Cleaning and Your Deposit

Cleaning is one of the most common reasons deposits end up in dispute. Most of those disputes aren't really about cleaning — they're about evidence. Here's how the system actually works, in plain terms.

The standard is the check-in report

Deposit protection schemes don't ask whether a property is perfectly clean. They ask whether it was returned in the same state of cleanliness it was received in. The check-in inventory — with its photographs and comments — sets the benchmark; the check-out report is compared against it. If the property started the tenancy professionally cleaned, that's the standard it needs to come back at.

What the Tenant Fees Act changed

Since the Tenant Fees Act 2019, tenancy agreements in England can't require tenants to pay for professional cleaning — clauses demanding a "professional clean with receipts" are unenforceable. What remains fully enforceable is the standard itself. A landlord can still claim against the deposit for the reasonable cost of cleaning if the property comes back dirtier than it was received — and unlike damage, cleaning claims carry no reduction for wear and tear, because dirt isn't wear and tear.

Where deductions actually happen

Check-out reports flag the same things again and again: ovens and extractors, limescale on taps and shower screens, carpets, the insides of cupboards and wardrobes, and marks that go beyond normal wear. They're the labour-intensive jobs — which is exactly why they're the ones most often left undone.

Evidence beats argument

Whichever side of the tenancy you're on, the winning move is the same: a clear record of what was cleaned and to what standard. That's why every Regiment clean follows the same set checklist — it gives agents, landlords and tenants one itemised scope everyone can point to, before there's ever anything to argue about.

The scheme websites — TDS, DPS and mydeposits — publish their own guidance on cleaning standards and disputes, and are worth reading if you're heading into one.