End of Tenancy Cleaning Cost in Ireland: A Tenant's Guide

Professional end of tenancy cleaning in Ireland typically costs between €180 and €500, and that headline figure is an aggregate Irish market estimate for a standard clean of an empty home rather than a fixed price. The standard that matters at the end of a tenancy is that the dwelling is left reasonably clean and tidy: where it is not, the Residential Tenancies Board's good landlord and tenant guide sets out that the tenant can arrange the cleaning or the landlord can arrange it and deduct the cost from the deposit. A professional clean becomes a requirement only where the lease asks for that standard, or where the condition of the property means an ordinary clean will not bring it back to a reasonable state.

What a standard end of tenancy clean includes

A standard end of tenancy clean is a full clean of an empty property, and it normally covers:

• Kitchen — cupboard doors and frames wiped inside and out, worktops, splashback, sink and taps descaled, hob, extractor hood and filter, and the outsides of the fridge, freezer, washing machine and dishwasher. Cleaning the insides of appliances is usually an extra.
• Bathrooms — tiles and grout scrubbed, shower screen and tray descaled, toilet cleaned inside and out, silicone and seals wiped, extractor vent cleaned, mirrors polished.
• Throughout — skirting boards, doors and frames, handles, light switches, sockets, radiators, banisters, inside windows and sills, wardrobe interiors, shelves and mirrors.
• Floors — vacuumed and mopped, including under beds and behind any furniture that has been left behind.
• Finishing — bins emptied, cobwebs removed, light fittings dusted, and balconies, patios or utility areas swept.

Some jobs sit outside a standard clean and are quoted separately: carpet shampooing or steam cleaning, oven interiors, external windows, gardens, garages, attics and sheds. A standard clean also assumes the property is in reasonable order to begin with. Homes with pets, heavy smoking, mould, limescale or building dust take longer, and the quote reflects that. Tenants and landlords who want a price for one specific property can post the job for end of tenancy cleaning and compare the quotes that come back.

What end of tenancy cleaning costs in Ireland

The figures in this section are an aggregate Irish market estimate for professional end of tenancy cleaning, and the line items are the ones that normally appear on a quote.

Item on a typical quote	Range
Labour only (one or two cleaners)	€140–€380
Materials and consumables (products, cloths, bags)	€20–€60
Preparation and access (furniture moved, high-level dusting, balcony or utility area)	€10–€40
Waste removal and contingency allowance	€10–€20

The four lines make up the headline range: the low ends total €180 and the high ends total €500.

Typical totals by property size, from the same estimate:

• Studio or one-bedroom apartment: €180–€260
• Two-bedroom apartment or small house: €210–€320
• Three-bedroom house: €260–€400
• Four-bedroom house or larger: €320–€500

Common extras, charged on top of the clean and quoted from the same estimate:

• Single oven and hob: €40–€70
• Double oven or range cooker: €70–€110
• Carpet shampoo or steam clean: €25–€45 per room
• Internal windows: €25–€50
• Fridge, freezer or washing machine cleaned inside: €25–€40

A three-bedroom house priced at €330, with a single oven clean at €55 and internal windows at €35, comes to €420, and every figure there falls inside the ranges above. Quotes in Dublin tend to sit at the top of these bands, and the same job in a city-centre apartment with stairs or restricted parking is often priced at the upper end for its size. Before accepting any figure, ask whether it includes VAT, because some cleaners quote a net price and add VAT at invoicing, and a quote given as an hourly or day rate only becomes a total once the work is finished.

What pushes an end of tenancy cleaning quote up or down

Condition matters as much as floor area when a cleaner works out a price, and the same three-bedroom house can be quoted at either end of its band depending on how it was left. The things that move a quote most are:

• Size and the number of bathrooms, which add both time and materials.
• Condition: a neglected oven, thick limescale, pet hair, smoke residue or building dust all add hours.
• Whether the property is empty, and whether bulky items have been taken away.
• Access: parking, stairs, lifts and the number of floors.
• Timing: the end of the month and weekends are the busiest slots.
• Whether the cleaner brings products and equipment or uses whatever is in the property.
• Extras, charged at the rates in the add-ons list above, so an oven at €40 to €70 and internal windows at €25 to €50 are worth costing in from the start rather than discovering later.

Landlords pricing several properties at once can look at the wider cleaning services category, where end of tenancy work sits alongside regular domestic cleaning.

When a professional clean is actually required

A tenancy agreement may ask for the property to be returned in a particular condition, and some agreements name a professional clean specifically. The baseline that applies either way is a reasonably clean and tidy dwelling, so the useful question is not whether a cleaner was used but whether the property was left in the state a reasonable person would expect it in after someone had cleaned it. The RTB advises tenants to check whether there are conditions on returning the deposit when they are moving out, which is the point at which a lease clause about cleaning matters most (Residential Tenancies Board tenant checklist). Where a tenant believes a clause asks for more than is reasonable, the sensible step is to raise it in writing before the move-out date and keep a copy of the exchange; where the lease asks for a receipt, the invoice from the clean is the evidence.

Deducting cleaning costs from a deposit

A landlord cannot ask for a deposit of more than one month's rent, and the deposit may be used for rent arrears, unpaid bills, or damage beyond normal wear and tear, as set out in the RTB guidance on security deposits. Cleaning sits inside that last category when the dirt goes beyond ordinary wear and tear. In practice the amount turns on how the property was left compared with how it was handed over, which is why the condition at the start of the tenancy matters as much as the state of it at the end, and why a landlord who has paid for a clean has a receipt to point to. Where the two sides cannot agree on what is fair, the matter can be taken to the RTB, and readers should confirm the current RTB process directly with the RTB.

Normal wear and tear versus chargeable dirt

Normal wear and tear is the deterioration that comes from living in a property: carpets flattened in the walkways, scuff marks and faded paintwork, small screw holes from pictures, worn seals and grout, and appliances that have reached the end of their working life. None of that is dirt, and a cleaning charge should not be doing the job of redecorating or replacing worn fittings.

Chargeable dirt is what a clean can actually remove: grease on cupboard fronts and around the hob, oven interiors that have been left, limescale on taps and shower screens, mould in bathrooms where ventilation has been poor, stains from spills, pet hair, cigarette residue and rubbish left behind. Damage is a third category — burns, tears, chips, broken fittings and unreported leaks — and that belongs with the deposit rules on damage beyond normal wear and tear rather than with cleaning.

The practical way to separate the three is the check-in inventory. A mark that appears on the inventory and again on the check-out notes is wear and tear; something that was not there at the start and is not the product of ordinary use is more likely to be treated as the tenant's responsibility.

Photos, inventory and evidence

The RTB advises tenants to keep dated photographs and an inventory report signed by both parties, so that the condition of the property at the start of the tenancy can be compared with its condition at the end (Residential Tenancies Board tenant checklist). In practice that means photographing every room on the day the keys are handed back, with the date visible on the image, and shooting the same corners and surfaces that were photographed at check-in. A signed inventory, the cleaning invoice, and any messages about the standard expected should be kept together in one place. An email record is easier to produce months later than a text message, and a check-out walk-through with the landlord or letting agent present, where that can be arranged, settles most disagreements on the spot. Tenants doing the work themselves can follow the room-by-room end of tenancy cleaning checklist.

FAQ

How much does a one-bedroom apartment cost to clean at the end of a tenancy?

One-bedroom homes sit in the lowest band in the estimate above, and at that size condition counts for more than floor area. A neglected oven, a stained carpet and heavy limescale can push a small apartment to the top of its band and beyond once extras are added. Asking for the extras to be priced separately makes it easy to see what is driving the total.

How long does an end of tenancy clean take?

A small apartment is usually a few hours' work for one or two cleaners, while a larger house takes most of a day, and heavy soiling stretches that further. Time is what the labour line on a quote is built from, which is one reason a fixed price is easier to compare than an hourly rate.

Should the property be empty when the cleaners arrive?

As far as possible, yes. Personal belongings, food and rubbish should be out, cupboards emptied, the fridge defrosted and keys available, because cleaners cannot work around stacked boxes and bagged waste. Bulky items left behind usually become an extra.

Do I need to keep the invoice for a clean?

Keep it, together with dated photographs taken after the work was done. A dated invoice showing what was cleaned and when is the simplest answer to a landlord who claims the property was left dirty.

Is it cheaper to have the oven and carpets done in the same visit?

Yes. Extras are charged at the rates in the add-ons list above, and having them done during the same visit avoids a second call-out to the same property. Booking everything together also means the quote covers the whole job rather than leaving an oven or a carpet to be argued over after the keys go back.

Agreeing the standard and booking the clean

The whole thing comes down to two habits: agree in writing, before move-out day, what standard the property is expected to be left in, and keep the paperwork together afterwards, so that photographs, inventory and invoices tell the same story. Posting a job and listing on ShamFix is free and there is no commission, and a subscription is planned for the future. ShamFix does not check or certify tradespeople, profiles are filled in by tradespeople themselves, so homeowners should check registrations themselves and read reviews before booking. Comparing quotes for a specific property takes a few minutes on ShamFix.