As a Landlord you have a duty of care to your tenant to ensure that the property you are renting to them is habitable for humans.  This actually includes ensuring that the property is clean for when your tenants move in.  Naturally, the cleaner the property is at the start of the rental term, the more likely the tenants are going to keep the property in a clean condition.

It all depends on the sort of tenants you want to attract.  If you are looking for professional persons then I suggest that you ensure that the property is in excellent condition before you start to market the property.  This will not only entice potentially excellent tenants, but will also show them that you are a landlord who takes pride in their property and therefore they will believe and it is usually the case that should they have a problem with the property in the future, that you will assist them in a professional manner.  Looks do count!

The whole property should be cleaned thoroughly from top to bottom.  In our agreements we state that the tenant must have the property professionally cleaned prior to their contract terminating.  An inventory clerk will be able to pick up on whether this has been done or not.

In theory therefore you should be able to hire professional cleaners in to clean your property just the once.  Then the tenants have the property cleaned prior to the next set moving in.  It is another expense, but it is worth it in the long run.  Besides it is far easier to get a professional company in with all their strong detergents than have yourself scrubbing away with the usual High Street brand names.

As I said, once you have had it cleaned, then the tenants have to have it professionally cleaned by the terms of their contract.  If they fail to do so then you are within your rights to have the property cleaned to a satisfactory standard at the cost of the tenants.  But you will actually only get away with this if you have had a professional inventory done, both make, and check out.  Never cut corners, it can cost you a lot of valuable time and money.

Professional cleaning should also include the cleaning of the carpets, where applicable.  Thus you can prove to the inventory clerk when he/she does the make that there are no stains.  When it comes to the check out and the inventory clerk spots the stains, then you can assure the tenant that it is their responsibility to get them removed or that you will do it at their expense.

In short, we advise that you have the property professionally cleaned prior to marketing the property to attract the best sort of tenants.  They will then have the property cleaned at the end of their tenancy ready for the next set and so you should not have to have the property cleaned at your expense again.  A clean property, a clean tenant!  We hope!