End of tenancy cleaning for a studio flat: cost and what to expect

A studio is the fastest end of tenancy clean, often finished in around three hours with one cleaner. With the living and sleeping space in one room, most of the work sits in the kitchen area and the bathroom, where limescale and the oven take the time. Prices start from £156, and the calculator gives the figure for your place.

For the full picture across every property size, see our end of tenancy cleaning cost guide.

What takes the time in a studio

The single room is quick: floors, skirting, window, surfaces and the inside of a wardrobe. An hour, maybe less if it is empty.

The kitchenette is where it slows down. Hob, splashback, extractor, the oven, inside the units, behind and under the fridge. Then the bathroom: limescale on the screen, taps and tiles, grout, the underside of the toilet rim, the extractor vent. Those two areas are most of the visit, and they are the two a clerk opens first.

Do the oven first. Leave it until the end and you will be scrubbing a cavity at eight in the evening with the daylight gone, which also means the photographs you wanted for your own records are useless until the morning you no longer have keys.

How long it takes

Around three hours for one cleaner, a little more if the oven is heavy or the bathroom is badly scaled. Studios in hard-water areas run longer than the same flat elsewhere, purely because of the limescale. Our guide on how long a clean takes sets out the wider picture.

What it costs

Studios sit at the bottom of the scale, from £156 for the base clean. The two totals we quote most often:

• Hard floors, oven only: £156 plus £77 is £233.
• Carpeted, oven and carpet: £156 plus £77 plus £36 is £269.

The exact figure depends on condition and the add-ons your inventory calls for, so the quickest route to a number is the instant quote. For the full breakdown of what moves the price, see the price guide.

Add-ons worth considering

For most studios the one that matters is oven cleaning, from £77, since the inventory almost always shows a clean oven at check-in. If the floor is carpeted rather than hard, add a carpet clean at £36. A studio with a sofa bed sometimes needs upholstery cleaning from £33 per item, though only if the inventory recorded it as treated. The base scope is on the what is included page.

Getting a studio ready

Small rooms clutter fast, and a studio with the last three boxes still in it is genuinely slower to clean than one that is empty. Clear everything out first, defrost the fridge and freezer the night before, and make sure the water and power are on, including credit on a prepayment meter.

One studio-specific point: storage. Studios usually have a single tall cupboard or an under-bed void that has absorbed a year of odds and ends. Empty it before the visit, because the inventory will list it and the clerk will open it.

The deposit maths for a studio

A studio deposit is smaller than a house deposit, but the ratio still works out. If your rent is £900 a month, five weeks’ rent is a little over £1,000, and a £233 clean is roughly a fifth of that. Cleaning is the most common cause of deposit disputes, so it is the line item most worth removing from the argument. Our comparison of a clean versus a deposit deduction goes through it.

Quick answers

How much is a studio clean? From £156, with the exact figure set by condition and add-ons.

How long does it take? Around three hours for one cleaner.

Is the oven extra? Yes, at £77, and almost always worth it.

Do I need a carpet clean in a studio? Only if the floor is carpeted and the inventory recorded it as treated at check-in.

Times and prices here are a guide. Your quote depends on the property, its condition and the scope you book.