Can they do that? Brighton & Hove
All questions

Can my letting agent make me pay for a professional clean when I move out?

Short answer

No

You can clean the property yourself. They can only deduct from your deposit if you leave it less clean than it was when you moved in.

Under the Tenant Fees Act 2019, a landlord or letting agent can’t:

  • make you sign up with another company for a service, such as a cleaning company,1 or
  • charge you any payment that isn’t on the Act’s short list of permitted payments.2 A professional clean isn’t on it.3

A clause in your tenancy agreement that says otherwise isn’t binding on you. The rest of the agreement still applies.4

In a 2020 case, a tribunal looked at a tenancy agreement that said the property had to be “professionally cleaned” at the end. It decided that the clause required the tenant to hire professionals, which the Act prohibits, so it wasn’t binding.5 The £210 the landlord kept from the deposit for cleaning was a prohibited payment, and the tribunal ordered it to be paid back.6

The government’s guidance for tenants said:

“No. A landlord or agent cannot require you to pay for a professional clean when you check-out.”7

That guidance was withdrawn in May 2026, when the rules were updated for the Renters’ Rights Act.8 The sections of the Act it describes are still in force, and the Property Ombudsman’s code for letting agents, updated in May 2026, says the same thing.9

What they can charge for

The test is the condition the property was in when you moved in, allowing for fair wear and tear.10 If you leave it less clean than that, they can claim the reasonable cost of putting it right from your deposit.11

  • If your check-in report says the property was “professionally cleaned”, that sets the standard, not who has to do the cleaning. An agent may ask for the property to be cleaned to a professional standard, but can’t make you use a particular company.12 The tribunal said “cleaning to a professional standard” sets the result to be achieved, not who does the work.13
  • Charges have to be in proportion to the cleaning actually needed.14 They can’t leave the landlord better off than at the start of the tenancy.15
  • In a deposit dispute, it’s up to the landlord to prove their claim, and the deposit is your money until they do.16

If you’re moving out soon

  • Clean it yourself, or pay someone if you’d rather.17
  • Use the move-out checklist for the places agents most often charge for.
  • Take dated photos and video of every room when you leave, from the same angles as the check-in report if you can. Date-stamped photos and video are among the evidence deposit adjudicators look at for cleaning claims.18
  • Keep your receipts.

If they’re taking money for cleaning

  1. Ask in writing for the check-in report, the check-out report with photos, and the cleaning invoice. The guidance tells tenants to ask the landlord or agent to justify their costs with evidence like these.19
  2. Don’t agree to the deduction until you’ve seen them.
  3. If you still disagree, use your deposit scheme’s free dispute service.20 Raise it promptly: your scheme sets deadlines for each step. There’s a letter you can use, and more on getting your deposit back.

Report the agent

Requiring a professional clean breaks the Tenant Fees Act. Councils’ Trading Standards services enforce the Act.21 They can fine a landlord or agent up to £5,000 for a breach,22 and up to £30,000 if it happens again within five years of an earlier fine or conviction.23 See how to report a letting agent.

References

  1. Tenant Fees Act 2019, s. 1(3) (landlords) and s. 2(3) (letting agents). A landlord must not require a relevant person to enter into a contract with a third party in connection with a tenancy of housing in England if that contract is— (a) a contract for the provision of a service; A letting agent must not require a relevant person to enter into a contract with the agent or a third party in connection with a tenancy of housing in England if the contract is— (a) a contract for the provision of a service. ↩

  2. Tenant Fees Act 2019, s. 1(1), s. 2(1) and s. 3(1). A landlord must not require a relevant person to make a prohibited payment to the landlord in connection with a tenancy of housing in England. For the purposes of this Act a payment is a prohibited payment unless it is a permitted payment by virtue of Schedule 1. ↩

  3. Tenant Fees Act 2019: guidance for tenants. GOV.UK, updated July 2026. These are the fees that your landlord is allowed to charge you: the rent, if you and your landlord have signed the tenancy agreement a refundable tenancy deposit a refundable holding deposit to reserve a property a payment to change the tenancy when you ask to a payment when you leave a tenancy without giving enough notice a payment towards utility bills and communication services a fee for late payment of rent a fee for replacing a key or security device ↩

  4. Tenant Fees Act 2019, s. 4(1) and (3). A term of a tenancy agreement which breaches section 1 is not binding on a relevant person. the agreement continues, so far as practicable, to have effect in every other respect. ↩

  5. 7 Mentmore House, 35 Dalmeny Way, Epsom, First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber), CHI/43UC/HTC/2020/0002, 8 June 2020, paras 40–42. the ordinary and natural meaning of the words used in the clause is to require the Applicant to engage professionals to clean the property. the effect of the special clause is to require the Applicant to enter into a contract with a third party to clean the property which is prohibited under section 1(3) of the 2019 Act. ↩

  6. 7 Mentmore House, paras 43 and 51. The Tribunal decides that the £210 retained by the Respondents was a prohibited payment under section 1(1) of the 2019 Act, and Orders the Respondents to return the £210 to the Applicant ↩

  7. Tenant Fees Act 2019: guidance for tenants (PDF). Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, 30 September 2020, withdrawn 8 May 2026. p. 30. No. A landlord or agent cannot require you to pay for a professional clean when you check-out. ↩

  8. Tenant Fees Act 2019: guidance. GOV.UK. This guidance is no longer up to date. For up to date guidance, please access our tenant, landlord, and local council Tenant Fees Act guidance updated by the Renters’ Rights Act. ↩

  9. Code of Practice for Residential Letting Agents (England) (PDF). The Property Ombudsman, updated 1 May 2026. para 16c, p. 11. Note that you cannot require a tenant to pay for a professional clean when they check-out, but you may request that a property is cleaned to a professional standard. ↩

  10. Deposits, disputes and damages (PDF). Joint guide by the Tenancy Deposit Scheme, Deposit Protection Service and mydeposits, 2017. p. 14. the tenant is only obliged to return the property cleaned to the same standard as at the start of the tenancy. ↩

  11. Tenant Fees Act 2019: statutory guidance for enforcement authorities. GOV.UK, 2026. This act does not affect the landlord’s entitlement to recover damages through the tenancy deposit or through the courts. ↩

  12. Tenant Fees Act 2019: guidance for landlords and letting agents (PDF). Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, withdrawn 8 May 2026. p. 21. You may request that a property is cleaned to a professional standard. You cannot require a tenant to use a particular company to clean the property. ↩

  13. 7 Mentmore House, para 40. “cleaning to a professional standard” does not determine who delivers the cleaning but the standard to be achieved. ↩

  14. Deposits, disputes and damages, p. 14. ‘Standard Charges’ in relation to cleaning will be considered on the basis of how proportionate they are to the cleaning required. ↩

  15. Deposits, disputes and damages, p. 17. the landlord should not end up, either financially or materially, in a better position than they were at start of the tenancy ↩

  16. Deposits, disputes and damages, p. 5. the onus is on them to prove they have a legitimate claim to a share of the deposit, whilst the tenant has no obligation to prove their position. This is because the deposit remains the tenant’s money until the landlord has successfully proven their claim. ↩

  17. In disputes, be fair. Deposit Protection Service. you can’t insist your tenant hires professional cleaners to clean a property to the required standard as the tenants may be very capable of doing this themselves. ↩

  18. Deposits, disputes and damages, p. 14, under “Cleaning”. Date stamped photographs or video recordings ↩

  19. Tenant Fees Act 2019: guidance for tenants (2020, withdrawn), p. 30. You should ask your landlord or agent to justify their costs by providing suitable evidence (such as an independently produced inventory, receipts and invoices). ↩

  20. Deposits, disputes and damages, p. 5. all deposit protection providers operate a free Dispute Resolution Service to decide how the deposit should be divided between them. ↩

  21. Tenant Fees Act 2019, s. 6(1). It is the duty of every local weights and measures authority in England to enforce in its area— (a) section 1 (prohibitions applying to landlords), (b) section 2 (prohibitions applying to letting agents). Local weights and measures authorities are councils’ Trading Standards services. ↩

  22. Tenant Fees Act 2019, s. 8(1)–(2). the authority may impose a financial penalty on the person in respect of the breach. (2) The financial penalty— (a) may be of such amount as the authority determines, but (b) subject to subsection (3), must not exceed £5,000. ↩

  23. Tenant Fees Act 2019, s. 8(3) and s. 12(1). If the enforcement authority is satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that the person has committed an offence under section 12, the financial penalty— (a) may exceed £5,000, but (b) must not exceed £30,000. Section 12 makes it an offence to breach section 1 or 2 again within the period of five years beginning with the day on which the relevant penalty was imposed or the person was convicted. ↩