South Quay end of tenancy cleaning, the easy way

On a South Quay flat the clerk photographs the glass before anything else, because floor-to-ceiling glazing dried with a hard-water film is the deduction that decides these deposits. The move-in pack was shot the week the tower topped out, so you are handing back a flat marked against a near-new one, pane by pane, with no allowance for lived-in. We are Monster Cleaning Ltd, a family firm working check-out flats around Marsh Wall and Millharbour since 2014, priced at £30 per hour per cleaner with a 48-hour re-clean guarantee. Ring 0333 555 2076 for a price.

Last updated June 2026. We cover South Quay and the surrounding E14 towers, from Marsh Wall and Millharbour across to Heron Quays and the South Dock. This page sits inside the borough directory at End of Tenancy Cleaning Tower Hamlets.

Why the glass decides a South Quay deposit

South Quay is the residential heart of Canary Wharf, the run of towers immediately south of the estate around South Quay DLR, threaded along Marsh Wall and Millharbour by the Millwall Inner Dock and South Dock. Landmark Pinnacle stands over Marsh Wall as the tallest residential building in the country. South Quay Plaza, the Berkeley scheme by Foster and Partners, and the two Wardian towers sit within a few minutes of it, and One Canada Square, the Elizabeth line and the malls are a short walk across the dock. There is no period stock here at all. No conversions, no picture rails, no original boards. What you have instead is glass: studios, one-beds and two-beds with integrated appliances, floor-to-ceiling glazing, balconies, and a concierge who books the check-out. That stock decides what a hand-back is about, and it is rarely the thing the tenant scrubbed hardest.

The money comes off for glass, gloss and the parts a hoover skips, not the things people worry about. A clerk arrives with the check-in pack shot when the flat was effectively new, and walks it photographing as they go. The bar is high because the start point looked like the marketing apartment. Nobody grades a South Quay tower against a tired flat. The lets turn fast here too. South Quay DLR and the Elizabeth line at Canary Wharf put the City twelve minutes away, so the tenants are finance and tech people who move with the job, often at short notice, and the flat has to be handed back clean on a date the concierge set weeks ago.

People lose money here by cleaning what they can see and missing what the camera goes to first.

The marks that cost a South Quay tenant are predictable once you have done a few. A hard-water bloom and finger marks across the floor-to-ceiling glazing and the balcony doors. A shower screen dried filmy by the supply. A handle-less high-gloss kitchen left with a greasy haze near the hob. Integrated appliances cleaned on the front but not inside. Engineered or stone flooring left dull or filmed with a dried product. White hallway walls and skirting scuffed in a way the concierge handover treats as chargeable rather than fair wear. Carpet, where there is any, is usually the least of it. One tenant on Millharbour put it to us plainly after a re-let inspection: “I spent the whole evening on the oven and the clerk barely opened it. It was the glass in the living room that nearly cost me.” He was right about where the attention goes.

What 1 May 2026 changed, and what it did not

The Renters’ Rights Act 2025 came into force on 1 May 2026. Section 21 no-fault evictions are gone, and every assured shorthold tenancy in England has converted to a periodic tenancy, so a tenant can now give two months’ notice at any point rather than waiting for a fixed term to run out. The working detail is kept current on gov.uk.

Here is the part people get wrong. The cleaning side of a move-out did not change at all. Your deposit still sits in a scheme, a landlord still cannot bill you for fair wear, and they still can charge to bring the flat back to the documented check-in standard. What changed is timing, and timing is the thing that bites in a tower like this.

South Quay was already a heavy corporate-let and international-investor market with brutal churn. A flat might turn two or three times a year between company tenants. Let people leave on a rolling two months instead of a fixed date and the move-outs get more frequent and far less predictable, so the month-end pile-up gets worse, not better. The dull takeaway pays for itself: book the clean earlier than you used to, because the slot before a concierge handover is the one everyone wants.

The towers, and what the clerk flags in each

We cover the whole cluster and the blocks feeding off it, and the towers matter because clerks flag the same things by building. A South Quay flat is a known quantity to the people who inspect it.

• The South Quay Plaza towers off Marsh Wall, Berkeley’s scheme by the dock.
• Landmark Pinnacle and the Wardian towers on the Marsh Wall and Millwall frontage.
• Pan Peninsula and the older Discovery Dock blocks by the dock edge.
• The Millharbour Village towers and the newer build-to-rent blocks behind them.
• Anything walkable from South Quay DLR, and from Canary Wharf on the Jubilee and Elizabeth lines.
• The flats toward Heron Quays and the South Dock side of the estate.

In the Plaza and Pan Peninsula towers the clerk spends most of their time on the floor-to-ceiling glazing and the balcony doors, because those dock-facing rooms catch the low winter sun straight off the water and any bloom shows the moment the light rakes across it next to the move-in photo. In the flats with a wet room rather than a tray-and-door shower, the fixed glass screen is the slow point, because the whole panel stands in the spray and films faster than a small enclosure. Across all of them the handle-less gloss units get opened and checked on top and inside for a grease haze, the integrated fridge, freezer and dishwasher get opened rather than judged from the front, and the white hallway walls and skirting get gone over for scuffs the handover bills as chargeable. The engineered or stone thresholds get checked for a dried product haze, which on these floors reads as badly as dirt. None of it surprises us any more.

“Two-bed on Marsh Wall, corporate let, I was relocating with about four days’ notice and no time to clean it myself. The building manager had already booked the check-out. Monster sent two cleaners for a morning, did the glass, the wet-room screen and both integrated ovens, and the concierge handover went through with nothing held. Deposit back inside the fortnight.”
Daniel, ex-tenant, South Quay E14, March 2026

What 273 ppm does to a four-year-old shower screen

The water here is hard. E14 sits on Thames Water at roughly 273 parts per million of calcium carbonate, well above the UK average, and on towers this young the scale story runs differently from an old flat. The chrome, the screen and the taps are recent, four years old at most, so nothing has pitted yet. The supply still dries as a dull film on shower glass, mixer taps and the inside of a kettle within months. On a wall of glazing facing the dock, that film is exactly what a clerk catches when the low sun rakes flat across the pane during a daytime handover.

We take the screen and the glazing back with a proper descaler and a bladed finish rather than a wipe with a cloth, because a cloth only moves the haze around and it returns the next day. The kettle and the shower head get treated too, since clerks lift the kettle lid and run the shower more often than people expect. On the mixer taps and the sink we work the scale off the underside as well, where it collects out of sight and a thumbnail run finds it in seconds. A tenant near Millharbour told us she had “gone over the screen three times and it still dried cloudy the second the afternoon light hit it” before we came in. That is the mineral, not the effort, and it needs the right product to shift.

End-of-tenancy clean

The hand-back clean, measured against the check-in pack and signed off at the concierge desk. Built to get a deposit back, with the flat empty and the 48-hour re-clean guarantee on it, at £30 an hour per cleaner.

Deep clean

A reset for a flat you are staying in, lived-in, with no formal standard to hit. Useful, but not what an inventory clerk is grading.

Regular domestic clean

Ongoing upkeep, the same cleaner kept on the flat, from £22 an hour weekly or £24 fortnightly. Maintenance, not a hand-back.

Check-in inventory

The document a clerk wrote on day one describing every surface, with photos. It is the benchmark your check-out is judged against, which is why we clean to it and not to a vague idea of clean.

The 57 things we work through, room by room

Every South Quay booking runs to a 57-point agent-approved checklist, built over a decade of local check-outs and tuned to what the clerks in these towers actually flag. It is effectively the same list they inspect against. The full list comes with the job. Here is the shape of it.

The kitchen, where the gloss and the appliances catch people

The hob and splashback are degreased back to the glass, with the haze near the burners lifted rather than smeared. The extractor is wiped and the filter pulled out and degreased, not cleaned through the cover. The oven is stripped inside: racks, trays and the door glass split and cleaned between the panes, integrated single oven included. Handle-less gloss units are degreased and buffed on top, fronts and the push-catch edges so they do not dry streaky. The integrated fridge and freezer are cleaned inside and out, seals included, defrosted if needed. The integrated dishwasher has its filter, seal and door done, not only the front you can see. Sink and mixer descaled bright, splashes off the surrounding cabinets. Engineered or stone flooring done last, so no product film dries on it.

Bathrooms and the wet room

The wet-room or shower screen has scale taken off both faces and a bladed finish, so it stays clear when the light rakes across it. Shower arm, valve and waste brought up bright. Taps and chrome descaled and dried so there is no bloom under the downlights. Tiles and grout washed and brushed, any mould spotting dealt with. Mirror and glass shelves left smear-free, because a smear shows under bathroom lighting at once. Toilet cleaned inside, behind and at the scale line under the water. An en-suite or second bathroom gets exactly the same treatment as the main one, which matters, because a two-bed here usually has two.

Living space, glazing and balcony

Floor-to-ceiling glazing cleaned inside, frames and runners wiped, finished so there is no bloom under the downlights. The balcony glazing, floor and railing done, because clerks step out and check it against the dock. Balcony doors and runners cleared and wiped, glass finished both sides. Built-in wardrobes cleared and wiped inside and out, including the tops. Engineered or stone flooring cleaned with the right product and buffed so it does not dry dull. Skirting, doors and frames wiped, scuffs lifted off the white paint where they come away cleanly. Hallway walls spot-cleaned where marks lift without taking the matt finish. Light switches, sockets and the strip where furniture stood, all done so nothing reads as missed against the move-in set. Carpet, where fitted, vacuumed including the edge strip; shampoo is an add-on only if the check-in pack asks for it, and it rarely does in these flats.

Where we get re-called, and why the guarantee exists

Most South Quay re-clean callouts come from a short list, and the 48-hour re-clean guarantee exists for exactly these. The screen that looked clear wet, then dried with a faint scale bloom by the time the clerk raked the afternoon light across it. The gloss kitchen wiped damp that dried with a greasy streak near the hob, showing only under the downlights. An integrated fridge or dishwasher cleaned on the front with the seal and filter missed, then opened by the clerk. The engineered floor that dried with a product haze photographing as badly as dirt. The balcony glazing done inside while the runners and railing were skipped, and the clerk stepped out to check. If any of those was on our list and it gets flagged, we come back inside three days and put it right, at no extra cost.

Licensing, the agents, and who actually signs you off

For a hand-back the council matters far less than the agents do, but it is worth being straight about the licensing, because there is a lot of confusion in the borough. Tower Hamlets runs selective licensing, but it covers only the Whitechapel, Weavers, and Spitalfields and Banglatown wards. Canary Wharf and Blackwall, which is where South Quay sits, are not in the selective scheme. What does apply here is the borough-wide additional HMO licensing scheme and mandatory HMO licensing, both in force across the whole borough since April 2024, so a shared house in multiple occupation needs a licence wherever it is. A standard let flat in a South Quay tower does not need a selective licence. None of that changes the clean, but it changes what a landlord can and cannot lean on at check-out.

What decides your deposit is the clerk and the agent. Lettings around Marsh Wall and Millharbour run largely through the big Canary Wharf agencies and the operators who manage the build-to-rent blocks, and their clerks know exactly what a new Berkeley or Chalegrove flat should look like, because they let them new and turn them constantly. Nationally we work with 300+ letting agents, and the report format barely changes tower to tower: the glazing and the wet-room screen are what the camera lingers on. Your deposit sits in a government-backed scheme, and if it comes to a dispute it is raised through whichever scheme holds the money, the Tenancy Deposit Scheme or mydeposits, with the clerk’s photo report as the evidence on both sides. Shelter has plain-English guidance on what counts as a fair deduction if you want to read it before you challenge anything.

What it costs, and the sum nobody runs in time

Prices are fixed by flat size, not invented per job, and they match the figures in the schema on this page. There is no survey visit and no call-out fee. South Quay is a high-value address, but our pricing here is the standard London rate, not a premium one, so you pay the same as anywhere else in the city.

Carpet shampoo is an add-on only where the check-in pack asks for it, at £36 a bedroom, £43 a living room, or £115 for whole-flat carpet on a two-bed, though carpet is uncommon in these towers. A single integrated oven is built into the price already; a double oven is £110 and a 90cm range cooker is £114. Most South Quay flats are studios, one-beds and two-beds with hard floors and a lot of glass, so the usual booking is the £207 or £243 line with no carpet add-on at all.

Now run the sum the way the deposit makes you. A one-bed at £207 to protect a deposit capped at five weeks’ rent, which on a South Quay flat is a serious number, is not really a decision. Most tenants only run that sum after they have failed the check-out and lost the first round, which is the expensive way around. Across the work we have done we have recovered £1.2m in deposits for tenants, and we hold a 97% first-time pass rate against check-out reports, which is the number that actually matters to you.

How booking works around a concierge check-out

It is simple, and it works best when you build in a buffer.

1. Call 0333 555 2076 or email [email protected] with the South Quay postcode, how many bedrooms, and your check-out date.
2. We give you a fixed price on that call from the list above. No survey is needed for a standard tower flat.
3. We book the team for a slot before your concierge check-out, ideally a day or two ahead, so anything flagged can still be sorted in time.
4. Two cleaners arrive with everything, including the descaler, blades and the right product for engineered and stone floors. You supply nothing.
5. If the clerk pulls up something that was on our list, the 48-hour re-clean guarantee means we come back within three days and put it right free.

Book it once you have a move-out date. South Quay slots cluster hard at month-end, and the days before a handover fill first. One more honest note: tell us the building access when you book, whether that is a concierge desk, a key safe or an agent drop-off, and mention the loading bay or lift booking if your block needs one, because a tower move-out stalls fast without it.

Questions we get asked

How much is an end of tenancy clean for a South Quay flat?

A studio is £156, a one-bed £207, a two-bed £243, a three-bed £339 and a four-bed £425. Most South Quay flats fall in the £207 to £243 range. Hourly work is £30 per cleaner if you only need certain rooms. South Quay is a high-value address, but the price is our standard London rate, not a premium one.

Why does the glazing matter so much in a South Quay tower?

These flats have floor-to-ceiling glazing and the check-in pack was shot when the flat was effectively new. Hard Thames Water, around 273 ppm in E14, dries as a bloom on the glass and the wet-room screen, and the low winter sun off the dock finds it first against the move-in photo. It is the most common reason a hand-back here stalls.

Is my flat covered by Tower Hamlets selective licensing?

Almost certainly not. Selective licensing in Tower Hamlets covers only the Whitechapel, Weavers, and Spitalfields and Banglatown wards. South Quay sits in Canary Wharf and Blackwall, which is outside the selective scheme. Borough-wide additional and mandatory HMO licensing does apply, so a shared house in multiple occupation needs a licence, but a standard let flat does not need a selective one.

Do you guarantee the clean against the concierge check-out?

Yes. We work to a 57-point agent-approved checklist and back it with a 48-hour re-clean guarantee. If the clerk flags something on our list, we return within three days and fix it free, provided you tell us inside that window and nobody has moved in.

What is your first-time pass rate?

97%. Across the end of tenancy work we have done since 2014 we have recovered more than £1.2m in deposits for tenants, working with 300+ letting agents.

Do you clean the balcony as well?

Yes. The balcony glazing, the floor and the railing are part of the clean, and clerks step out and check them against the dock, so they get done along with the windows and the runners.

How do you clean engineered and stone floors without leaving a film?

With the right product for the floor, not a general cleaner, then buffed and checked dry near the glass. A product haze on these floors reads as badly to a clerk as dirt, so it is on the 57-point checklist.

Which agents do you work with around South Quay?

Lettings here run largely through the big Canary Wharf agencies and the build-to-rent operators who manage the towers. We clean to the new-build standard their clerks inspect against, and nationally we are on the books of 300+ letting agents.

Can you come a day or two before my concierge check-out?

That is the timing we recommend. Booking a day or two before the handover means that if the clerk flags anything, the 48-hour re-clean guarantee still has time to put it right before the deposit decision.

Is the oven included or is it extra?

A standard integrated oven is included in the flat price. Only a double oven at £110 or a separate 90cm range cooker at £114 is charged on top.

Do I need to supply cleaning products or equipment?

No. Two cleaners arrive with everything, including the descaler and blades for the glazing and screen and the right product for engineered and stone floors. You provide nothing.

How long does a two-bed South Quay flat take?

Most two-beds are a morning with two cleaners. The glazing and the wet-room screen are the slow part; the rest moves quickly because these flats are modern and largely hard-floored.

Can my landlord keep my deposit for cleaning?

Only for genuine cleaning beyond fair wear, and the deposit must be held in a scheme like the Tenancy Deposit Scheme or mydeposits. A professional check-out clean with our 48-hour guarantee is the part you can put beyond dispute. Shelter has guidance if it goes to adjudication.

Do you cover the rest of the Isle of Dogs and Canary Wharf?

Yes. We work the South Quay Plaza, Landmark Pinnacle, Wardian and Pan Peninsula towers off Marsh Wall, the Millharbour Village blocks, and the wider Isle of Dogs and Canary Wharf riverside.