Move-out day is when months of “I’ll sort that nail hole later” finally come home to roost. Here’s how to leave a rental property in the state your landlord will sign off on, written from the perspective of a clearance firm that sees the aftermath every week.
Two weeks before
- Re-read your tenancy agreement. Note the specific check-out clauses (professional clean? carpets? garden?).
- Dig out your inventory and condition report from when you moved in. Take dated photos of anything that’s changed.
- Book a man and van or removals firm. The last week of the month gets booked solid in North Somerset.
- Cancel or transfer broadband, council tax, water and energy.
- Set up mail redirect with Royal Mail.
One week before
- Start packing rooms you don’t use day to day (spare room, loft, shed).
- Sort what you’re taking, what you’re selling, what you’re binning.
- Book any clearance work (Facebook Marketplace listings are a faff this late, charity collection is slow – clearance firm is fastest).
- Defrost the freezer.
Two days before
- Pack everything except the absolute essentials.
- Final clean of cupboards as they empty.
- Repair small nail holes with filler. Touch up paint if you can find the right colour.
- Replace dead lightbulbs.
- Pack a “first night at the new place” box (kettle, mugs, tea, milk, loo roll, bedding, toothbrushes, phone chargers).
Moving day
- Photograph every room empty, with timestamp visible if your phone allows.
- Photograph meter readings.
- Bin / compost everything from the fridge.
- Vacuum and mop floors after the last item leaves.
- Clean inside the oven and fridge if your agreement requires.
- Don’t forget the obvious-but-easily-missed: top of kitchen cupboards, behind the loo, inside the airing cupboard.
- Drop the keys off where instructed (agent, landlord, key safe).
What landlords and agents check first
From years of doing clearances and end-of-tenancy work, the items that flag on almost every inspection:
- Oven cleanliness (this one trips up more people than anything else)
- Toilet cleanliness
- Carpets – stains, especially in bedrooms and on stairs
- Garden tidiness (mow the lawn, take the rubbish away)
- Walls – too many nail holes, dirty marks behind sofas
- Items left behind, even “useful” things. Strictly speaking, anything left can be classed as removal cost for the landlord.
The clearance bit
Don’t leave things “for the next tenant” or “because they’re still useful”. The landlord doesn’t want to inherit your second sofa, however much you paid for it. Anything you’re not taking, take with you or get cleared. We do end-of-tenancy clearances across Weston-super-Mare, Worle, Clevedon, Portishead, Nailsea, Bristol and the surrounding area, often with same-day or next-day availability if you’re cutting it fine.
Ring us on 07796 271022 for a quick fixed quote on end-of-tenancy clearance and clean.
