The two Woolwiches, and why cleaning bills differ
There are really two rental markets in SE18, and they hand back keys very differently. North of Plumstead Road sits Royal Arsenal Riverside, the Berkeley Homes regeneration on the old munitions site, where more than 5,000 flats are going up in stages that will run to about 2030. South and west of there is the older town centre around Powis Street and General Gordon Square, plus the period and council stock climbing toward Woolwich Common and the Royal Artillery Barracks. A clean that satisfies a clerk on a glassy new-build by the river is not the same clean that gets you through a check-out on a tired conversion off Plumstead Road.
End of tenancy cleaning in Woolwich is a fixed-price, whole-property deep clean built to pass the check-out inventory and protect your deposit; we price it by the number of bedrooms, send a team that brings its own kit, and back the work for 48 hours. That sentence is the short version. The rest of this page is the detail that actually decides whether you get your money back in SE18.
Woolwich has changed faster than almost anywhere in the borough. For years it was a place people passed through on the way to somewhere else, the ferry on one side and the barracks on the other. Then the money arrived. The Elizabeth line opened here in 2022 and put Canary Wharf eight minutes away and central London not much more, and the rental demand followed the trains. Letting agents that once struggled to fill flats now turn tenancies over quickly, and a quick turnover means a quick, firm check-out. That is the bit that catches people. You are out, the next tenant is waiting, and the agent has a day or two to sign off the inventory and release your deposit. A clean that drags or comes up short is the thing that holds the whole chain up, so the agents have learned to be strict about it.
One quick thing worth saying before the geography. The single most common reason a Woolwich deposit gets docked is cleaning, not breakage, and that is true across the borough and across England. Shelter is blunt about it: a landlord can expect the place back as clean as it was at check-in, but cannot force you to pay for a professional clean as a blanket lease condition. The standard is the inventory, and the inventory is photographs. Beat the photographs and the deduction has nowhere to go.
The licence that changes the stakes in SE18
Woolwich is one of the more heavily licensed pockets of rented housing in south-east London, and that matters at check-out more than tenants expect. The Royal Borough of Greenwich runs a selective licensing scheme that covers parts of five wards, and three of them are Woolwich addresses: Woolwich Riverside, Woolwich Common, and Plumstead Glyndon, alongside Plumstead Common and Shooters Hill. If you rent a whole house or flat to one household, or to two sharers, in those areas, your landlord is meant to hold a licence for it.
The dates are firm. That selective scheme started on 1 October 2022 and runs to 30 September 2027, so it covers anyone moving out of Woolwich right now. On top of it, Greenwich brought in a borough-wide additional licensing scheme for smaller houses in multiple occupation from 1 January 2024, running for five years. If your Woolwich place is a shared house with three or more people from more than two households sharing a kitchen or bathroom, that second scheme almost certainly applies. You can check a specific address against the council’s own selective licensing pages.
Why does a licence change how you clean? Because a licensed landlord is under more scrutiny, keeps better records, and tends to use proper check-in and check-out inventories with dated photos. The HMO rooms get inspected line by line. A licensed agent managing a four-bed share near Woolwich Common will hold you to the move-in condition of every room, the shared kitchen, and the bathrooms, and a casual once-over will not clear it. The flip side helps you: where the paperwork is good, a genuinely thorough clean is easy to prove, and an unfair deduction is easy to challenge.
It is worth being clear about who the licence binds, because tenants sometimes worry it is on them. It is not. The duty to hold the licence sits with the landlord, and the council has been enforcing it, with fines that run into the thousands for letting an unlicensed property in a designated area. What it means for you as the person moving out is indirect but real: a licensed, well-run tenancy comes with better records, which cuts both ways at check-out. A shared house in Glyndon with five tenants on separate room contracts will have a check-out for each room and the shared spaces, and the agent will work through them methodically. The kitchen in a five-person share takes a beating over a year, so the oven, the hob, and the cupboards are where the deductions cluster.
If you are in one of those HMO rooms, the practical advice is to sort the communal areas as a group rather than leaving it to whoever moves out last. We are often called in by the lead tenant or the agent to do the whole house in one go at the end of a joint tenancy, which is cheaper per head and clears the inventory in one visit instead of a series of arguments about whose mess the kitchen is. For a single household renting a flat in Woolwich Riverside, it is simpler: one check-out, one clean, one deposit.
A clean that satisfies a clerk on a glassy new-build by the river is not the same clean that gets you through a check-out on a tired conversion off Plumstead Road.
There is a wider legal backdrop too. The Renters’ Rights Act 2025 reshaped a lot of the private rented sector, and deposit rules still sit under the older protection regime. Your deposit has to be held in a government-approved scheme, and the deadline is tight. Under the gov.uk rules a landlord must protect it within 30 days of receiving it. Cleaning sits inside that framework: deductions come out of a protected pot, and if you and the landlord disagree, the scheme’s free adjudicator decides. We have helped tenants recover £1.2m in deposits that would otherwise have gone on cleaning deductions, and clean records are what win those cases.
What the 57-point list actually covers
Our cleaners do not improvise. They work through a 57-point agent-approved checklist, the same list the letting agents and inventory clerks around Woolwich tend to grade against, so the clean maps onto the check-out report room by room. It is not a marketing number. It is the actual sequence the team follows so nothing gets skipped on a long day.
The kitchen takes the longest, because it fails the most check-outs. The oven comes apart: glass door split open and degreased between the panes, racks and trays soaked, the cavity scrubbed back. Hob, splashback, and extractor filter all get done. We pull the fridge and the cooker out where they move, clean behind and underneath, then wipe the seals. Cupboards are emptied and cleaned inside and out, the sink and taps descaled, the bin disinfected. In a town centre flat off Powis Street with hard London water, the limescale on a chrome mixer tap is often the first thing a clerk photographs.
Bathrooms are the next battleground. Tiles and grout, the shower screen, the showerhead descaled, taps and waste, the toilet inside and behind, extractor vents, mirrors, and any chrome polished off. Then the rest of the property: dusting from the top down, skirting boards, doors and frames, light switches and sockets, internal glass, radiators, and the inside of the windows. Carpets are vacuumed thoroughly, hard floors washed. Cobwebs out of the corners, marks off the woodwork where they lift cleanly.
Bedrooms and living rooms are quicker but still get the full treatment: wardrobes and drawers cleaned inside, on top of and behind where they pull out, windowsills and the inside of the glass, picture rails and any built-in shelving, the dust that gathers behind doors and on top of frames. Hard water leaves a film on internal glazing in this part of London, so mirrors and glass get a proper polish rather than a smear. We move what moves and clean under it, because clerks lift cushions and look behind the sofa, and a clean that stops at eye level is a clean that fails.
What it does not include by default is worth stating plainly, because Woolwich check-outs often demand these as extras: carpet hot-water extraction, a separate deep oven strip on a badly neglected cooker, upholstery cleaning, and the outsides of the windows. Those are priced on their own and covered in the next-but-one section. We will tell you on the phone which ones your tenancy agreement actually calls for, rather than loading them on by reflex.
The work is backed. If the inventory clerk or the agent challenges anything we have cleaned, we come back and put it right inside the 48-hour re-clean guarantee, free. That window matters in a fast Woolwich check-out, where the agent often wants the report signed off within a day or two of you leaving. We are on the books of 300+ letting agents, a fair few of them managing blocks across the Royal Arsenal and the town centre, which is part of why our first-time pass rate holds at 97%.
What the clean costs, priced by the bedroom
Pricing is fixed and tied to the size of the property, not the clock. You know the figure before we arrive, and the team stays until the list is done. A studio is £156. A one-bed flat is £207, which covers a lot of the Royal Arsenal Riverside stock and the converted town-centre flats around General Gordon Square. A two-bed is £243. A three-bed is £339, and a four-bed is £425, which is where the larger shared houses near Woolwich Common and the bigger terraces toward Plumstead tend to land.
Those are full prices for a complete end of tenancy clean, not stripped-back rates that grow once the team is on site. The flat fee is the point. A clerk might take twenty minutes on a one-bed and an hour on a four-bed share, and a neglected kitchen can add real time, but the price you were quoted does not move because of it.
If you only need a few hours of cleaning rather than the full deposit-back service, we also work by the hour at £30 per cleaner. That suits a part-furnished room, a quick refresh, or a job where the agent has named two or three specific problems rather than the whole flat. For most Woolwich move-outs the fixed end of tenancy price is the safer buy, because it comes with the checklist and the re-clean guarantee and the hourly option does not.
The add-ons Arsenal and Powis Street flats need
Three or four extras come up again and again on Woolwich check-outs, and they split fairly neatly by where you live. Add them to the main clean and you pay less than booking them as standalone visits.
Carpet cleaning by hot-water extraction is the common one in the older town-centre flats and the council stock, where bedrooms still have carpet rather than the engineered boards Berkeley fits in the new blocks. We charge £36 per bedroom and £43 for a living room, or £115 to do a whole two-bed flat. Extraction lifts ground-in dirt and the dents left by furniture, which is exactly what a clerk marks down on a carpeted check-out.
Oven cleaning is the other near-universal one. A standard end of tenancy clean degreases the oven, but a cooker that has not been touched in two years needs the full strip, and that is a separate job: £77 for a single oven, £110 for a double, and £114 for a range. The range price matters in the bigger Arsenal apartments and the family houses near the Common, where range cookers are common and a greasy one fails on sight.
Upholstery cleaning, again by hot-water extraction, sorts out sofas and armchairs in part-furnished and furnished lets, of which Woolwich has plenty given how much of the new-build stock is let furnished to commuters. A furnished flat means the sofa is on the inventory, and a marked or smelling sofa is a deduction the same as a dirty carpet. And exterior window cleaning, done with water-fed poles and purified water, covers the tenancies whose inventory specifically asks for the outside of the glass. On a riverside flat several floors up you cannot reach the outside yourself anyway, so if the agreement names it, the poles are the only sensible answer.
A word on booking the extras together. Each of these is cheaper added to the main clean than ordered as its own visit, because it is the same team on the same trip. If your agent has handed you a check-out report with carpets and the oven both flagged, say so when you call and we fold both into one quote. The thing to avoid is booking a bare end of tenancy clean, failing the inventory on the carpets, and then paying a second call-out fee to come back for them. Get the scope right once.
Riverside glass against town-centre period stock
The housing in Woolwich is genuinely split, and the clean changes with it. The boom of the last fifteen years is the Royal Arsenal Riverside development, Berkeley’s flagship on the Thames where the Royal Arsenal munitions works once employed tens of thousands. Those are new flats: large windows, balconies, engineered floors, integrated appliances, and a lot of glass that shows every smear. The arrival of the Elizabeth line at Woolwich in 2022, with its station entrance opening onto Dial Arch Square, pulled in a wave of commuters who rent these flats furnished and move on in a year or two, so the turnover is quick and the check-outs are frequent.
Cleaning a new-build by the river is mostly about glass, dust, and appliances. The trickle vents and window tracks on modern sealed units collect grime that clerks notice. Integrated fridges and dishwashers hide grease at the edges. There is rarely much carpet, so the carpet add-on is less of an issue, but the internal glazing, the balcony doors, and the kitchen are everything. Underfloor heating means no radiators to scrub in some flats, which is a small mercy.
Walk ten minutes inland and the stock flips. Around Powis Street, the shopping street that runs down to General Gordon Square, and out toward the Royal Artillery Barracks and Woolwich Common, you get older conversions, purpose-built blocks from several decades, and council housing. Carpets, painted woodwork, period skirting, sash and casement windows, and harder limescale because the fittings are older. These are the flats where the carpet extraction and a proper oven strip earn their keep, and where the check-out clerk spends longer in the kitchen and bathroom.
The cultural side of the regeneration has reshaped the town centre too. Woolwich Works, the creative district that opened in 2021 in the old Royal Arsenal buildings, brought a 1,200-seat hall and a run of studios and rehearsal spaces, and the bars and restaurants followed. None of that changes how a flat gets cleaned, but it changes who rents here and how long they stay, and that feeds straight back into the pace of check-outs. More short tenancies, more move-outs, more inventories to pass.
There is also north Woolwich across the river, reachable on foot through the Woolwich foot tunnel that has run under the Thames since 1912, or on the free Woolwich ferry. We clean both sides. The point of all this is simple. When you call, tell us which Woolwich you are in, because a top-floor Arsenal flat and a converted two-bed off Powis Street need a different emphasis even at the same bedroom count, and we send the kit to match.
One genuine quirk of the riverside flats is access. The big Berkeley blocks have concierge desks, fob entry, and goods lifts that have to be booked, and a few buildings restrict the lift to certain hours for moves. If your block is like that, tell us when you book, because we would rather plan the visit around the lift than have the team carrying machines up several flights. The older Powis Street conversions have the opposite problem: no lift at all, and a narrow Victorian staircase, which is its own kind of slow. Either way it is better known in advance.
End of tenancy clean, deep clean, or a regular tidy
People mix these three up, and booking the wrong one costs money or a deposit. Here is the plain version.
- End of tenancy clean
- A fixed-price, whole-property clean against the 57-point checklist, built specifically to pass a check-out inventory and get your deposit released. It is empty-property work and it carries the 48-hour re-clean guarantee. This is the one a Woolwich agent expects when you leave.
- Deep clean
- A heavy one-off clean for a place you are staying in that has fallen behind, or a property you have just moved into. Same intensity in the kitchen and bathroom, but no inventory to pass and no deposit on the line, so the priorities differ.
- Regular domestic clean
- Weekly or fortnightly upkeep, usually by the hour. Good for keeping on top of a flat; not what an agent means by an end of tenancy clean, and not enough to clear a check-out on its own.
- Check-in inventory
- The dated photographic record made when a tenancy starts. It sets the cleanliness standard you are judged against at the end, which is why getting your deposit back rests so heavily on it.
- Deposit protection scheme
- The government-backed holder of your deposit, such as the Deposit Protection Service, which also runs the free dispute service if a cleaning deduction is contested.
If you are leaving a Woolwich tenancy, you want the first one. If a clerk has already done the check-out and flagged two rooms, the hourly option might be enough to fix just those. When in doubt, read us the relevant line from your tenancy agreement and we will tell you which service clears it.
The confusion costs people money in both directions. Book a cheap hourly tidy when the agent wanted a full end of tenancy clean and you fail the inventory, lose part of the deposit, and pay twice. Book the full service for a flat you are staying in and you have paid for an empty-property clean you did not need. Match the service to the situation. For a move-out in SE18 against a real check-out and a held deposit, the fixed end of tenancy clean with the checklist and the guarantee is almost always the right call, and it is the one the agents recognise.
How booking works and what we need from you
Booking is a phone call. Ring 0333 555 2076, tell us the postcode and the number of bedrooms, mention whether it is a riverside new-build or older town-centre stock, and say if your agreement names carpets, a deep oven, upholstery, or the outside of the windows. You get a fixed quote in a few minutes. We clean seven days a week, which helps when a Woolwich agent wants the check-out report turned around fast.
Email works too, at [email protected], and our office is at 255 Upper Richmond Road West, SW14 8QS, over in East Sheen. We cover Woolwich and the surrounding Greenwich and Bexley areas as a matter of routine.
On the day, the team arrives with all the supplies and equipment, so you do not provide anything beyond access. The flat should be empty of your belongings, the fridge and freezer defrosted, and the electricity and hot water still connected. If the property is still half-packed we can work around it, but the clean will not pass an inventory with boxes in every room, so it is worth timing the clean after the van has gone.
If the clerk or agent comes back with a query, call us within the 48-hour window and we return to put it right at no charge. That is the whole point of the guarantee, and it is why the agents keep sending us work. For the wider area, you can read about our end of tenancy cleaning across Greenwich, or the neighbouring pages for Plumstead, Charlton, Abbey Wood, and Eltham. If it is only the cooker or the carpets that need sorting, the standalone oven cleaning and carpet cleaning services are there as well.
Questions Woolwich tenants ask
How much is end of tenancy cleaning in Woolwich?
It is priced by bedroom count: £156 for a studio, £207 for a one-bed, £243 for a two-bed, £339 for a three-bed, and £425 for a four-bed. The figure is fixed before we arrive and does not change on the day, whatever the condition.
Do you guarantee the clean will pass the check-out inventory?
We back it with a 48-hour re-clean guarantee. If the inventory clerk or letting agent flags anything we cleaned, we return within 48 hours and put it right free of charge. Our first-time pass rate is 97%.
What is the 57-point checklist?
It is the agent-approved list of 57 cleaning tasks our team works through room by room, matched to what Woolwich inventory clerks grade against. It keeps the clean consistent and means nothing gets missed on a large property.
Does my Woolwich rental need a selective licence?
Quite possibly. Greenwich selective licensing covers parts of the Woolwich Riverside, Woolwich Common, and Plumstead Glyndon wards, running from 1 October 2022 to 30 September 2027. Check your exact address on the Royal Borough of Greenwich website.
What about a shared house, does HMO licensing apply?
If three or more people from more than two households share a kitchen or bathroom, the borough-wide additional HMO licensing scheme that started on 1 January 2024 almost certainly applies to your Woolwich property. It runs for five years.
Can my landlord force me to pay for professional cleaning?
Not as a blanket clause. Shelter is clear that you only need to return the property as clean as it was at check-in, and a flat requirement to pay for professional cleaning is not enforceable. A genuine deduction has to be backed by the inventory.
Is carpet cleaning included in the end of tenancy price?
No, it is a separate add-on, because not every flat has carpet. Hot-water extraction is £36 per bedroom and £43 for a living room, or £115 for a whole two-bed. Booked alongside the main clean it costs less than a standalone visit.
How much does oven cleaning cost on its own?
A deep oven strip is £77 for a single oven, £110 for a double, and £114 for a range cooker. The standard end of tenancy clean already degreases the oven; the strip is for cookers that have been neglected for a long time.
Do you clean flats on the Royal Arsenal Riverside development?
Yes, regularly. Those new-build flats are mostly about glass, window tracks, balcony doors, and integrated appliances rather than carpet, so we bring the kit suited to that and focus where the clerk will look.
What do I need to do before the cleaners arrive?
Move all your belongings out, defrost the fridge and freezer, and keep the electricity and hot water connected. An empty property with the utilities on is what lets the team clean to inventory standard.
Can you clean both sides of the river at Woolwich?
Yes. We cover Woolwich and north Woolwich across the water, reached by the foot tunnel or the free ferry, along with the wider Greenwich and Bexley areas. Just give us the postcode when you call.
How quickly can you come out?
We clean seven days a week and can usually fit a Woolwich job in at short notice, which matters when an agent wants the check-out signed off a day or two after you leave. Call to check the next available slot.
Do you bring your own cleaning supplies and equipment?
Yes, the team brings everything, including the materials and machines for any carpet, upholstery, or oven add-ons. You only need to provide access to the property.
What happens if I disagree with a cleaning deduction?
Your deposit sits in a protected scheme such as the Deposit Protection Service, which runs a free dispute service. Dated check-in and check-out photos decide it, which is why a thorough, evidenced clean is the best protection against a deduction.
Do you cover north Woolwich and the new flats by the Elizabeth line?
Yes. We clean across SE18, including the Royal Arsenal Riverside blocks beside the Woolwich Elizabeth line station and the streets around Dial Arch Square, and we cross the river to north Woolwich. The bedroom-count pricing is the same wherever the flat sits.
Is the end of tenancy price really fixed, or does it change on site?
It is fixed at the quote. We price by the number of bedrooms, and the team stays until the 57-point list is finished, so a grubby kitchen that takes an extra hour does not change what you pay. The only variation is if you add carpets, a deep oven, upholstery, or exterior windows, and those are quoted up front too.
Can you do the clean on a weekend or at short notice?
We clean seven days a week, weekends included, and we can usually slot a Woolwich job in quickly, which is what tenants need when an agent wants the check-out turned around within a day or two. Call to confirm the next free date.