A complete end of lease cleaning checklist in NSW covers every room and the outdoor areas including the kitchen and oven, bathrooms, toilet and laundry, walls, doors and light fittings, windows and tracks, carpets and floors, and the garage and yard. The standard you’re checked against is your ingoing condition report, because NSW Fair Trading’s bond guidance is to clean the property to match its original condition.
The boxes are packed, the inspection is booked, and your bond is held by NSW Fair Trading until you claim it. This end of lease cleaning checklist works room by room in an order that stops you cleaning twice, shows which marks are fair wear and tear, and flags when a professional clean is worth paying for.
What does an end of lease clean in NSW have to achieve?
An end of lease clean in NSW has to leave the property as near as possible to the condition it was in when you moved in, allowing for fair wear and tear. The test is the condition at the start of your tenancy, not a show-home standard or a cleaning receipt.
NSW Fair Trading’s guidance on getting your bond back sets out several things to take care of before making a claim.
- Make sure your rent is paid up to the end of your notice period.
- Leave the property in the same level of cleanliness as when you moved in.
- Remove all of your belongings from the property.
- Repair any damage that goes beyond fair wear and tear.
- Complete and sign the condition report where required.
- Return all keys to the landlord or agent.
Taking care of these items before you move out can help avoid delays or disputes over your bond.
Check one clause before you book anything. A term requiring professional carpet cleaning at the end of a tenancy only applies if the landlord consented to a pet kept inside and the cleaning is reasonable for that pet. The same applies to professional fumigation, which can only be required for an approved indoor pet that is a mammal.
We explain the carpet rule and does your NSW lease actually require professional carpet cleaning.
Start with your ingoing condition report
Your ingoing condition report is the evidence your agent will compare the property against. NSW Fair Trading describes the condition report as a room-by-room record of the property, including fixtures and fittings, and says it can be used as evidence in a dispute about damage.
Before you pick up a cloth, find your copy and entry photos, walk each room, and note what was already marked, stained or worn. Photograph those spots again with time stamps. Fair Trading notes that more detail and time-stamped photos make disputes less likely.
If the oven was grubby on day one, it’s still worth cleaning. You’re simply not expected to hand back a better oven than you received.
Which marks are fair wear and tear, and which are yours to fix?
Fair wear and tear is the ordinary deterioration that comes from living in a home, and you’re not responsible for it. Damage from negligent, irresponsible or intentional actions is yours to fix. NSW Fair Trading’s fair wear and tear examples draw the line clearly.
| Area | Clean before you hand back the keys | Fair wear and tear (not yours) | Damage (yours to fix) |
| Carpet | Vacuum edges and under furniture, treat spots and stains | Furniture indentations, traffic marks | Stains, burn marks |
| Kitchen | Oven, stovetop, rangehood, cupboards, benchtops, splashback | Worn benchtop | Burns or cuts in the benchtop |
| Walls | Spot-clean marks on walls, doors and skirting boards | Paint worn off near a light switch | Paint damaged by removing Blu-Tack or tape |
| Timber floors | Sweep and mop | Scuffed wooden floors | Badly scratched or gouged floors |
| Doors and windows | Glass, tracks, rails and sills | Loose hinges or handles, worn sliding tracks | Broken glass |
| Curtains | Dust or wash to the care label | Faded curtains, frayed cords | Missing or torn curtains |
| Water stains on carpet | Treat what can be treated | From a leaking roof or bad plumbing | From an overflowing bath or indoor pot plants |
Kitchen checklist
The kitchen checklist is mostly about grease, including the oven, stovetop, rangehood, cupboards and benchtops. Kitchens are a number one concern in our end of lease work because built-up grease is easy to spot and slow to shift.
- Oven racks, trays, door glass and inside walls degreased
- Stovetop, knobs and rangehood, including the filters
- Cupboards and drawers wiped inside and out
- The tops of overhead cupboards, the spot most people forget
- Benchtops, splashback and kitchen walls degreased
- Sink, taps and plughole polished
- Dishwasher filter and door seals, if there’s a dishwasher
- Light fittings and power points wiped
- Floor, including the space under and behind the fridge
Bathroom, toilet and laundry checklist
Wet areas are commonly marked down for soap scum and mould, so the bathroom checklist centres on shower screens, tiles and grout. Toilets, vanities, exhaust fans and the laundry come next, including the parts that sit out of sight.
- Soap scum removed from shower screens and tapware
- Tiles and grout scrubbed, with mould treated
- Toilet inside and out, including the base, the cistern and behind it
- Basin and vanity inside and out, plus the mirror
- Exhaust fan cover dusted
- Floor drains cleared and floors mopped
- Laundry tub polished, walls wiped, dryer lint and vents cleaned
If mould keeps returning because the bathroom is poorly ventilated, NSW Health’s mould fact sheet advises tenants who’ve taken steps to ventilate to raise it with the owner or agent. Put it in writing before the inspection.
Walls, Light Fittings and Windows Often Get Overlooked
These are the things to check, including cobwebs, light fittings, ceiling fans, switches, skirting boards and window tracks.
- Cobwebs from ceilings, cornices and corners, inside and out
- Light fittings and ceiling fan blades
- Light switches, power points and door handles
- Marks on walls, doors, door frames and skirting boards, testing any cleaner on a hidden spot first
- Windows inside, and outside where you can reach safely
- Window tracks, rails, sills and flyscreens
- Blinds dusted or wiped
Window tracks can hold years of grit, which is why our end of lease cleans include the tracks and rails as part of the window cleaning.
Carpets and floors
Carpets and floors go last, because every other job drops dust onto them. Vacuum everything, including edges and where furniture stood, treat spots, then mop hard floors. Stains and burns count as damage; traffic marks and furniture dents count as wear.
If you’re having carpets professionally cleaned, allow for drying. Professionally cleaned carpet typically dries in 6 to 12 hours, and up to 24 hours in cool or humid weather, so book the clean at least a day before the inspection. Our guide on how long carpet takes to dry after a professional clean covers how to speed it up.
A written record helps where a stain won’t fully lift. We have provided a tenant with a written carpet condition report to give their real estate agent. If you’re booking carpet cleaning for a bond, ask whether a written report is available.
Outdoor areas and the garage
Outdoor areas are part of the clean wherever they’re part of your tenancy: the garage, driveway, paving, BBQ, pergola, bins and yard. They’re easy to overlook, and they’re often checked at the final inspection.
- Garage floor swept, with oil stains treated
- Garage door wiped down
- BBQ cleaned and degreased
- Pergola, entry and eaves cleared of cobwebs
- Driveway and pavers, where mould or stains weren’t there when you moved in
- Bins emptied and rinsed
- Lawns and gardens left as your agreement requires
What order should you clean an end of lease property in?
Clean an end of lease property top to bottom and inside to out, finishing with the floors and a final walk-through against the condition report. Working in that order means dust only ever falls onto areas you haven’t cleaned yet.
- Clear the property. Remove everything you own, including anything in the garage, sheds and cupboards.
- Photograph each room. Time-stamped photos before you start and after you finish.
- High dust. Cobwebs, ceiling fans, light fittings, tops of cupboards.
- Kitchen. Start with the oven so the degreaser works while you clean the rest.
- Bathrooms, toilet and laundry.
- Walls, doors, skirting boards and switches.
- Windows, tracks and flyscreens.
- Hard floors, then carpets. Leave a day for professionally cleaned carpet to dry.
- Garage and outdoor areas.
- Final walk-through. Compare every room with the ingoing condition report, take your exit photos and return all keys.
Then claim your bond through Rental Bonds Online. Your landlord or agent has up to 14 days to accept the claim, and with correct bank details the refund arrives about two business days after it’s accepted.
When is a professional end of lease clean worth paying for?
A professional end of lease clean is worth paying for when the property is large, heavily greased or mouldy, affected by pets, or when you’re short on time before the inspection. A small, well-kept unit with a free weekend is a realistic DIY job using this end of lease cleaning checklist, and we’d tell you that.
Where it makes sense, our end of lease cleaning on the Central Coast can cover the inside and outside of your rental in one booking. This can include high dusting, steam cleaning and degreasing in the kitchen, bathrooms, walls, windows and tracks, carpet steam cleaning with hot water extraction, as well as the garage and outdoor areas.
Frequently asked questions
How long does a professional end of lease clean take?
Under normal conditions, our team completes a full end of lease clean on a four-bedroom home in two days, start to finish. Smaller homes take less time. Heavy grease, mould or pet damage adds time.
Do I have to use the cleaner my agent recommends?
No. NSW Fair Trading lists requiring a tenant to use a particular person or business to carry out their obligations as one of the terms that must not be added to a tenancy agreement, and that includes a nominated lawn mowing company. Terms that aren’t allowed are invalid and can’t be applied.
What if the agent claims part of my bond for cleaning?
The claim needs evidence. NSW Fair Trading states that claiming against the bond without giving the tenant evidence breaches the Residential Tenancies Act 2010, and you can lodge a complaint. Unresolved disputes may need to go to the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal, and the Tenants’ Union of NSW provides advice.
Do I need to be at the final inspection?
You should be given the chance. NSW Fair Trading says the exit condition report should be completed by the landlord or agent and the tenant together, but it can go ahead without you if you were given a reasonable opportunity to attend.
Book an end of lease cleaning on the Central Coast
Call Steve or Clint on 0411 815 042, or request a free quote, and we’ll inspect the property and quote by the next working day. As an owner-operated Central Coast cleaning business, we’ll tell you straight which parts of this end of lease cleaning checklist the property actually needs. This is general information about NSW tenancy rules, not legal advice. NSW Fair Trading can be reached on 13 32 20.