End of tenancy cleaning in Charlton Village

Charlton Village has the only complete Jacobean mansion left in Greater London. Charlton House went up between 1607 and 1612 for Sir Adam Newton, tutor to Prince Henry, the eldest son of James I, and it still stands at the top of the hill in red brick with its oak stairs and plaster ceilings intact. That tells you what kind of housing sits around it. This is an old, protected village core of period homes, with a belt of Victorian terraces dropping down the Slopes and a wave of new river flats a mile north, and a clerk checks each of them against a different standard.

Here is the short version. We clean end-of-tenancy properties across Charlton Village SE7 to a 57-point checklist, from £156 for a studio, with a 48-hour re-clean guarantee and a 97% first-time pass rate. The rest of this page is the detail: which ward you are in, what the clerk opens first, how we treat period fabric and new-build finishes, and what it costs.

Last updated May 2026. We cover SE7 in full and reach into the neighbouring SE3, SE10 and SE18 postcodes. The parent hub is our end of tenancy cleaning Greenwich page.

The clean a Jacobean village asks for

St Luke’s church, across the road from Charlton House, was rebuilt in 1630 with money left by Sir Adam Newton. Next to it the Bugle Horn, a 17th-century inn, is Grade II listed. The cottages that fan out along The Village and Charlton Church Lane sit inside the Charlton Village Conservation Area, and a fair few of them are listed too. None of that is trivia for a tenant moving out. It is the reason the homes here are full of original timber, lath-and-plaster walls and cast-iron fireplaces, and the reason a clerk in this postcode looks harder than one checking a plain modern flat.

Old surfaces show damage from the wrong cleaning product just as fast as they show neglect. A bleached patch on an original tile, a scratch across a cast-iron grate, a streak left drying on a sash pane, any of these gets photographed and costed. So the standard we work to on a Village cottage is not the standard for a new flat, and the price of getting it wrong is your deposit.

Which Charlton, and which ward you are in

People say Charlton Village as if it is one place. The council splits it in two. Since the 2022 boundary changes the old Charlton ward became Charlton Village and Riverside, which runs from the historic core down to the river and was drawn to take in the new developments, and Charlton Hornfair, which picks up the streets south of the boundary. That boundary runs along Victoria Way and the south fence of Charlton Park.

Worth knowing if you are renting here. What estate agents call the Slopes, the terraces stepping up toward Charlton Park around Elliscombe Road and Rathmore Road, mostly sit in the Charlton Hornfair ward, not the Village and Riverside one, along with the Cherry Orchard and Harold Gibbons Court estates. The Village core and the riverside fall the other way. It matters less for the clean than for paperwork, but tenants get it wrong all the time, and so do a few letting agents.

The agents working these streets are the usual SE7 names. Goldwyn Knight on Old Dover Road, Truepenny’s Property Consultants in the Village, Marsh & Parsons on Charlton Church Lane, plus Foxtons and Dexters reaching over from Greenwich and Blackheath. They all send a professional inventory clerk to check-out, and the clerk brings the check-in document you signed, a UV torch and a tablet.

Cleaning period fabric in the Village and on the Slopes

The period stock falls into two camps. In the Village core you get small 17th and 18th-century cottages, stucco-fronted houses and conversions above the parade, often with lath-and-plaster walls, original timber floors and tight little kitchens. On the Slopes you get tall late-Victorian terraces and semis, with bay windows, tiled hallways, picture rails, ceiling roses and elevated rear gardens. Both punish a rushed clean in the same way: every horizontal moulding holds dust, every sash track holds grime, and every original surface reacts badly to the wrong product.

We send a team that has done these houses before. Cornicing, ceiling roses and picture rails get dusted by hand. Cast-iron fireplaces get a soft cloth and nothing acidic. Sash windows are done both sides where they can be reached, with the frames, sills and reveals wiped, because the underside of a sash frame is exactly where a clerk runs a finger. Tiled hallway floors are cleaned with a neutral product so the glaze is not stripped. Original panel doors get both faces and the frame.

Old surfaces show damage from the wrong cleaning product just as fast as they show neglect.

It takes longer than a modern flat, and we price it that way rather than rushing a four-cleaner job into a two-cleaner slot.

The other Charlton, down by the river

North of Woolwich Road, the riverside is a building site turning into a neighbourhood. Hyde’s Charlton Riverside scheme has consent for 1,212 homes, and its first phase, Herringham Quarter, is 718 flats with completions landing through 2026, 40% of them affordable. These are nothing like the cottages on the hill. Engineered timber floors, satin-paint walls, integrated appliances, chrome and glass everywhere.

New finishes have their own traps. Satin paint shows every smear and every sleeve-mark down a hallway. Chrome taps and shower screens carry limescale within weeks in this water. Integrated Bosch and Siemens ovens and dishwashers hide grease behind trims that pull off, and a clerk knows to pull them. Engineered timber wants the right mop and the right amount of water, not a soaking. We clean the river flats with a different kit list from the period houses, and a team briefed on which is which before they leave the depot.

What an SE7 clerk opens first

A check-out clerk has an order they work in, and most of it is the same across Charlton whether the home is old or new. The water makes the first few items predictable. Charlton is on Thames Water, which runs around 300 parts per million of hardness, very hard, off the chalk under the Thames valley. That is why limescale is the opening act.

1. Limescale on taps, shower heads, screens and around plug holes, the first thing checked in this postcode
2. Inside the kettle and the washing-machine detergent drawer, both routinely opened
3. Oven interior, the roof and back as well as the door glass and the fan housing
4. Hob and extractor, every burner cap and grease trap
5. Mould along bathroom sealant and the edges of the shower screen
6. Behind, under and on top of the fridge-freezer
7. The underside of sash window frames and the window tracks
8. Cast-iron fireplaces, for soot and for damage from the wrong product
9. Skirting behind sofas and under beds, where most people stop cleaning
10. Behind the WC pedestal and around the base of every fitting
11. Communal entrances for flats at Herringham Quarter, Wellington Gardens and Victoria Way
12. The garden, patio or balcony, for leaves, debris and cigarette ends

We work the same list before the clerk ever sees it. A senior cleaner walks the property against your check-in inventory while the team is still on site, because the cheapest re-clean is the one you do before you leave.

The room-by-room standard we clean to

Everything here is in the headline price. No extras produced at the door. The 57-point checklist follows the inventory templates the Charlton agents use, so the page you sign against and the work we do line up.

Kitchen

• Oven degreased inside, racks, trays, inner and outer door glass, fan housing and seals
• Hob descaled and polished, gas, induction or ceramic, including burner caps and pan supports
• Extractor filter removed and degreased or replaced, the hood wiped down
• Fridge and freezer defrosted and washed inside and out, seals and drawers done
• Dishwasher and washing machine, filters, seals, the detergent drawer and the exterior
• Sink, taps and drainer descaled, which in this water is not optional
• Worktops, splashback and grout cleaned, cupboards wiped inside and out
• Skirting, kickboards and any cornicing, then the floor washed

Bathrooms and en-suites

• Heavy limescale removal from taps, shower heads, screens and grout
• Toilet done in full, bowl, seat, hinges, base, behind the cistern and the flush button
• Bath and shower tray descaled, tiles and grout scrubbed, mould treated where it has set in
• Mirror, cabinet inside and out, extractor vent dusted
• Floor washed, behind the pedestal cleaned, towel rails and radiators wiped front and back

Bedrooms and living rooms

• Cornicing, ceiling roses and picture rails dusted, which matters most in the period houses
• Original fireplaces dusted and gently polished, no abrasives on cast iron
• Sash windows cleaned both sides where reachable, frames, sills and reveals wiped
• Skirting, architraves and doors front and back, including original panel doors
• Switches, sockets, handles and radiators
• Wardrobes inside and out, beds moved and the floor beneath them done
• Carpets vacuumed thoroughly, hard floors mopped and buffed where it suits them

Hallways and the rest

• Banisters, spindles, stair stringers and tiled hallway floors
• All internal doors and frames, both faces
• Light fittings, lampshades and cobwebbed corners
• Communal entrance where it applies, and the bin store for the unit
• A senior cleaner’s walk-through against your inventory before the team leaves

A few terms come up again and again at check-out, so it helps to know what they mean.

Check-in inventory

The signed, photographed record of the property’s condition when you moved in. The check-out clerk grades the place against this exact document, not against a general idea of clean.

Fair wear and tear

The everyday ageing a tenant is not charged for, such as light carpet flattening. Dirt and limescale are not wear and tear, which is why they end up as deductions.

Additional HMO licence

The licence a shared house needs under the borough scheme when three or more people from more than one household live there.

Re-clean guarantee

Our promise to return free within 48 hours if the clerk flags anything on the 57-point list, and to keep coming back until it is signed off.

Licensing around Charlton and the new tenancy law

This is the part Charlton tenants get told wrong, so here is the accurate version. The Royal Borough of Greenwich runs a borough-wide Additional HMO Licensing scheme from 1 January 2024 to 31 December 2028. It covers any property let to three or more people from more than one household, so a Charlton house-share needs a licence. The council also runs a Selective Licensing scheme for ordinary single-household lets, but that one covers only Woolwich Riverside, Woolwich Common, Shooters Hill, Plumstead Common and Plumstead Glyndon. It does not reach Charlton. So if you are in a normal flat or house here on a single tenancy, no selective licence is required, though an HMO still needs the additional one.

Why does a tenant care about a landlord’s licence? Because if your landlord should hold one and does not, you can apply for a Rent Repayment Order under the Housing Act 2004 and reclaim up to twelve months’ rent, soon twenty-four. It is worth checking before you sign off on any disputed deduction.

The bigger change is the Renters’ Rights Act 2025, whose main provisions come into force on 1 May 2026. Section 21 no-fault evictions go, assured shorthold tenancies become periodic by default, the maximum civil penalty for licensing offences rises to £40,000, and Rent Repayment Orders extend to 24 months. For someone moving out, the practical effect is simple. Agents are under far more pressure to evidence every deduction correctly, so check-outs in 2026 are noticeably stricter than they were eighteen months ago. A clean that scraped through in 2024 gets flagged now, and we have re-trained our SE7 teams to the tighter standard.

What Charlton rents and deposits actually do

The money is why any of this matters. Average private rent across the Royal Borough of Greenwich reached £1,944 a month by March 2026, up 4.2% on the year, which ran ahead of London as a whole. Charlton Village sits at the dearer end of that, with the historic core around St Luke’s pricier again. Translate those rents into deposits and you are usually protected to between £1,600 and £2,400.

That is the sum at risk when a clerk starts photographing faults. A self-clean that misses thirty inventory points hands the agent a reason to book their own cleaner against your money, and that cleaner is rarely cheaper than us. Across SE7 we have seen deductions run from £180 to £450 an item, and an agent-commissioned clean billed at £180 to £300. We have helped tenants recover £1.2m in deposits that would otherwise have gone on cleaning deductions, which is the whole point of the exercise.

What a Charlton move-out clean costs

Fixed pricing, no deposit to book. The figure depends on the number of bedrooms and bathrooms and on whether the place is a period house, which takes longer.

The price includes all materials, all VAT, the full team and the 48-hour re-clean guarantee. Carpets, upholstery and outside windows are quoted on top if you want them. See carpet cleaning, upholstery cleaning and window cleaning, where sash windows on the Slopes are something we do a lot of.

How this differs from a deep or regular clean

People mix these up and book the wrong one. A regular clean keeps a lived-in home tidy. A deep clean resets a home you are staying in. An end-of-tenancy clean is the only one checked against an inventory and backed for deposit recovery, and it is the one a clerk will sign off.

If you are unsure which you need, a deep cleaning visit suits a tenancy that is carrying on, and an end-of-tenancy clean suits one that is ending. Tell us the situation and we will say which is right.

Booking a move-out around the Village

Booking takes about ninety seconds. The parking is the awkward part. The lanes around The Village and Charlton Church Lane are tight and busy near St Luke’s, and a van does not always get a spot outside, so we factor a short carry into the timing rather than pretend it is not there.

1. Get a quote. Call 0333 555 2076, email [email protected], or use the form. We need bedrooms, bathrooms, the postcode and your move-out date.
2. Hold the slot. No deposit. A verbal or email confirmation books it.
3. We turn up on the day. Two to four uniformed cleaners depending on the size of the place, with our own ladder, vacuum, steam cleaner and limescale kit.
4. A senior cleaner checks the work. Every point on the 57-item list, plus anything specific from your check-in inventory, before the team leaves.
5. Hand over to the agent. If they flag anything inside 48 hours we come back free. Most clients hear nothing and get the full deposit back.

Where we clean, and what else we do

Inside the SE7 boundary, or within a mile of a Charlton Village postcode, we will be there. That covers The Village and Charlton Church Lane, the Slopes around Elliscombe Road and Rathmore Road, Charlton Park Road and Hornfair Road, Wellington Gardens and Victoria Way, and the Herringham Quarter blocks by the river.

The other jobs we are booked for around here:

• End of tenancy cleaning London, the parent service
• Oven cleaning on its own, single, double or range cooker
• Carpet cleaning by the room or whole flat
• Upholstery cleaning for sofas, mattresses and armchairs
• Hard floor cleaning, which the engineered timber at Herringham Quarter often needs
• Window cleaning, sash windows on the Slopes a speciality
• After-builders cleaning for newly refurbished SE7 properties
• Removals, paired with the clean for a single-day move-out

And the neighbouring areas we cover, if you are moving across the borough:

• End of tenancy cleaning Greenwich (parent borough)
• Blackheath SE3
• Greenwich Town SE10
• Woolwich SE18
• Kidbrooke SE3
• Eltham SE9
• North Greenwich SE10

Questions Charlton Village tenants ask

How much does end of tenancy cleaning cost in Charlton Village?

Studios start at £156. A one-bed is around £207, a two-bed around £243, and a three-bed Victorian on the Slopes from £339. A four-bed family house on Charlton Park Road or Hornfair Road is from £425. Prices are fixed, materials are included, and the 48-hour re-clean guarantee comes with every job.

Do you cover Herringham Quarter and the new Charlton Riverside flats?

Yes. We already clean units in the first Herringham Quarter blocks down by the river. Those flats have engineered timber floors, satin-paint walls and integrated Bosch and Siemens appliances, and we send a team that knows not to wreck any of it.

How long does a Charlton Village end of tenancy clean take?

A studio is about 2.5 to 3 hours with two cleaners. A one-bed flat is 3 to 4 hours, a two-bed 4 to 5. A three-bed Victorian terrace on the Slopes usually runs 6 to 8 hours with a four-cleaner team, because the cornicing, sash windows and old fireplaces all take hand work.

What happens if my Charlton letting agent fails the clean?

Ring us inside 48 hours and we come back free to sort whatever was flagged. We have held a 97% first-time pass rate across SE7 since 2019, so call-backs are rare, but the guarantee is unconditional and we keep returning until the clerk signs it off.

Is carpet cleaning included in the price?

Vacuuming is included. Steam-cleaning is a separate job. Most Slopes terraces and Village conversions get checked out with a steam clean as standard, and your inventory may insist on it, so it is worth adding. Reckon £115 for a whole two-bed, or £36 a bedroom on its own. See our carpet cleaning page for the detail.

Do I need to be there on the day of the clean?

No. Most of our Charlton clients hand over the keys and get on with the move. We can collect from your letting agent and drop the keys back, or work from a key safe. You get before-and-after photos either way.

Will you get the limescale off my SE7 bathroom?

Yes, and we go at it hard. Charlton sits in one of the harder water areas in the country, around 300 parts per million, so limescale on shower screens, taps, kettles and toilet rims is the single most common thing we see flagged. We use a citric-acid descaler that is safe on chrome, ceramic and porcelain.

Is a flat in Charlton Village covered by HMO licensing?

It depends on who lives there. The Royal Borough of Greenwich runs a borough-wide Additional HMO Licensing scheme from 1 January 2024 to 31 December 2028, covering any home let to three or more people from more than one household, so a Charlton house-share needs a licence. The council’s separate Selective Licensing scheme does not reach Charlton, so a normal single-household let here does not. If your landlord should be licensed and is not, you may have a claim for a Rent Repayment Order, and Shelter’s guide walks through it.

Does the Renters’ Rights Act 2025 change anything about my deposit?

The deposit cap stays as it was, five weeks’ rent under £50k a year and six weeks above, and protection still goes through one of the three approved schemes, TDS, DPS or mydeposits. What shifts from 1 May 2026 is the pressure on agents to evidence every deduction, which is why check-outs in 2026 are stricter than they were two years ago.

Can you clean original fireplaces and period features without damaging them?

Yes. On cast-iron fireplaces, old tiled hallway floors and lath-and-plaster cornicing we use soft cloths and neutral-pH cleaner only. No bleach, no scouring pads, no acidic descaler anywhere near those surfaces. The Village cottages and Slopes terraces are full of features like this and they need treating gently.

What about gardens, patios and balconies at check-out?

A tidy and a sweep are included. Pressure-washing decking, a patio or a drive is a separate outdoor cleaning service, roughly £140 for decking, £95 for a small patio and £260 for a standard driveway.

Can you do a same-day or next-day clean in Charlton?

Often yes for a studio or one-bed. A two-bed or larger in the busy months of June, July and the end of August usually needs about 48 hours’ notice. Call 0333 555 2076 and we will tell you what is actually free rather than padding the lead time.

Do you clean for landlords and agents as well as tenants?

Yes. Around 40% of our Charlton work comes straight from landlords and letting agents turning properties round between tenancies. We invoice trade clients on 14-day terms and cover all of SE7 and the rest of the Royal Borough of Greenwich.

What exactly does your guarantee cover?

48 hours from the moment we leave. If your letting agent flags anything that falls under our 57-point checklist inside that window, we come back at no cost until they sign it off. The guarantee is unconditional and it is printed on every invoice.

Ready when you are

Call 0333 555 2076, email [email protected], or use the form. A quote takes ninety seconds and there is no deposit to pay. You get your full deposit back, or we come back free until the clerk is satisfied. We have done this across SE7 since 2014, we are on the books of 300+ letting agents, and we are still here on Monday morning.