What Letting Agents Actually Check at the End of a Tenancy

Deposit disputes are rarely about a property being broadly dirty. They come from a short, predictable list of specific items that check-out inspections flag over and over. Knowing the list is most of the battle, because almost every item on it is fixable in an afternoon if you know it is coming.

The inventory report decides everything

The document that matters is the check-in inventory, not the tenancy agreement. At check-out the property is compared against that report, condition by condition, usually with photographs. If the check-in report described the oven as clean and the check-out photograph shows carbon on the glass, that is a deduction, regardless of how tidy the rest of the property is.

This cuts both ways. If something was already marked as worn or damaged at check-in, it cannot be charged to you at check-out. Find your check-in inventory before you do anything else, and read it. People routinely clean and repair things they were never liable for.

Fair wear and tear is not damage

Agents cannot charge you for normal deterioration over the length of the tenancy. Carpet that has thinned along a hallway after three years is wear. A burn or a wine stain is damage. Paint that has dulled is wear. A shelf bracket ripped out of plasterboard is damage. Where tenants lose money is not in the grey area, it is in cleaning items that are unambiguous and easy to photograph.

The items flagged most often

In order of how frequently they appear on check-out reports:

• The oven, including the inner glass, shelves, runners and the grill pan
• Limescale on shower screens, taps, tiles and around the toilet waterline
• Extractor fans and hobs, particularly the filter above a gas hob
• The fridge and freezer, defrosted, cleaned and left switched off with doors ajar
• The washing machine drawer and door seal, where mould collects out of sight
• Inside kitchen cupboards and drawers, including crumbs in the runners
• Window glass, frames and sills, inside at minimum
• Skirtings, door tops, light switches and the marks around handles
• Carpets, vacuumed thoroughly and professionally cleaned where the inventory says they were

The oven is the single most common deduction

If you do one thing properly, do the oven. It is the most photographed item in any check-out report, the easiest to assess objectively, and the most expensive to have corrected at short notice by an agent who has already booked a contractor.

A domestic oven cleaner and an hour of effort will handle light use. Anything baked on for a year generally will not shift without dismantling the door to reach between the glass panes, which is where the visible staining usually sits.

Read the carpet clause carefully

Many Manchester tenancy agreements require carpets to be professionally cleaned at the end of the term, sometimes with a receipt as proof. A clause requiring the carpets to be returned in the same condition as check-in is normal and enforceable. A clause requiring professional cleaning regardless of condition is more contentious, but agents do still ask, and producing a receipt is far cheaper than arguing about it after the fact.

Check the wording before you book anything. If it specifies professional cleaning, a hired machine and a Sunday afternoon will not satisfy it.

Do it empty, and do it last

Clean after the property is empty, not around the last of your belongings. Agents check inside and behind everything, and a wardrobe moved on the final morning reveals a rectangle of untouched floor and a skirting board that was never done. The same applies to the fridge, which needs to be pulled out, and the space beside the cooker.

Photograph everything once you have finished, with a timestamp. If a dispute goes to the deposit scheme, dated photographs of the property in the state you left it are the strongest evidence you can produce.

When to bring someone in

Doing it yourself is entirely reasonable if you have the time and the tenancy has been short. It becomes false economy when the oven is heavily used, when carpets need a receipt, or when you are moving out and moving in during the same week and simply will not get to it properly.

Our end of tenancy cleaning across Manchester and Greater Manchester works to the standard agents inspect against, covers the full list above including the oven interior, and comes with an invoice you can hand to the agent. If anything is flagged at check-out, tell us within the guarantee period and we return to put it right.