This is a question I am so often asked believe it, or not! First time landlords are often unsure as to whether they should arrange a professional clean of their rented property prior to tenants moving in. Some landlords often tell me that they can clean the property themselves or perhaps they have a general domestic cleaner who has offered to clean for them. Sometimes, they even tell me that they aren’t planning on cleaning it at all before the start of the new tenancy. So, do you need to arrange a professional clean of your rental property?
The very simple answer is “yes”. However, as part of our managed service, this would be something we would automatically arrange for you, so it doesn’t involve any extra hassle for you as a landlord. You may be wondering why I so adamantly insist that all properties are professionally cleaned before tenants move in. Hopefully this blog post goes some way to explaining why it’s pretty much a must!
Why do I need to organise a professional clean before tenants move in?
- You only need to do it once – when we manage a rented property from the very beginning we would organise the professional clean just before your new tenants move in. Yes, this does come at a cost, and yes end of tenancy cleaners ARE more expensive than your average £10 an hour cleaner who comes round every week. This is because they’re skilled, use different products and clean far more deeply than any regular clean. By arranging a professional clean before your tenants move in, your tenants would be obliged to hand the property back in the same condition in terms of cleanliness. More often than not, tenants aren’t confident in cleaning to this professional level themselves and so they too, will arrange professional cleaners before they move out of the property – that way your let property is ready for your next tenants. We always organise a professional inventory of the property the day before/two days before the tenants move in, so this documents the exact condition of the property. We then provide a copy of this to your tenants and advise them that this is what will be used at the end of their tenancy to judge if there are any deductions to be made from their deposit. We stress that it’s important that tenants take the inventory seriously, check it for any mistakes, and read it thoroughly so they know exactly how they need to hand the property back when they leave. We provide them with another copy at the end of their tenancy as a reminder, in case they might have lost or misplaced their own copy.
- Good tenants have standards – I don’t think I’ve met a landlord to date that DOESN’T want a quality tenant in their property! A good tenant, pays the rent on time and looks after the property well, causing minimal aggravation. Those tenants tend to have high standards, are house proud, are professional and particular about where they live. That’s why they tend to take such good care of your property and are reliable tenants. That means that they will expect a clean property ready to move in to. It’s not fair to expect people to move in to a dirty property that they then have to spend hours cleaning. If you want good tenants, be prepare to provide quality accommodation for them. It will pay for itself ten times over, as if you have high standards then so will your tenants. That leads to years of happy tenancies and less maintenance and stress for you as a landlord. A professional clean is a very small price to pay.
- You are not a professional cleaner! – the kinds of cleans that our end of tenancy cleaners perform is completely different to a domestic clean in your own home. They will work their way through the property with a fine tooth comb, finding every bit of dirt and grease, removing every scrap of limescale and dust. This kind of clean normally takes hours, and for larger properties it can take up to two days (if very dirty!) – there is no way that you or I can undertake that kind of professional clean ourselves, nor would we likely have the time to do this. What you might consider clean at home, is NOT clean by tenancy standards. Some examples of the kind of cleaning they undertake that you normally wouldn’t include: insides of kitchen units, insides of appliances such as washing machines and ovens, tops of cupboards, door frames and skirting boards – and that’s really just to name a few. As well as cleaning much more thoroughly than you could imagine, they also have powerful products that again, you or I would not have in our own home. The biggest difference this makes is to limescale. How many hours have you spent cleaning your shower screen, only for it to still show streaks and limescale marks? They have special products that strip every bit of limescale from bathrooms and kitchens. By doing this kind of deep clean throughout, the property is truly a “blank canvas” ready for your tenants to move in to.
What will it cost?
This really depends on the property size and the level of dirt of course, and also whether you will be needing the appliances cleaned e.g. washing machine etc. Our professional cleaners are always happy to provide us with a quote first, which we can show you before going ahead. Typically, I would say MOST properties are between £100 and £300 (as a very rough ballpark) to clean properly, some are more if they are very large or very dirty. As mentioned above, you should only have to pay this once, as your tenants will be required to hand the property back in the same condition. If they don’t, we can then make a claim against their deposit for the cost of professional cleaning.
With The Personal Property Shop’s full management service, this would be something we would arrange for you anyway before your tenants move in. There’s no extra hassle or time involved for you, and we just deduct this from the first month’s rent that we collect. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with me on 01279 940840 or angela@thepersonalpropertyshop.co.uk.
Angela : )