The check-out inspection is where your deposit is decided, and cleaning is one of the things landlords most readily propose deductions for, because a greasy extractor hood or a limescaled shower screen is easy to photograph and hard to argue with. This checklist follows the order an inventory clerk uses, so whether you are doing the clean yourself or checking a cleaner's work before they leave, you are looking at the same things they will.

Why the check-out report matters

At the end of a tenancy in England, the landlord or agent usually arranges a check-out inspection. An inventory clerk (sometimes the agent, sometimes an independent company) walks through the empty property with the check-in report in hand and records the condition and cleanliness of every room, fixture and item, with photographs.

Cleanliness is recorded separately from condition. A clerk will describe a room as, for example, "clean to a professional standard", "clean to a domestic standard" or "requires cleaning", and note specifics such as "limescale to taps" or "grease to hob". Whatever standard was recorded at check-in is the standard you are expected to return.

Fair wear and tear applies to condition, not dirt. A carpet that has worn thin in a doorway over three years is wear and tear. A carpet with a coffee stain is not. So the target is simple: the property should be at least as clean as it was on day one, as shown in the check-in report.

Any deduction must be evidenced by comparing the two reports. If you disagree, your deposit protection scheme provides free dispute resolution, and your own dated photographs taken after cleaning are the strongest defence you can have. Under the Tenant Fees Act 2019 nobody can require you to pay for a professional clean, but the standard still has to be met.

How to use this checklist

Room What the clerk looks at first Most common failure
Kitchen Inside the oven, hob, extractor filter Grease inside the oven door and on the extractor
Bathroom Limescale on taps, shower screen, tiles Grout, sealant and under the toilet rim
Bedrooms Inside wardrobes and drawers, skirting boards Dust on skirting, marks on walls
Living room Light fittings, window sills, sockets Cobwebs and dust on high surfaces
Hallway Front door, skirting, floor Scuff marks and dust on the door frame
Outside Bins, balcony, garden Rubbish left in bins, weeds, sweeping not done

Kitchen

The kitchen is the room most likely to be photographed for a deduction. Allow more time than you think.

Bathrooms and toilets

Bedrooms and living rooms

Hallway, stairs and landing

Outside areas

Carpets and hard floors

Vacuuming is expected everywhere. Whether carpets need a proper steam or hot-water extraction clean depends on the check-in report and their state now. If check-in says "carpets professionally cleaned" or they have visible marks, a vacuum alone will be noted as short of the standard. Hard floors should be mopped after vacuuming, with grout lines and the strip under the kickboards done by hand.

Walls and marks

Clerks record marks, Blu Tack residue, picture hooks and scuffs. Small marks on wipeable paint come off with a damp cloth and a little washing-up liquid. Do not attempt to wash whole walls of matt emulsion; you will leave patches that look worse than the mark. Remove picture hooks only if the check-in report shows no hooks; filling holes without matching paint often draws more attention. Marks are a condition issue rather than a cleaning one, so fair wear and tear does apply here.

The items tenants forget

Every clerk has a mental list of the spots that get missed. These are the ones that show up again and again on check-out reports:

What "professional standard" means

There is no legal definition. In practice it means the property is clean throughout, including inside appliances and cupboards, with no limescale, grease, dust or marks, and no smell. It is the standard a competent cleaning firm would leave, and it is the standard most check-in reports record for a newly let property. A "domestic standard" is a good weekly clean: surfaces and floors done, but appliances and hidden areas not necessarily deep cleaned. If your check-in report says domestic standard, that is what you must match; you are not obliged to go further.

When to hire instead

Doing the clean yourself is entirely allowed, and for a studio or one-bed in decent condition it is realistic over a weekend with the right products. It becomes harder to justify when the property is large, the oven is in a poor state, carpets need machine cleaning, or your moving dates leave no time. In those cases a fixed-price clean from a cleaner who does move-out work regularly, with a re-clean promise if the clerk raises an issue, can cost less than a deduction. If you are weighing it up, our guide to how end of tenancy cleaning is priced in London sets out the indicative bands and what moves the price, and the companion article on the standard scope of a move-out clean shows what a cleaner will and will not cover.

Rather book it? Find end of tenancy cleaners near you

If you would rather hand this list to someone else, end of tenancy cleaners across London are listed on KleanTouch by the areas they cover. Search by postcode, read the profile, and contact the cleaner directly. KleanTouch is a directory: it takes no commission and does not check insurance or work quality, so ask about both before you book. Area pages for the pilot neighbourhoods are being added as listings go live, and the listing guidelines explain what every profile has to include.