Your end of lease cleaning checklist for NSW, room by room

Short answer: an end of lease cleaning checklist covers every room of the empty home: inside cupboards and the oven, the shower screen and grout, window and sliding door tracks, skirting boards, light switches, walls and floors. In NSW you're aiming to hand the property back in a similar condition to when you moved in, fair wear and tear excepted. That makes your entry condition report the most important checklist you've got.

Moving out of a rental in Windsor, Richmond or anywhere in the Hawkesbury? Here's the bond cleaning checklist we'd want in our own hands: what NSW rules ask of you, what agents look at during the final inspection, and a room-by-room list you can print and tick off.

Start with your entry condition report

Before you pick up a cloth, find the condition report from when you moved in. NSW Fair Trading calls it "evidence of how a rental property was before a tenant moved in".

The agent fills it in before you move in, and you return your completed copy within seven days. When you move out, the same report is filled in again and the two are compared. So if the oven was marked as grubby on day one, you're cleaning to that standard. It doesn't have to look brand new.

It also helps to know what a clean can and can't change. Fair Trading's own examples: furniture dents and traffic marks in carpet, scuffed timber floors and paint worn off near a light switch are fair wear and tear. Stains or burns in carpet, broken glass and paint pulled off by Blu-Tack are damage. Cleaning won't fix damage, so put your time into the things it can fix.

What do real estate agents check at final inspection?

The agent inspects the property once it's empty. They must give you a reasonable opportunity to attend, and if you don't go, the condition report can be filled in without you. Go if you can.

Expect them to walk room by room with your entry report beside them. The jobs that take the longest are usually the ones they look at hardest: the oven, the shower screen, the window tracks and the walls. They'll open cupboards and drawers and look at the spots where the fridge and washing machine stood.

The bond cleaning checklist, room by room

Work from the top of each room down: cobwebs and light fittings first, floors last.

Kitchen

• Inside and outside every cupboard and drawer, top shelves included
• Oven, racks, trays and door glass degreased
• Stovetop, grates and rangehood filter
• Inside the microwave
• Splashback, benchtops, sink, tapware and plugs
• Inside the fridge and freezer (if they stay with the property) and the dishwasher
• Light switches and power points
• The floor where the fridge stood

Bathrooms and toilet

• Tiles and grout lines
• Shower screen, frame and tapware descaled
• Shower drain and floor waste
• Toilet, cistern and seat, including the base and the back
• Vanity inside and out, mirror and cabinet
• Bath and surrounds
• Exhaust fan cover

Bedrooms

• Inside wardrobes, shelves and drawers
• Mirrors and mirrored robe doors
• Skirting boards, doors and frames
• Light fittings and ceiling fans

Living and dining

• Skirting boards, doors and frames
• Light fittings and ceiling fans dusted
• Windowsills and internal glass
• Marks on walls spot cleaned
• Cobwebs in corners and cornices

Laundry

• Tub, tapware and plugs
• Inside and outside the cupboards
• The floor and wall where the washer and dryer stood
• Floor waste

Throughout the home

• Window tracks and sliding door tracks
• Light switches, door handles and power points
• Blinds and plantation shutter blades
• Air-con filters and ducted vents
• Walls, especially hallways and kids' rooms
• Floors vacuumed and mopped, last of all

Outside, if it's part of your lease

• Rubbish, boxes and green waste gone, bins emptied
• Balcony or patio swept and outdoor glass cleaned
• Lawns and garden beds, if your lease makes them your job

Do you need the carpets professionally cleaned?

Usually not. In NSW, a lease can only require professional carpet cleaning at the end of a tenancy if the landlord agreed to you keeping a pet inside and the cleaning suits that pet. Otherwise, a thorough vacuum and some spot cleaning is the standard. Check your lease before you pay for a steam clean you might not need.

When to clean, and in what order

1. Get everything out first. Furniture hides marks, and an empty room cleans properly.
2. Clean after the removalists and before the final inspection, with a day spare if you can manage it.
3. Take your own dated photos once the clean is finished, room by room.
4. Hand back every key and remote. Fair Trading lists returning all keys and security devices as part of moving out.
5. Claim your bond through Rental Bonds Online. The NSW Government's getting your bond back page walks through each step.

None of this is legal advice. If you're unsure about your lease, NSW Fair Trading's moving out guide and condition report page are the places to start.

Do it yourself, or book it in?

A one-bedroom unit you've kept on top of can be a solid weekend's work. A family home with two bathrooms and a year of oven build-up is a much bigger job, and moving week is when you have the least time. If you're weighing it up, our post on regular vs deep cleans shows how much more goes into a top-to-bottom clean, and our guide to how much a bond clean costs in the Hawkesbury covers what sets the price.

Our end of lease clean works off a standard checklist, the same on every job, and your written quote lists exactly what's included before we start.

Moving out soon?

We've done more than 3,000 cleans across the Hawkesbury. Tell us about the property and your move-out date and we'll come back with a fixed, no-obligation quote.

Call 0435 348 434, request a quote, or see everything that can go into our end of lease cleaning.