What end of tenancy cleaning covers, kitchen to floors
In the kitchen: benches, the sink, inside every cupboard and the rangehood. In the bathroom: the shower, tiles, toilet, mirror and the extractor fan cover. Through the rest of the flat: skirting boards, light switches, inside wardrobes, sills and doors, then every floor vacuumed and mopped.
The oven, inside windows, carpet steam cleaning and wall marks change the most from one business to the next, so they're add-ons in the form. Tick the ones your place needs and the quote starts from the real job, not a guess.
End of tenancy cleaning: what Tenancy Services asks
Tenancy Services says the property needs to be reasonably clean and tidy when you leave, with your belongings and rubbish gone. That's a standard for the place. It says nothing about who holds the mop.
You don't have to hire a professional. Tenancy Services gives requiring the rental to be cleaned by a cleaning company at the end of the tenancy as an example of a condition that could breach the law, and it lists a clause saying the carpets must be professionally cleaned as unenforceable.
Pets are the exception. A landlord who agrees to a pet can set reasonable conditions, for example that the carpet is cleaned to a professional standard at the end if the pet lived indoors. The bond and tenancy rules page has the rest.
Before you book end of tenancy cleaners
- Ask for the clean in writing, room by room.
- Check which extras sit on top of the quote: the oven, inside windows, carpet steam, walls.
- Book it for after the furniture has gone and before the final inspection.
- Dig out your property inspection report, so the business can see how the place started.
- Ask what happens if your landlord or property manager raises something at the inspection.
- Ask for their NZBN and look it up on the NZBN Register.
Doing the end of tenancy clean yourself, or getting help
Worth doing yourself
- Take everything you own, including food in the fridge and anything in the garage or shed.
- Get the rubbish off the property, not just into the wheelie bin.
- Walk each room with your property inspection report in hand.
- Take dated photos once the place is clean and empty.
Where a cleaning business earns its keep
- Baked-on grease inside the oven and on the rangehood filters.
- Soap scum on shower glass, and grey grout.
- Sills, tracks and inside glass right through the place in one visit.
- Carpet steam cleaning, where the carpets need it or your pet consent conditions say so.
Red flags in an end of tenancy cleaning quote
- A promise that you'll pass the final inspection. No cleaner gets to decide that.
- Talk of getting your whole bond refunded. That's between you, your landlord and Tenancy Services.
- Fumigation or flea treatment bundled into the clean. That's pest control, a separate trade.
- A business that won't put the list in writing, or wants the full amount before it starts.
Our advice on end of tenancy cleaning
Walk the flat with your property inspection report before anyone quotes, and aim for that report, not a showroom. Tick only the extras the place needs, get the list and any re-clean terms in writing, and photograph every empty room before the keys go back.
