumber has been is money burned. Carpets before the decorator is worse. The single most common turnaround error is booking the carpet cleaner for the same day as the painter.
What the clean has to cover
Treat it as a full end of tenancy clean rather than a tidy, with a few landlord-specific additions that generate first-fortnight complaints if missed.
The standard scope
- Oven interior, racks, door glass and grill pan
- Hob, extractor hood and filter
- Inside, on top of and underneath all kitchen cupboards
- Fridge and freezer, defrosted and washed
- Full limescale removal in bathrooms
- Grout scrubbed, mouldy sealant noted for replacement
- Interior windows, sills, frames and tracks
- Skirting boards, door tops, light fittings, radiators
- Inside wardrobes and drawers
- All floors
The landlord-specific additions
- Inside every appliance you provide, including the washing machine seal, drawer and filter, and the dishwasher filter. These generate complaints within two weeks if missed
- Extractor filters in kitchen and bathrooms, cleaned or replaced
- Radiator interiors and behind them, which never get done during a tenancy
- Window tracks and hinges
- Loft hatches, meter cupboards and airing cupboards, if they appear in the inventory
- Bin stores and any outside space forming part of the let
- Garage or shed, if included
Realistic costs
| Item | Typical cost |
|---|---|
| End of tenancy standard clean, 1 bed | £150 to £250 |
| 2 bed | £200 to £300 |
| 3 bed | £300 to £420 |
| Carpet cleaning, 2 bed throughout | £75 to £175 |
| Oven, if priced separately | £45 to £80 |
| Window cleaning, exterior | £15 to £45 |
| Mouldy sealant replaced | £40 to £90 |
| Touch-up decoration, per room | £120 to £250 |
For a two bedroom flat, a realistic full turnaround budget is £300 to £500 including carpets, before any repairs or decoration.
Against a void period, that is cheap. One week empty on a £1,400 a month property costs roughly £320.
The check-in inventory is the real deliverable
This is where a turnaround either protects you for the next two years or leaves you exposed.
Photograph specific items, not rooms. A wide shot of a kitchen proves almost nothing at adjudication. A close, dated photograph of a clean oven interior proves a great deal.
Write specifically. "Kitchen: clean" is nearly worthless. "Oven interior clean, no carbon deposits on base or door glass" is defensible.
Cover the disputed categories in advance. From how these cases actually run, the items that turn up repeatedly are: oven interior, shower screen and grout, carpet condition in traffic areas, wall marks, window tracks, appliance seals and extractor filters. Photograph all seven, every time, in every property.
Record meter readings and photograph the meters.
Date it, store it properly, and give the tenant a copy with a written window to dispute it, usually seven or fourteen days. A tenant who has accepted the inventory has accepted the baseline, and that materially strengthens any later claim.
Keep it somewhere that survives a phone upgrade. Cloud storage, organised by address.
Fair wear and tear, priced in
You cannot charge a departing tenant to return the property better than they found it, and adjudicators reduce claims that try. Build a realistic replacement cycle into your numbers instead.
| Item | Typical life in a let | Treat as |
|---|---|---|
| Carpet, mid-range | 5 to 7 years | Wear |
| Interior paint | 3 to 5 years | Wear |
| Grout and sealant | 4 to 6 years | Wear |
| Oven door seals | 5 years+ | Wear |
| Vinyl flooring | 7 to 10 years | Wear |
| Carbon deposits in an oven | Any tenancy | Cleaning |
| Stains on a carpet | Any tenancy | Cleaning or damage |
| Mould in sealant | Any tenancy | Cleaning |
Claiming wear as damage tends to weaken an otherwise good claim, because it makes the whole submission look opportunistic and invites the adjudicator to scrutinise everything else.
Apportion honestly. A five year old carpet damaged beyond cleaning has perhaps a year or two of life remaining, and that is what you can reasonably claim, not the price of a new one.
Cutting the void, honestly
The genuine ways to shorten a turnaround:
Book the clean provisionally before the check-out, for the day after the tenant leaves. Waiting until check-out to start ringing round costs three days in summer, when every local company is full.
Overlap trades and cleaning by room in larger properties rather than working sequentially through the whole house.
Use one contractor for the clean and the carpets, so there is no second mobilisation, no second minimum charge and no scheduling gap.
Photograph the check-out on the day, so any deposit claim starts immediately rather than after your next visit.
Keep spare filters, seals and light bulbs so a small appliance issue does not delay a let.
Start marketing before the tenancy ends, with viewings arranged around the outgoing tenant where the agreement permits.
Have a standing arrangement with one cleaning company rather than tendering each time. Consistency in the clean produces consistency in the inventory, which is what stops disputes before they start.
The thing not to cut is the gap between the clean and the check-in inspection. Leave at least a few hours so anything missed can be corrected before you create the baseline document.
If you let through an agent
Agree in writing who is responsible for the standard, who books the clean, and who holds the photographs. Turnarounds go wrong most often when the landlord assumes the agent inspected and the agent assumes the landlord approved the contractor.
Also confirm the agent is not applying a professional cleaning clause to tenants. Requiring tenants to pay for professional cleaning as a condition of the tenancy has not been lawful in England since the Tenant Fees Act 2019, and enforcement action lands on the landlord as well as the agent.
Ask to see the check-in inventory the agent produces before the tenant moves in, not afterwards. If it says "clean" against every line with no photographs, it will not support a claim, and you need to know that at the start rather than at the end.
Compliance, alongside the clean
The turnaround is the natural point to refresh these:
- Gas safety record, annual, by a Gas Safe registered engineer, provided to the tenant before occupation
- Electrical Installation Condition Report, every five years in England for private rented properties
- EPC, valid for ten years, with a minimum rating requirement
- Smoke alarms on every storey and carbon monoxide alarms in rooms with a fixed combustion appliance, tested at the start of the tenancy
- Legionella risk assessment, proportionate to the property
- Deposit protected within 30 days and prescribed information served
- Right to Rent checks in England
Doing these in the void is far easier than arranging access later.
The short checklist
- Check-out inspected and photographed before anything is touched
- Repairs, then decoration, then clean, then carpets, in that order
- Full end of tenancy scope, including appliance interiors and filters
- Compliance certificates current and provided
- Check-in inventory photographed item by item on the clean property
- Tenant given a copy with a written dispute window
- Photographs stored somewhere durable and organised by address
Frequently asked questions
How long should a turnaround take? Three to five working days for a straightforward flat with no repairs. Two weeks if decoration is involved.
Can I claim the cleaning cost from the outgoing tenant's deposit? Only for the shortfall between the standard they left and the standard at their check-in, evidenced. Not for the routine cost of preparing the property for the next tenant.
Do I need a professional inventory clerk? Not legally, but an independent, dated, photographed inventory carries more weight at adjudication than one produced by the landlord. For a portfolio, it usually pays for itself.
Should I redecorate every turnaround? No. Touch up marks and repaint on a three to five year cycle. Full redecoration every tenancy is not recoverable from deposits and rarely pays back in rent.
What if the outgoing tenant left it spotless? You still need a fresh check-in inventory with photographs, because the next tenant is judged against that document, not the previous one.
