End of tenancy cleaning in Charterhouse

End of tenancy cleaning in Charterhouse, the cluster of period flats, Art Deco mansion blocks and almshouse streets around Charterhouse Square EC1M, between Farringdon and the Barbican, done by a crew that has worked this postcode since 2014. Studios from £165, one-beds from £207, three-bed houses from £339, all to a checklist matched to the clerk’s report. We clean Florin Court studios, the terraces on Carthusian Street and Hayne Street, the warehouse conversions behind Charterhouse Street and the new-build flats off Aldersgate Street. 0333 555 2076.

Last updated May 2026. Coverage runs across EC1M with the EC1A and EC1V borders. The borough hub is end of tenancy cleaning in Islington.

Four hundred years of housing around one square

Stand in the middle of Charterhouse Square and you can see four building eras at once. That is unusual, and it is the whole reason cleaning a flat here is harder than the rent suggests. On the north side sits the Sutton’s Hospital almshouse, founded in 1611 and still home to the Brothers who live there today. Around the green run Georgian and early Victorian terraces. On the east side, at Nos 6 to 9, stands Florin Court, the 1936 Art Deco block most people recognise as Hercule Poirot’s Whitehaven Mansions. And tucked behind Charterhouse Street and along toward Bartholomew Close are the warehouse conversions and new-build flats that arrived in the last twenty years.

Each era cleans differently. A 1930s bathroom does not take the same products as a 2018 wet room. A lath-and-plaster wall behaves nothing like new plasterboard when you wipe a skirting. The check-out clerk knows this, and writes the inventory accordingly.

Florin Court is worth knowing in its own right, because it is the building we are in most. Guy Morgan and Partners built it in 1936 in the Art Deco moderne style, a curved brick front with stepped-back upper floors, a roof garden, and a basement that still holds a swimming pool, a sauna and a gym. The flats kept their period proportions through later refurbishments: narrow halls, original ironmongery, steel-framed windows, and in many of them the herringbone parquet that gives a clerk so much to look at. It is a listed building, which is part of why the interiors have survived more or less intact, and part of why a careless clean does real harm.

So this page is organised the way the Square is built. We go through the deposit at stake, what a heritage clerk actually looks for, the cleaning chemistry that keeps you out of trouble, the streets we cover, the room-by-room work, the price, the law you are moving out under in 2026, and how booking fits around your check-out. If you only read one section, read the one on chemistry.

The deposit maths on an EC1M tenancy

EC1M is one of the dearer rental postcodes in central London, and the deposits track the rent. Studios in Florin Court let at around £2,000 pcm, with a larger studio nearer £1,600 and a one-bed at about £2,500 pcm on current listings. One-beds around the Square and along Carthusian Street run £2,500 to £3,200 pcm; two-beds inside the period buildings list well above £3,800 pcm. With the deposit capped at five weeks of rent on annual rents under £50,000, the sum your landlord holds usually falls between £2,300 and £4,400.

That is too much to lose over a greasy extractor filter or a streak on the oven glass.

The deduction is rarely about a dirty flat. It is about the gap between a tenant clean and an inventory clean, and on heritage stock that gap is wide, because the clerk is checking surfaces a domestic clean never touches and comparing them line by line against a report taken the day you moved in. We work to that report. Our first-time pass rate is 97%, and the reason it is that high is dull rather than clever: we clean the things clerks check, in the order they check them, and we photograph the result.

What a heritage check-out clerk actually flags

The clerks who work EC1M are a small group and they check the same things in the same order. The list below is what we have seen flagged in real Charterhouse check-outs over the past eighteen months. Knowing it is most of the battle.

1. Oven door glass, the intermediate pane between the panels especially
2. Extractor filters; the ceiling-set units in Florin Court are flagged more than any other type
3. Limescale on taps, shower heads and tile grout, since the Square is in a hard-water area
4. Parquet edges at the door thresholds, where the swing of the door scuffs the finish
5. Crittall window joints, where dust hides until it is photographed
6. Skirting in the period flats; the clerk runs a finger and if it shows, you pay
7. The inside of a cast-iron radiator and the wall behind it
8. Sash runners and the bottom rail of the lower sash
9. Intercom handsets and the entry panel, where a fingerprint reads instantly
10. The cupboard above the wardrobe, where a year of dust gathers
11. Behind the fridge, including the condenser grille
12. The manifold cupboard for underfloor heating in the newer flats, usually never opened
13. The tops of internal doors, almost always missed by a tenant clean
14. The outside face of the front door, dirty from the corridor

None of that is exotic. It is just thorough, and a tenant cleaning their own flat on moving day, tired and surrounded by boxes, will skip half of it without meaning to. We are on the books of 300+ letting agents, and that list is essentially their collected grievances written down.

Read the building before you reach for a product, because the building decides the chemistry.

Cleaning chemistry, and why the wrong product marks a flat

This is the section that saves deposits around the Square, so here it is plainly. Old surfaces and modern cleaning products do not always get on, and the damage from the wrong product can cost more than the dirt it was meant to remove.

Take the bathrooms first. The 1930s tile in a Florin Court flat has a soft glaze, and a standard acidic limescale remover will etch it; the mark is permanent and a clerk will log it as damage rather than wear. We use a non-acid descaler on heritage tile and save the stronger stuff for modern ceramic. Parquet is the other classic trap. Mop water sitting on a herringbone floor swells the blocks and lifts the edges, so we vacuum, damp-wipe with a wood-safe cleaner, and finish with a polish only at the thresholds where the wear actually shows. The engineered timber in the new-build flats wants a neutral-pH solution and a barely damp mop, nothing more.

Then the metalwork. Cast-iron radiators in the period flats hold dust between the fins and behind the wall face, and they need brushing out rather than a quick wipe. The Crittall and steel window frames are the same idea in miniature: dust in every joint, invisible head-on, obvious in a clerk’s flash photo. Painted timber panelling in the almshouse-owned interiors takes an oil soap, not a spray cleaner, and the stone flagstones in some of those hallways take a pH-neutral solution so the surface does not dull. Read the building before you reach for a product, because the building decides the chemistry.

The streets and buildings we cover

We cover the Square and the streets that feed off it. Florin Court is the building we are in most, but the period terraces and the newer flats nearby keep us busy too.

• Charterhouse Square, every side
• Florin Court, all floors
• Carthusian Street
• Hayne Street
• Charterhouse Street, north side
• Charterhouse Mews
• Glasshouse Yard
• Aldersgate Street, the Charterhouse end
• Bartholomew Close
• Cloth Fair
• Long Lane, the EC1A end
• Britton Street, the Square end
• The Charterhouse private lets around the green

The Charterhouse itself does not let on the open market; the Brothers are placed by the charity. It does own a handful of flats and houses around the Square, though, and a few of those come up to private let, with painted panelling and restored stone underfoot. If you are leaving one of those, tell us when you book, because the products change.

Getting a crew into a Square flat on the day

The clean is the easy bit around here. Getting in, and getting the kit up, is the part that catches people out, so a few practical notes before you book.

Florin Court has a single period lift, and it is slow. First thing in the morning it does not always stop on every floor while the building wakes up, which is exactly when we want to be carrying machines to an upper-floor studio. We plan around it, but it is worth knowing if you are coordinating us with a removals van the same day. The eighth and ninth floors are set back, so the higher studios are a longer haul from the lift than the floor number suggests. We allow for that in the timing rather than the price.

Parking is the genuine headache, and I will not pretend otherwise. The streets around the Square sit in an Islington controlled parking zone that runs most of the day, the Square itself is gated and largely pedestrianised, and Charterhouse Street feeds straight into the Smithfield and Barbican traffic. We carry kit in on foot from the nearest bay more often than not, which is fine; it just means a clean here starts a few minutes later than one with a driveway. If your tenancy comes with a permit or a loading window, mention it when you book and we will use it.

Access to the actual flat matters too. Tell us how the keys work, whether there is a concierge or a key safe, and the door or buzzer code, because a crew standing on the pavement waiting for entry is time nobody wants to pay for. For the newer blocks toward Bartholomew Close there is usually a managed entrance and a fob; for the period houses it is often just a Yale and a mortice. None of it is difficult once we know it in advance.

Inside the clean, room by room

Every Charterhouse clean runs to our 57-point checklist, refined since 2014 with the agents who let these flats. We do not skip lines because a room looks clean, and we do not subcontract; the crew that starts the job is the crew that finishes it. Here is the work by room.

Kitchen

• Oven cavity, racks, seal and all the door glass, including the intermediate pane, degreased to inventory standard
• Extractor hood degreased and the filters soaked and rinsed; the ceiling-set Florin Court units get extra time
• Hob and worktop descaled and polished, timber worktops re-oiled
• Fridge, freezer, dishwasher and washing machine cleaned inside and out, seals and filters included
• Every cupboard, inside and out, tops where we can reach
• Sink and taps descaled, waste cleared
• Splashback descaled and dried so it does not spot
• Floor finished to suit the material, whether vinyl, tile or engineered timber

Bathrooms

• Bath, basin, WC and shower descaled, non-acid on any heritage tile
• Grout and silicone cleaned, mould treated where it has taken hold
• Shower screen polished both sides so it holds up under angled light
• Taps, shower head and waste covers descaled
• Mirror and cabinet glass left streak-free
• Extractor grille taken off, cleaned and refitted
• Towel rail, radiator and the pipework we can reach
• Floor scrubbed, skirting wiped

Period rooms and living areas

• Wardrobes and drawers inside and out, tops dusted
• Beds lifted and the floor underneath cleaned
• Skirting, picture rails and dado rails hand-wiped
• Cornice and ceiling rose dusted on poles
• Sash windows lifted, runners cleaned, panes done inside and out where we can reach
• Crittall and steel frames brushed out at the joints, glass polished
• Cast-iron radiators dusted between the fins
• Switches, sockets, thermostats and intercom panels wiped
• Parquet and herringbone vacuumed, damp-wiped, polished at the thresholds
• Carpet vacuumed, with hot-water extraction priced separately

New-build extras and throughout

• Engineered timber floors damp-mopped with a neutral solution only
• Underfloor-heating manifold cupboards opened, vacuumed and wiped
• Internal doors both sides, frames, handles and hinges
• Stairs and balustrades hand-wiped
• Utility and storage cupboards cleared and cleaned
• Bins emptied, washed and put back
• A final walk-through, photographed and sent to your phone

What it costs around the Square

Prices are fixed, quoted before we start, with no hourly meter and no surprise uplift on the day. They run a little higher than a standard flat would because the period work and the heritage products take longer.

If you are not sure which row you fall into, ring and describe the flat. We would rather quote it right than have you guess.

The law you are moving out under in 2026

The Renters’ Rights Act 2025 came into force on 1 May 2026. It scrapped Section 21 no-fault evictions, turned assured shorthold tenancies into rolling periodic ones, and brought in a Decent Homes Standard for private rentals. The headline is that a landlord can no longer end your tenancy on a whim. What the Act did not touch is the deposit cap or the protection rules, so your deposit is still held in one of three approved schemes and your landlord still has to produce a written check-out inventory before deducting a penny for cleaning. Turn up with a professional clean and there is nothing on that inventory left to flag.

Deposit protection scheme

By law your deposit sits with one of three government-approved schemes: TDS, DPS or mydeposits. At the end of the tenancy the scheme holds the disputed money until landlord and tenant agree, or it is adjudicated.

Check-in inventory

The dated report and photographs taken when you moved in. Every cleaning deduction is judged against it, which is why the clerk works line by line.

Additional HMO licensing

Run by the London Borough of Islington, the borough-wide Additional HMO scheme renewed on 1 February 2026 and runs to 2031. It covers flats and houses shared by three or four unrelated people.

Selective licensing

A separate Islington scheme, currently in Finsbury Park, Hillrise and Tollington wards and expanding to others such as Barnsbury, Caledonian and Highbury. Charterhouse Square sits in Bunhill ward, which it does not cover.

The licensing matters more than it looks at a check-out. If your flat was a three or four person sharer, the landlord is licensed, the council holds a file on the property, and any deposit dispute is heard against a regulated tenancy. In that setting a dated cleaning report with photographs is strong evidence. It is part of why we have helped tenants recover £1.2m in deposits that would otherwise have gone on cleaning deductions. Shelter’s deposit guidance is the free reference worth reading before any dispute.

Three kinds of clean, and the one a check-out needs

People mix these up and book the wrong one. A weekly clean keeps a flat tidy. A deep clean resets it. An end of tenancy clean is the only one written to pass an inventory, and it is the only one that carries the re-clean guarantee.

If a landlord or agent is taking the inventory, you want the end of tenancy clean. A deep clean is the right call before you move in, or as a one-off reset, but it is not built to answer a check-out report.

Booking around your check-out date

Booking is quick. The timing around the clerk is the part worth getting right.

1. Tell us the address and the check-out date. A flat number in Florin Court, a door number on Carthusian Street, or the reference from your tenancy agreement is enough to start.
2. We confirm a fixed quote within the hour. No hourly meter, no add-ons sprung on the day. The quote covers the whole 57-point checklist.
3. We clean the day before your check-out. If the clerk is booked for 11:00 on the Friday, we are in the flat by 09:00 on the Thursday and done by 18:00, which gives the parquet and tile overnight to dry.
4. We send the photographic walk-through. Every room and every flagged surface, time-stamped. Forward it to your agent the moment it lands.
5. If the clerk flags anything, we are back inside 48 hours at no charge. That is the re-clean guarantee, and in over a decade we have needed it on under 3% of jobs.

Neighbouring areas and the jobs we add on

Charterhouse cleans often pull in one of our other services. Same crew, same checklist.

• Oven cleaning, single, double, range or AGA
• Carpet cleaning by hot-water extraction
• Upholstery cleaning for sofas, chairs and mattresses
• Hard floor cleaning for parquet, engineered timber and tile
• Window cleaning for sash, Crittall and casement
• Deep cleaning before a move-in or as a one-off
• After-builders cleaning for the refurbished flats around here
• Removals, from a single item up to a four-bed

We clean the neighbouring areas with the same teams. Clerkenwell and Farringdon sit either side of the Square; the Barbican and Smithfield are a short walk south and east. Further out we cover Angel and Old Street, and the borough hub is Islington end of tenancy.

Frequently asked questions

Do you know Florin Court flats specifically?

Yes. Florin Court is one of the buildings we clean most in EC1M. We bring parquet-safe polish, non-acid tile descaler and extending poles for the extractor hoods that sit in the kitchen ceiling rather than over the hob, and we know the lift does not stop on every floor first thing in the morning.

What is the 48-hour re-clean guarantee?

If your agent or their inventory clerk flags a cleaning issue within 48 hours of our visit, we come back and re-clean the flagged items at no charge. In more than a decade we have needed it on under 3% of jobs.

Should you clean the day before check-out or the morning of?

The day before, almost always. Parquet and tile need overnight to dry properly, and it leaves the morning of check-out free for a quick touch-up if anything needs it.

Do you clean inside the Crittall metal window frames?

Yes. Dust packs into the joints of Crittall and similar steel frames and stays invisible until a clerk photographs it. It is one of the three things flagged most often in Florin Court check-outs. We brush each joint, then wipe and polish the glass.

Is carpet cleaning part of the end of tenancy price?

No, it is a separate add-on: £36 a bedroom or £43 for a living room, bundled at £115 for a typical two-bed. We use hot-water extraction rather than a surface shampoo. Carpet cleaning can also be booked on its own.

Can you handle parquet and herringbone floors?

Yes. We use a wood-specific cleaner that does not raise the grain, then polish the door thresholds where the wear shows. We never damp-mop parquet with ordinary floor solution. There is more on hard floor cleaning if you want the detail.

Will you deal with my letting agent’s inventory clerk for me?

If you want us to, yes. Most tenants would rather forward the photographic walk-through to the agent themselves, which works just as well. Your call.

How far ahead should I book?

Two weeks is comfortable for Charterhouse. The last Friday of the month goes first, so book that early. We will still try to fit a 48-hour booking if you ring.

Do you bring your own products and machines?

Yes. Every cloth, every product, every machine comes with the crew. You do not need to leave anything in the flat for us.

What about the communal parts of Florin Court?

The corridors, the lift lobby and the stairwells belong to the building manager, not the tenant, so they are not part of your clean. We work inside your flat, plus the doormat right outside the door if your tenancy covers it.

Can you clean the underfloor-heating manifold cupboard in a new-build flat?

Yes. In the newer flats around Bartholomew Close that cupboard is almost never opened by tenants and almost always checked by clerks. We open it, vacuum, wipe it down and close it back up.

Will my deposit definitely come back if I book Monster Cleaning?

Cleaning is the part we control, and our first-time inventory pass rate is 97% over more than a decade in London. If your agent raises something that is not cleaning, such as damaged paint, a missing item or unpaid rent, that is a separate dispute. We have helped tenants recover £1.2m in deposits that would otherwise have gone on cleaning deductions, and we know which cleaning evidence settles an argument. Shelter’s deposit guidance is the clearest free reference if it comes to that.

How can I pay?

Card, bank transfer or cash. No deposit up front for a standard end of tenancy booking. We email a receipt within minutes of payment.

Book your Charterhouse clean

One number books a Charterhouse clean: 0333 555 2076. Or email [email protected] with the address and your check-out date and we will quote inside the hour. The 57-point checklist, the 48-hour re-clean guarantee and the deposit-back focus come with every job. Same crew, same standard, since 2014.