How long does end of tenancy cleaning take?

A studio or one-bed flat usually takes three to five hours. A two or three-bed runs from half a day to most of one, and a larger or heavily used property needs a full day, often with a bigger team. The figure moves with size, condition, the add-ons you choose and how many cleaners are on the job.

Rough durations by size

• Studio: around three hours, one cleaner.
• One-bed flat: four to five hours, one cleaner.
• Two-bed: five to seven hours of labour, often split between two cleaners.
• Three-bed house: most of a working day, usually a team of two.
• Four-bed or heavily soiled: a full day with a bigger team.

Treat these as estimates. We confirm the expected time with your quote once we know the size, condition and scope.

Where the hours actually go

Not where people expect. Bedrooms are quick, because an empty bedroom is floors, skirting, a window and a wardrobe. The kitchen and the bathrooms eat the day.

An oven done properly is an hour to an hour and a half with the right products, and that is a professional doing it, not a first-timer with a supermarket spray. A scaled bathroom, screen, taps, grout and tiles, is another hour on its own. Kitchen cupboards inside and out, the extractor and behind the appliances take another. Add carpets if they are booked, and a one-bed flat has filled an afternoon before anyone has touched the living room.

What adds time

Condition first. A property that has been kept on top of is markedly quicker than one that has not, and the gap is hours rather than minutes. Then bathrooms: a second wet room adds more time than a second bedroom. Then furniture, because anything still in the property has to be worked around. Then hard water, which is why limescale jobs in some areas take longer than the same flat elsewhere.

Why a bigger team is quicker

Move-out work splits well. One cleaner takes the kitchen while another does the bathrooms, and nobody is waiting on anybody. Two or three people can compress a job that would take one person all day into an afternoon, which for a tight check-out deadline is often the difference between making it and not. The labour hours stay roughly the same; the wall-clock time drops.

How to make it faster

Empty the property first, ideally the day before. Defrost the freezer overnight and leave the door open with a towel under it. Leave the water and electricity on, because the clean depends on both. Flag the add-ons when you book so the team arrives with the right kit rather than making a second trip. And clear the parking if you can, particularly in permit-controlled streets. A move-out checklist covers the rest.

Booking around the check-out

Aim to finish the clean before the check-out inspection, with a buffer of at least a few hours and ideally a day. That buffer is what lets you fix anything, or lets us come back under the 48-hour re-clean guarantee (terms apply), before the report is written rather than after. The move-out timeline sets out the sequence, and you can get an estimate for your property with an instant quote or check what is included in the time.

Quick answers

Can it be done in a day? Almost always, and often in half a day for smaller properties.

Do you work in teams? Yes. Larger or heavier jobs get more cleaners to keep them within the day.

Will I know the timing in advance? Yes. The expected duration is confirmed with your quote.

Does the oven add much time? An hour or so on its own, which is why it is priced as an add-on rather than folded into the base clean.

Durations here are a guide. Actual time depends on the property size, condition and the scope you book.