The Boleyn Ground is flats now
Where West Ham United played for 112 years, people now live. The Boleyn Ground came down in 2016, the season after the club beat Manchester United 3-2 in the last match there, and Barratt London put up Upton Gardens in its place: 842 flats across 18 blocks, one to four bedrooms, with 211 of them affordable. The builders kept the centre circle as a courtyard and left the Bobby Moore statue standing. So a chunk of the local rental market here is barely a decade old, glass-balcony new-build, while a few streets away the housing is two-storey terraces that went up before the First World War. We clean both, and they fail end of tenancy inspections for completely different reasons.
That split is the whole story of cleaning a move-out around Upton Park. A new flat at Upton Gardens gets marked down on grout shadow, oven racks and a skirting line the inventory clerk runs a finger along. An old terrace off Green Street, chopped into a couple of flats or let room by room, gets marked down on built-up grease, limescale on the taps and years of paint over paint. The clerk has the check-in photos open on a tablet and goes room by room.
Green Street itself is the spine of the area, and it has not changed the way the football ground has. It is still the South Asian high street of east London: gold jewellers, saree and fabric shops, sweet centres and grocers running from the Barking Road end up towards Forest Gate. Queen’s Market sits at the top of it, right beside the station, a covered market that has traded for over a century and still sells African, Caribbean and South Asian food, fabric and household goods four days a week. People come from across London to shop there. None of that has much to do with cleaning, except that it tells you who rents here and why the housing is so heavily multi-let. This is a working area of extended families and shared lets, not a buy-to-let postcode of one-bed investor flats.
Monster Cleaning has run domestic cleans in London since 2014. We are on the books of 300+ letting agents, and over the years we have helped tenants recover £1.2m in deposits that would otherwise have gone on cleaning deductions. This page is about how that works on the ground here, between the District line and Queen’s Market, where the flats are either very new or very old and the agents know exactly what to look for.
What Newham licensing does to your tenancy
Newham licenses nearly every privately rented home in the borough, and that matters more for your deposit than most tenants realise. The council runs both a selective licensing scheme and an additional HMO scheme, and in early 2023 it was approved for an unprecedented third five-year term, running from 1 June 2023. The scheme covers 22 of the borough’s 24 wards. Only Stratford Olympic Park and Royal Victoria sit outside it, and Upton Park is well inside.
What that means in practice: your landlord almost certainly holds a licence for the property, and a licensed landlord tends to use a proper letting agent, and a proper agent books a check-in inventory and a check-out inventory. A landlord who skips the licence faces a financial penalty of up to £30,000 or an unlimited fine in court, so most around here play it straight. The upside for you is a documented baseline. The downside is that the same paperwork gets used against your deposit if the flat is handed back dirty.
A landlord who skips the licence faces a financial penalty of up to £30,000 or an unlimited fine in court, so most around here play it straight.
Deposit protection sits on top of the licensing. Your deposit has to be held in one of the three government-backed schemes, and your landlord or agent must protect it within 30 days of taking it, as the gov.uk deposit protection rules set out. When you move out, the agent proposes deductions and you either agree or dispute them through the scheme’s free adjudicator. Cleaning is one of the most common deductions, and it is also one of the easiest to beat with evidence, because Shelter’s guidance on getting your deposit back is clear that the place only has to come back as clean as the check-in inventory recorded it, allowing for fair wear and tear.
The new Renters’ Rights Act 2025 is changing how tenancies end across England, with periodic tenancies replacing most fixed terms. It does not change the deposit basics. You still get the money back if the flat is returned in the state the inventory says you took it on.
One practical effect of all this licensing is worth saying plainly: agents around Upton Park are experienced and they inspect hard. A borough that has run a licensing regime for over a decade has agents who do dozens of check-outs a month and know every place a tenant cuts a corner. They are not hostile about it. They are just thorough, and a clean that would pass in a sleepier part of London gets a closer look here. That is why we build the clean around what the inventory clerk checks rather than around a generic idea of tidy, and it is why the guarantee matters. The local agents have seen everything, so the work has to stand up to everything.
The terraces off Green Street
Most of our move-out work here is in the terraced streets that run off Green Street, Katherine Road and Plashet Road. These are narrow two-up two-down houses, late Victorian and Edwardian, and a lot of them have been split into two flats or let room by room as an HMO under Newham’s additional licence. That layout drives the cleaning. One kitchen serves several tenants, the extractor over the hob has rarely been touched, and the bathroom takes heavy daily use from people who barely know each other.
Grease is the headline problem. In a shared kitchen the tops of the wall units, the splashback behind the cooker and the extractor filter build up a film that a normal weekly wipe never reaches, and an inventory clerk will photograph it. Hard water is the second. East London water is hard, so limescale crusts around the taps, on the shower screen and inside the kettle, and a check-out report flags it room by room. Older sash windows on these terraces collect paint and grime in the runners, and the agent will check the frames as well as the glass.
The Upton Gardens flats are the opposite job. Everything is newer, so there is no decade of grime, but the inventories are stricter and the surfaces show every mark. White gloss skirting, fitted wardrobes with mirrored doors, a fan oven that has never been deep-cleaned, and underfloor or panel finishes that streak if you use the wrong cloth. A clerk doing a check-out on a two-year-old flat there expects it close to handover condition.
There is a third type of property worth a mention, because we see it here too: the family house that has been let whole rather than split. Plenty of the bigger terraces towards Plashet and the East Ham end have stayed as single homes, often rented to one large household for years. These take a different kind of clean again. The wear is spread evenly rather than concentrated in a shared kitchen, but there is more of it: more rooms, more carpet, a garden’s worth of trodden-in dirt by the back door, and a kitchen that has cooked three meals a day for a big family. The bedroom count drives the price on these, and they reward a full day’s work.
Either way, the inventory is the document that decides your deposit. Citizens Advice spells out that a landlord cannot charge you for reasonable wear and tear, only for genuine dirt or damage beyond it. We clean to the standard the check-in photos set, which is the standard the adjudicator will measure against if it ever goes that far. The trap is that wear and tear and dirt look similar to a tenant and very different to a clerk. A worn carpet is wear; a stained one is dirt. Faded paint is wear; a greasy, finger-marked wall is dirt. We cannot do anything about the first, but the second is exactly what a proper move-out clean removes, and removing it is what gets the deposit back.
What a full move-out clean covers
Our end of tenancy clean works off a 57-point agent-approved checklist, and the cleaners do not leave until every line is signed off. It is the same list whether you are in a new flat at Upton Gardens or a shared terrace off Katherine Road, though the time it takes is very different. We bring all the kit and the materials. You do not supply anything.
Kitchens take the longest. Inside and outside every cupboard and drawer, the worktops, the splashback, the sink and taps descaled, the extractor degreased, and the white goods cleaned inside and out, including behind and underneath where the cooker pulls out. The oven is done properly, racks and door glass included, which on a multi-let terrace is often the single dirtiest item in the house. Bathrooms get the same room-by-room attention: limescale off the taps and screen, grout scrubbed, tiles polished, the toilet and waste cleaned thoroughly.
The rest of the home is detail work. Skirting boards, door frames, switches and sockets, internal glass, the tops of doors, radiators, and any cobwebs in the corners. Carpets are hoovered through; hard floors are washed. We do the inside of windows as standard. Here is the short version of what we do not do.
We do not move heavy furniture or take rubbish to the tip.
For the clean to go smoothly we ask for three things. The flat needs electricity and running hot water, all your belongings need to be out before we arrive, and the fridge and freezer need defrosting in advance, because a fridge full of ice cannot be cleaned and a clerk will mark a wet, frosted unit as not done.
That checklist is why our first-time pass rate sits at 97%. The cleans are built around what Newham agents actually inspect, not a generic once-over, and the small number that get queried are usually a single item the clerk wants redone rather than the whole flat.
Why a move-out clean is not a deep clean
People mix these up on the phone, so it is worth being clear. A regular clean is the fortnightly tidy a household books to keep on top of things. A deep clean goes further, getting into the build-up a weekly routine leaves behind, and people often book one when they first move in or once a year for a spring clean. An end of tenancy clean is a different animal again, because it is the only one judged by a third party against a written record.
The difference is the standard rather than the effort. A deep clean is done to your satisfaction; you decide when it is good enough. A move-out clean is done to the inventory clerk’s satisfaction, and the clerk is comparing it line by line against the check-in report on behalf of the agent and the landlord. That is why we run it off the 57-point list rather than by eye. The cleaner is not aiming for clean in the everyday sense. They are aiming to match a document.
It also means a move-out clean reaches places a deep clean might skip. Inside the kitchen cupboards even if they look fine, behind the appliances, the inside of the oven glass, the window runners, the tops of the door frames. These are the spots an inventory clerk checks precisely because tenants forget them, and they are where deposits quietly disappear. If you have lived in a shared terrace off Katherine Road for two years, the difference between a good tidy and a passing move-out clean is exactly those hidden surfaces.
One more thing tenants get wrong. A move-out clean is a one-off, not a maintenance visit, so it is priced and scoped to leave an empty property at handover condition rather than to keep a lived-in home ticking over. We need the flat clear and the utilities on, and we do the whole thing in one visit so the place is ready for the clerk straight after.
What it costs in E13 and E6
End of tenancy cleaning is priced by the size of the property, not by the hour, so you know the figure before we arrive and the team stays until the checklist is done. A studio is £156. A one-bedroom flat is £207, a two-bedroom is £243, a three-bedroom is £339, and a four-bedroom house is £425. Those prices hold across E13 and E6, whether the place is a new flat off Green Street or an old terrace near Queen’s Market.
The flat rate matters most on the shared terraces, where the work is genuinely heavy and an hourly job would run up. Because we charge by property size, a filthy multi-let kitchen costs the same as a tidy one of the same bedroom count. The cleaners simply stay longer on the dirty one.
If you would rather book cleaners by the hour for a smaller job, that is £30 per cleaner per hour, though for a full move-out the fixed end of tenancy price almost always works out better and carries the guarantee. We will tell you honestly on the phone which one fits your situation. The hourly rate suits a tenant who wants a hand with one stubborn room or a top-up before guests, not a full check-out, because an open-ended job on a dirty flat can drift past what the fixed price would have cost.
What you are really paying for on a move-out is the deposit. A two-bedroom deposit in this part of Newham typically runs to well over a thousand pounds, and a cleaning deduction can take a few hundred of that. Set the cost of the clean against what you stand to lose and the maths is straightforward, which is the whole reason agents recommend booking a professional clean rather than chancing it. We have helped tenants recover £1.2m in deposits doing exactly this, one flat at a time.
Ovens, carpets and the jobs that lose deposits
Two add-ons come up again and again here, and both are common deposit-losers. The first is the oven. On a multi-let terrace off Plashet Road the oven is frequently the dirtiest single appliance in the property, and a standard clean will not shift baked-on carbon. A deep oven clean is £77 for a single, £110 for a double, and £114 for a range cooker. We take the removable parts and the door glass apart and clean each piece separately, so the inside of the glass comes up clear rather than smeared.
Carpets are the other one. Years of foot traffic in a shared house leave patches that a hoover will not lift, and an inventory clerk reads stained carpet as a deduction. We use hot water extraction, which pulls dirt out of the pile rather than smearing it across the surface. Carpet cleaning runs at £36 a bedroom, £43 for a living room, or £115 for a whole two-bedroom flat done together.
The same hot water extraction works on tired upholstery, which is worth doing on a furnished let where the sofa is on the inventory. A furnished tenancy lists the furniture, so a marked or smelly sofa is as much a deduction risk as a dirty carpet, and a deep upholstery clean brings it back closer to its check-in state. If the windows have to be cleaned outside as well, for an upper-floor flat at Upton Gardens or a bay-fronted terrace, we use water-fed poles and purified water so the glass dries without streaks. Some agents make exterior windows a specific check-out requirement, particularly on the newer blocks where the glass is a selling point, so it is worth asking what your inventory expects.
You can book any of these on their own or alongside the move-out clean, and bundling them into one visit is cheaper than separate trips. It is also less hassle: one crew, one day, one set of access arrangements rather than three. On a heavily used terrace the oven and carpets together can be the difference between a flat that passes and one that gets queried, so we usually flag them when you describe the property on the phone.
If you want the full picture before you decide, our oven cleaning and carpet cleaning pages set out exactly what each one includes.
The re-clean guarantee explained
Here is the part that protects you. If the inventory clerk or your letting agent challenges the clean, we come back and put it right free of charge under our 48-hour re-clean guarantee. You do not pay twice, and you are not left arguing with the agent on your own. We would rather send a cleaner back for an afternoon than see a tenant lose a chunk of deposit over something we can fix.
This works because of the inventory, not in spite of it. The clerk lists whatever they think falls short, you forward us the report, and we return within the same window to redo those specific points. It is the same crew, the same checklist, and a quick second pass on the items flagged. That cover is a big part of why agents keep us on their books, and why our cleans pass first time so often.
It pays to read what the agent actually wrote, because a queried clean is rarely the whole flat. More often it is one line: a smear inside the oven glass, a tap that still has scale on it, a window runner the first pass missed. We fix that single point and the deposit is released. The guarantee turns what would have been an argument over money into a quick return visit, and it is the reason a flagged clean here almost never turns into a kept deposit.
A few terms come up a lot when a tenancy ends here, so it is worth knowing what they mean.
- Check-in inventory
- The report and photos your agent takes at the start of the tenancy, recording how clean and how worn the flat was on day one. It is the benchmark your move-out is measured against.
- Selective licence
- Newham’s borough-wide requirement that a landlord hold a licence to let a property privately. It pushes most lets through professional agents who book formal inventories.
- Additional HMO licence
- The licence needed where a house is let to several unrelated people sharing facilities, which covers many of the subdivided terraces off Green Street.
- Fair wear and tear
- The gradual ageing a landlord cannot charge you for, such as faded paint, as opposed to dirt or damage they can. The line between the two decides most cleaning disputes.
- Hot water extraction
- The carpet and upholstery method that injects hot water and solution into the pile and draws it back out with the loosened dirt, rather than wiping the surface.
Booking a clean near Upton Park
Booking is a phone call. Ring 0333 555 2076 and tell us the postcode, the number of bedrooms and your move-out date, and we will give you a fixed quote on the spot and a slot to suit you. We work seven days a week, which matters around here because tenancy end dates and the agent’s check-out appointment rarely fall on a weekday that is convenient. You can also email the office with the details if you would rather not call.
Most move-out cleans on the dense terraces want a full day, so we usually start in the morning. Parking is the awkward part. The streets off Green Street and Katherine Road are tight and busy, and a lot of them sit inside Newham’s controlled parking zones, so if the flat has a permit or a visitor bay it helps to mention it when you book. Upton Park station, on the District and Hammersmith and City lines, sits right by Queen’s Market, so for a smaller flat our cleaners can come in without a van and the parking question disappears.
Timing tip from doing this for years: book the clean for the day before your check-out inventory, not the same morning. It leaves a buffer if the agent moves the appointment, and it means the flat is sitting clean and empty when the clerk walks in rather than half-finished. If a problem does show up at the inspection, the 48-hour re-clean guarantee still has you covered.
We cover the whole borough, so if your move is in a neighbouring area we handle that too. Our Newham end of tenancy hub lists the lot, and the pages for East Ham and Plaistow cover the streets either side of Upton Park.
Questions Upton Park tenants ask
How much is an end of tenancy clean in Upton Park?
It depends on the size of the property. A studio is £156, a one-bedroom flat is £207, a two-bedroom is £243, a three-bedroom is £339 and a four-bedroom house is £425. The price is fixed by bedroom count, so a dirty flat and a tidy one of the same size cost the same.
Do you cover both Upton Gardens and the older terraces off Green Street?
Yes. We clean the new-build flats on the former Boleyn Ground site and the Victorian and Edwardian terraces around Green Street and Katherine Road. The checklist is the same for both, though the older shared houses usually take longer.
What is the 48-hour re-clean guarantee?
If your letting agent or the inventory clerk is not happy with the clean, we return within 48 hours and redo the flagged items free of charge. You forward us the inventory report and the same crew comes back to put those points right.
Does Newham’s licensing scheme affect my deposit?
Indirectly, yes. Because most Upton Park lets are licensed, they tend to run through agents who take formal check-in and check-out inventories, and that inventory is what your cleaning deduction is judged against. A clean to inventory standard protects the deposit.
Is the oven included or is it extra?
A standard oven clean is part of the end of tenancy service. If the oven is badly baked on, which is common in shared terraces, a deep oven clean is an add-on at £77 single, £110 double or £114 for a range, with the parts and door glass taken apart and cleaned separately.
Do I need to be there during the clean?
No. Plenty of tenants leave a key with the agent or with us. We just need the flat empty of belongings, with electricity and running hot water, and the fridge and freezer defrosted before we start.
Can you clean on a weekend or a bank holiday?
Yes, we work seven days a week. Tenancy end dates and check-out appointments often land on a weekend, so weekend slots are normal for us rather than an exception.
How long does a move-out clean take here?
A studio or one-bed flat is usually a few hours; a larger terrace or a heavily used HMO can take most of a day. Because we price by property size rather than by the hour, the team stays until the whole checklist is signed off.
Do you clean carpets and windows as well?
Inside windows are part of the standard clean. Carpets, exterior windows and upholstery are add-ons. Carpet cleaning is £36 a bedroom, £43 a living room or £115 for a whole two-bedroom flat, using hot water extraction.
What if my landlord still tries to deduct for cleaning?
Ask for the reason in writing and compare it against your check-in inventory. If the flat was cleaned to that standard you have a strong case with the deposit scheme’s free adjudicator, and our 48-hour re-clean guarantee means any genuine miss gets fixed before it becomes a deduction.
Do you bring your own cleaning equipment and products?
Yes. The cleaners arrive with all the equipment and materials needed for the job. You do not need to leave anything out or buy anything in advance.
How do I get a quote and book?
Call 0333 555 2076 with your postcode, bedroom count and move-out date for a fixed quote and a slot, or email the office through the contact page. We will confirm the price before any visit.
Do you only clean in Upton Park or the wider area too?
We cover the whole of Newham and beyond. There are separate pages for East Ham, Plaistow and the rest of the borough, and we handle moves in all of them.