specialist
Void and empty property cleaning
Void property cleaning costs £150 to £400 for a two-bedroom property and £300 to £700 for a larger one, with clearance charged separately at £200 to £600. It is bought by landlords, housing associations and letting agents against a relet date, and the deadline is usually tighter than the work.
What this covers
What it costs. Void property cleaning costs £150 to £400 for a two-bedroom property and £300 to £700 for a larger one. Full cost breakdown.
What the job covers
- Empty properties cleaned between tenancies
- Clearance of anything the outgoing tenant left
- Kitchens, bathrooms and appliances brought back to lettable
- Needle and sharps sweeps where the history calls for it
- Working with no power and no water on site
What is involved
A void is not an end of tenancy clean. End of tenancy is a tenant buying their deposit back against an inventory; a void is a landlord turning a property round, often after a tenancy that ended badly, and frequently with no inventory to work to and nobody to charge.
The practical difference is that the services are usually off. No electricity means no vacuum and no lights in a windowless bathroom; no water means everything arrives in the van. Contractors who do voids carry a generator, a transformer and their own water, and a quote from somebody who assumes a working socket is a quote that changes on the day.
Clearance is the variable that moves the price most. What was left behind can be nothing or it can be a full house, it is rarely known accurately before the door is opened, and it leaves with a registered waste carrier on a transfer note like any other load.
Choosing someone for the job
Ask whether they work without power and water, and what they bring. It is the single question that separates void contractors from domestic cleaners.
Ask how clearance is priced and whether it is inside the figure. It is the line that moves most between the quote and the invoice.
Ask what the turnaround is. The value of this work is the relet date, and a cheaper contractor who takes an extra week has cost more than they saved.
Common questions
How is this different from an end of tenancy clean?
Who is buying it and why. An end of tenancy clean is a tenant protecting a deposit against an inventory. A void is a landlord meeting a relet date, often with no inventory, no deposit left to argue about and no services switched on.
What if there is no electricity?
Contractors who do voids bring a generator and lighting, and water in containers where the supply is off. Ask, because a domestic cleaning company will usually arrive expecting both.