The inventory clerk who checks a Tower Hill flat heads for the kitchen first, and inside a minute the torch is along the granite splashback and up into the extractor canopy. Polished stone shows every streak under the spotlights, and the steel mesh in the canopy holds a year of cooking film nobody thinks about.
So this is what end of tenancy cleaning in EC3N is built to do: satisfy the person writing the check-out report, room by room, against a 57-point agent-approved checklist, at a fixed price by bedroom count, with a 48-hour re-clean guarantee measured against that report. Ring 0333 555 2076 for a price in a few minutes.
Last updated June 2026. We cover the City fringe around the Tower: EC3N as the core, plus the EC3R blocks by Lower Thames Street and the St Katharine Docks edge that slips into E1W. This page sits inside the Westminster directory at End of Tenancy Cleaning Westminster, though Tower Hill itself is governed by the City of London Corporation.
How the hand-back actually works, and why ours passes
End of tenancy cleaning
from £174
For a studio, fixed by property size, agreed before we start.
Get your price0333 555 2076 · 8am to 7pm
Start with the mechanism, because the deposit turns on it and almost nobody is told how it runs.
- When you moved into the flat, a clerk walked it and wrote a check-in report describing every surface, usually with photographs, usually with the words “new” or “professionally cleaned” against the kitchen and bathroom. Those words were true that day.
- At the end a clerk walks the flat again and compares it line by line against that first report.
- Anything materially worse than the check-in entry, past fair wear and tear, is chargeable against your deposit.
You are not being marked against tidy. You are being marked against a professional clean, which is why a borrowed hoover and a free Saturday rarely gets a City flat over the line.
The second reader
The hand-back at Tower Hill has a second reader the clerk does not. Nearly every block here has a concierge and a managing agent whose service charge funds full-time porterage, and the porter knows what a flat in that building is meant to look like when it changes hands.
If the kitchen falls short of the standard the freeholder set, the porter tends to mention it before the clerk has finished. So we clean to the building, not to a generic idea of clean. That is the difference between a crew that works these blocks every week and one that does not.
Why ours passes
What makes our clean pass is dull and it is documented:
- we work the same 57-point agent-approved checklist on every job;
- the mesh comes out of the canopy and goes back;
- the granite is finished dry under a torch the way the clerk will check it;
- the whole flat is photographed before and after.
That photo pack goes to you the same evening. When a deposit conversation starts, you are holding dated evidence instead of a memory, and most disputes end there.
We clean to the building, not to a generic idea of clean.
The 57 things we go through, room by room
The full checklist comes with the booking, or we walk you through it before we start. It scales to the flat, and nothing sits behind an asterisk.
The kitchen, where most City deposits go
- Oven
- The integrated oven, booked as an add-on from £31, is cleaned rather than wiped: cavity, back wall, racks out and soaked, and the film between the panels where the door design allows.
- Hob
- Induction hob, the stone or quartz around it, and the silicone line where the hob meets the worktop.
- Extractor canopy
- Degreased inside and out. The mesh filters lift out, get cleaned in the sink, dry and go back, because that mesh is the single most-flagged kitchen fault in these blocks.
- Splashbacks
- Granite and quartz are polished dry under the light.
- Integrated appliances
- Fridge, freezer, dishwasher and washer-dryer get done inside, seals and all, and the units are eased out so the gaps behind them are reached and the floor edges cleaned.
- Cupboards
- Handle-less cupboard faces are wiped including the under-lip that holds finger oil, and the bin recess is sanitised.
Bathrooms, the other place it goes wrong
- Scale comes off the shower glass, the screen channel, the rainfall head and the taps first.
- Stone and marble surfaces are buffed with a pH-neutral cleaner, never an acid.
- Chrome and brass are polished, the heated rail and the demister mirror cleaned, the vanity drawers and mirrored cabinet done inside and out.
- The WC is cleaned under the rim, around the hinges, across the flush plate and behind the pan where the clerk always looks.
- Extractor vent and the sealant bead are wiped to a usable state.
Bedrooms, living areas and the glass
- Wardrobe and cupboard interiors top to bottom, drawer runners, bed bases lifted.
- Skirting, door tops, hinges and the threshold strips between rooms.
- Light fittings, switches, dimmer plates and any ceiling detail dust-cleared.
- Engineered-wood floors swept and microfibre-mopped with the right solution; carpets vacuumed through.
The part that catches people out in these flats is the glass: the inner face of floor-to-ceiling glazing, the frame channels and the balcony door track all get done, and the river-facing rail is wiped on the inside.
The outer face on a high floor is the building’s own cradle team, not us, and we will tell you which is which.
Throughout the flat
- Sockets, switches, thermostats and the intercom panel.
- Internal doors both sides with frames and handles.
- Cornicing, ceiling lines and the smoke-alarm housing dust-cleared.
- The entrance hall, the utility cupboard and any airing-cupboard shelving.
On the warehouse conversions, the high skylight reveals, the exposed brick joints and the original timber get a dry brush, vacuum and microfibre, never a wet wipe. Floors are mopped or buffed last on the way out, so there are no footprints in the finished flat.
What this clean is, and is not
End of tenancy is the hand-back clean. It is not the same job as a deep clean, a regular clean or ongoing domestic help, and the words get muddled often enough to be worth pinning down.
- End of tenancy clean
- Built to pass the check-out inventory and release a deposit, against the letting-agent benchmark, flat empty, with the 57-point checklist, a photo pack and the 48-hour re-clean guarantee on it.
- Deep clean
- A reset for a home you are staying in, lived-in, with no formal standard to hit and nothing documented for an agent.
- Regular clean
- Weekly or fortnightly upkeep, the same hands kept on the flat, to stop it ever needing the other two.
- Domestic help
- Ongoing household cleaning by arrangement, priced by the hour, not tied to a move or an inspection.
Which council, which rules: the City, not Westminster
Tower Hill is the south-eastern corner of the City of London, and the council that governs it is the City, not Westminster. For most tenants here the licensing position is simple, and it is good news.
- Where the flat sits
- By the Tower, Trinity Square Gardens and Tower Place, with the St Katharine Docks marina just east on the Tower Hamlets boundary.
- The council
- The City of London Corporation, which is its own council, separate from the City of Westminster. We file this page in the Westminster directory for housekeeping reasons, but the council that governs the flat, and the licensing that applies to it, is the City.
- HMO licensing
- Mandatory HMO licensing only, for properties let to five or more people who share facilities, and the City has very few of those: a handful across the whole Square Mile.
- Additional or selective licensing
- No such scheme covers ordinary City flats, the kind several outer boroughs have brought in. A standard one or two-bed let at City Quay or Three Quays needs no property licence at all.
Which means the thing that decides your deposit is not the council. It is the inventory and the freeholder’s standard.
The deposit law that does bite is the deposit-protection rules: your money has to sit in a government-approved scheme, and a documented, photographed clean is what keeps it there. You can read the tenant side of that on the gov.uk deposit protection guidance.
What 1 May 2026 changed for City move-outs
The Renters’ Rights Act 2025 came into force on 1 May 2026. For a City move-out it changed the timing and left the cleaning alone.
- Section 21
- No-fault evictions are gone.
- Existing tenancies
- Existing assured shorthold tenancies have converted to periodic tenancies, so a tenant can give two months’ notice at any point rather than waiting for a fixed term to end.
- The cleaning
- This is the part people get wrong: it did not change at all. The check-in benchmark still applies, the deposit-protection rules still apply, and the sum you are weighing is exactly what it was the week before.
What changed is timing. The City fringe was already high-churn, full of one-year corporate lets and short professional tenancies, and rolling notice makes the hand-backs more frequent and far less predictable.
The practical takeaway is dull and it pays for itself: book the clean earlier than you used to, because the month-end slot you want will be gone if you wait.
The City-fringe stock: blocks, wharves and what each one hides
The housing around Tower Hill is not period terraces. It is modern City apartment blocks and converted wharves, and each type fails a check-out in its own way. We work the residential streets by the station and the Docks edge most weeks, and the inspection pattern is consistent enough to plan around.
The marina and riverside blocks
- City Quay
- Right on the St Katharine Docks marina: lateral one and two-beds with a concierge, glass and induction kitchens.
- Three Quays
- The riverside block beside the Tower itself, looking over to HMS Belfast.
- Tower Place
- On the Lower Thames Street side, it mixes commercial and residential and runs stone floors through its bathrooms, so it gets pH-neutral stone cleaner and never an acidic descaler.
In all of them the clerk’s torch lands on the same short list:
- the granite splashback;
- the extractor mesh;
- the back wall of the integrated oven;
- the silicone seam at the hob;
- the balcony door track;
- the engineered-wood threshold strips.
The St Katharine Docks warehouse conversions
East of the lock, the converted wharves are a different job. Flats inside buildings like Ivory House keep their iron beams, their exposed London stock brick and, in the upper units, curved windows and high skylight reveals.
Brick joints gather a fine dust ledge that catches an LED strip at the wrong angle, and nobody sees it from the floor.
We brush, vacuum and microfibre that line and the original timber, dry every time, because water marks old brick and stains bare wood. The high reveals come down with an extending pole and a soft head, not a damp cloth on a ladder.
Getting in
- Tube
- Tower Hill on the Circle and District lines is the obvious way in.
- DLR and rail
- Tower Gateway on the DLR is a couple of minutes off, with Fenchurch Street a short walk for tenants commuting out east.
- Loading
- Crews use the loading bays off Lower Thames Street and the Trinity Square approaches, cleared with the concierge in advance, because the City controls those kerbs through the day.
East of the lock, the converted wharves are a different job.
What hard water and the river do to glass and chrome
EC3N sits in Thames Water’s hard-water supply, drawn through the chalk under London and running well over 200 mg of calcium carbonate a litre. On the shower glass, the screen channels and the chrome taps that fill these bathrooms, scale builds faster than tenants expect, and a wipe with a cloth does nothing to it.
The clerk checks for it directly:
- a thumbnail down the tap;
- the screen edge held against the light;
- the rainfall head pulled in close.
How we treat each surface
- Glass, chrome and ceramic
- We lift scale with a mild solution, where it is safe.
- Natural stone, marble and brass
- These flats are full of them, and we never use a descaler on them, because the acidic removers that shift heavy scale also etch and dull those surfaces. Those get hand-buffed instead, which takes longer and is the right call.
What the river adds
The river adds its own film. Tower Hill is on a tidal stretch between Tower Bridge and Custom House, and the prevailing wind carries fine spray and grit onto the south-facing glazing year-round.
We do the inner face of every pane on every job. The outer face on a high floor belongs to the building’s cradle team, and we will always tell you which side is whose rather than leave you guessing at the check-out.
What it costs, and the sum nobody runs in time
Our prices are the same EC3N rates across the City fringe, and they read like sentences, not fine print.
- Studio
- £174
- One-bed
- £225
- Two-bed
- £261
- Three-bed
- £357
- Four-bed
- £443
- A top-up rather than a full hand-back
- £30 per hour per cleaner
Two add-ons come up here:
- Carpet shampoo, if a bedroom or reception is carpeted, runs £29 a bedroom, £36 for a living room, or £94 for two bedrooms and a living room.
- An oven add-on, rare on the single integrated ovens here but common on the double and range cookers in the larger lateral flats, is £31 for a single and £62 for a double or a 90cm range.
| Property | Typical duration | Estimated cost |
|---|---|---|
| Studio flat (City Quay, Three Quays) | 3-4 hours, 1 cleaner | From £174 |
| One-bed flat (Tower Place, riverside blocks) | 4-5 hours, 2 cleaners | From £225 |
| Two-bed lateral or wharf conversion | 5-7 hours, 2 cleaners | From £261 |
| Three-bed apartment | 6-8 hours, 2 cleaners | From £357 |
| Four-bed apartment or penthouse | 8-10 hours, 2-3 cleaners | From £443 |
| Carpet shampoo add-on | Same visit | From £29 a room |
| Oven add-on (double or range) | Same visit | From £62 |
The sum nobody runs in time
Run the sum the deposit makes you run, because most tenants only run it after they have failed a check-out and lost the first round.
EC3N rents sit high, a one-bed comfortably north of £2,000 a month, and the deposit is usually five weeks of that under the Tenant Fees Act cap, held in a scheme until the agent signs off. A £225 one-bed clean to protect well over two thousand pounds in scheme custody is not really a decision.
Every booking carries a 48-hour re-clean guarantee. If the agent flags a cleanliness issue inside 48 hours, we come back and redo it free, as long as:
- you tell us in the window;
- nobody has moved in.
Over the years the documented work has helped tenants recover £1.2m in deposits that would otherwise have gone on deductions. There is a reason the agents who work this patch keep us on their lists.
Booking it without a month-end scramble
Booking is short. The steps are these.
- Ring 0333 555 2076 or email office@monstercleaning.com with the block, the floor, the bedroom count and the move-out date.
- We send a fixed price by return, not a “someone will call you back”.
- You confirm by reply, and we send a booking confirmation and a copy of the 57-point checklist.
- Empty the flat for the day: furniture out, belongings gone, rubbish cleared, so the crew can reach every surface.
- We arrive with two to four cleaners depending on the flat, our own kit, stone-safe products and a vacuum that fits behind integrated units, and the photo pack lands with you that evening.
A note on timing
End-of-month and Friday hand-backs go first, and the new rolling notice has made the bunching worse, not better.
- Month-end move-out
- Two or three days’ ahead is sensible.
- Mid-week and mid-month
- We can often turn it round at a day’s notice.
- Check-out tomorrow
- Ring anyway and we will do what we can.
Questions we get asked
How much is end of tenancy cleaning at Tower Hill?
A studio is £174, a one-bed £225, a two-bed £261, a three-bed £357 and a four-bed £443. Those are the same EC3N rates we quote across the City fringe. If you only need a part-job rather than a full hand-back, it is £30 per hour per cleaner. Ring 0333 555 2076 with the block, the floor and the move-out date for a fixed figure.
Do you clean inside City Quay and Three Quays?
Yes. We are inside the St Katharine Docks blocks and the riverside apartments by the Tower most weeks: City Quay on the marina, Three Quays beside the Tower of London, Tower Place, and the warehouse conversions like Ivory House. We email the concierge desk the day before so the building log is cleared when the crew arrives.
Why is Tower Hill in the City of London and not Westminster?
EC3N sits in the south-eastern corner of the City of London, by the Tower, Trinity Square Gardens and the St Katharine Docks edge. The City of London Corporation is its own local authority, separate from the City of Westminster. This page is filed inside our Westminster directory for housekeeping, but the council that actually governs your flat, and the licensing that applies, is the City of London Corporation.
Do flats here need an HMO or selective licence?
Most do not. The City of London Corporation runs mandatory HMO licensing only, for properties let to five or more people who share facilities, and it has very few of those. There is no additional or selective licensing scheme covering ordinary City flats. A standard one or two-bed let at City Quay or Three Quays needs no licence, so the question that decides your deposit is the inventory, not the paperwork.
How long does a two-bed flat take?
Roughly five to seven hours with two cleaners. The lateral apartments in the Docks blocks sit at the longer end because the kitchens are larger and the stone runs further. A warehouse conversion with a mezzanine takes longer again, since the sleeping platform, the exposed brick and the high reveals all add time we plan for rather than rush.
Will your products be safe on granite, stone and engineered wood?
Yes. We carry pH-neutral, stone-safe cleaners as standard for these flats. Acidic scale removers etch granite, marble and the stone bathroom floors you find in Tower Place, so they never go near natural stone. We keep a mild scale solution for chrome, glass and ceramic only, and engineered-wood floors get a manufacturer-safe finish, not a wet mop.
What is the 48-hour re-clean guarantee?
If the inventory clerk or the letting agent flags anything inside 48 hours of our visit, we come back and put it right at no extra charge. It applies to every booking, in every postcode we work, as long as you tell us within the window and nobody has moved in. It is the reason a flagged kitchen costs you a phone call rather than a deduction.
Do you have public liability insurance?
Yes, public liability cover, and we send the certificate to managing agents whenever they ask. Concierge buildings around the Tower usually want to see it before they clear a contractor through the door, so we have it ready rather than scrambling on the day.
Can I book at short notice?
Often, yes. Tuesday to Thursday slots are usually available at a day or two’s notice. Friday hand-backs and the last days of the month fill first, especially now tenancies roll on rather than ending on a fixed date, so two or three days ahead is the safe call if your move-out lands at month-end. We are on the books of 300+ letting agents across London, so we are used to working to an agent’s deadline.
How does parking and access work near Trinity Square?
The City of London runs daytime kerb restrictions around Trinity Square Gardens and Tower Hill, so the crew uses the loading bays off Lower Thames Street and the side approaches, and we clear it with the concierge first. Tower Hill on the Circle and District lines, Tower Gateway on the DLR and Fenchurch Street are all a short walk, which is how most crews and tenants arrive.
Do you handle the St Katharine Docks warehouse conversions?
Yes. The converted wharf flats around the marina, with their iron beams, exposed brick and curved windows, are part of our regular EC3N round. The extra steps for brick joints, original timber and the high skylight reveals are included on the same checklist and in the quoted price, not charged as a surprise extra.
How do you deal with Thames Water hard-water marks?
EC3N is in Thames Water’s hard-water area, so scale builds fast on shower glass and chrome. We lift it with a mild scale solution on glass, chrome and ceramic, and we hand-buff stone and brass instead, because the acidic descalers that shift heavy scale would mark the natural surfaces these flats are full of.
How much have your tenants recovered in deposits?
£1.2m in deposit money returned to tenants since 2014. We photograph every clean and sign off the checklist, so if a landlord does dispute it, the evidence goes to the Tenancy Deposit Scheme with a complete paper trail rather than an argument.
Other Monster Cleaning services in Tower Hill
Staying put rather than moving out? We also offer carpet cleaning in Tower Hill, oven cleaning in Tower Hill and domestic cleaning in Tower Hill.