Quick answer: A Glasgow checkout clean covers every room on the check-in inventory, every appliance, the inside of every cupboard and press, all internal glass with the sash runners, and every skirting, frame, switch and socket. The standard you are held to is the condition recorded at check-in, less fair wear and tear, and the evidence is photographs.
Most cleaning checklists on the internet were written for a modern two bedroom with flush doors and plastic windows. That is not the flat most people in this city are handing back. A Glasgow checkout is usually a sandstone tenement off a shared close, with cornice along every ceiling, sash and case windows sitting in deep reveals, a hall with six doors off it and a kitchen fitted into an old back room. The list below is written for that.
If you would rather hand the whole thing over, get a fixed quote in about a minute. If you want the printable version to carry round the flat, use our free checkout checklist.
What does an end of tenancy checklist actually have to cover?
Six blocks of work, in this order.
- Every room at surface level. Dust down from the ceiling, wipe, polish, vacuum, mop.
- The kitchen in detail. Oven, hob, extractor, fridge, every cupboard inside and out, sink and taps.
- Every bathroom and WC. Pan, bath, shower, screen, tiles, grout, sealant, basin, mirror.
- The joinery in every room. Doors both faces, frames, skirtings, switches, sockets, cornice, picture rail.
- All internal glass. Panes, frames, sills, reveals and the sash runners underneath.
- The insides. Every cupboard, drawer, press, wardrobe and shelf, including the parts nobody sees.
The list is long because it is checked against a document rather than against an opinion. If the check-in inventory said the oven was clean, clean is the bar.
Which rooms count, and which get forgotten?
Everything on the inventory counts. In a tenement that usually means more spaces than tenants expect: the hall press, the box room, the vestibule inside the front door, the cupboard under the stair in a conversion, and any storage in the close that came with your let.
Tenants remember the kitchen, the bathroom and the bedrooms. The ones we see written up on Glasgow checkout reports are the hall press, the vestibule tiles, the meter cupboard, the drying green access door and, in Merchant City conversions, the private lobby between the lift and the flat door. Communal stairs and closes are usually the factor's responsibility rather than yours, but check the lease before assuming either way.
What does a checkout clerk look at first?
The clerk walks in holding the check-in report. They tick what matches, photograph what does not, and hand the file to the landlord or agent. Nothing is judged from memory, which is why photographs are the only currency in a deposit dispute.
The items that come up again and again:
- Oven interior and the glass between the door panes
- Hob, burner caps and the splash zone behind
- Extractor filters and the underside of the hood
- Grout, sealant and the shower screen
- Sash runners and window reveals
- Cornice, picture rail and the tops of panelled doors
- Skirtings, particularly behind doors that stand open
- Inside cupboards, drawers and wardrobes
- Smells: cooking, damp, bins, pets
And the softer judgements they make without writing them down: whether the flat feels aired, whether the floors look finished at the edges rather than just down the middle, and whether anything has obviously been wiped round rather than moved.
Kitchen checklist
The kitchen carries more deposit risk than the rest of the flat put together, and a tenement kitchen fitted into an old back room carries more than a modern one because of the awkward corners.
Oven, inside and out
- Cavity walls, roof and floor scrubbed back
- Racks and shelf runners degreased
- Trays and grill pan done
- Both panes of the door glass, including the layer between them
- Door seal wiped, hinges and edges clear
- Exterior panel and controls polished
Hob and splashback
- Surface cleared, whatever the type
- Burner caps, grates and pan supports degreased
- Control knobs lifted where they come off, and the collars underneath cleaned
- The wall behind the hob taken back to the tile or the paint
Extractor
- Filters out and degreased, or replaced if they are past saving
- Hood underside cleaned, not just the front face
- Bulb housing dusted
- Ducting grille wiped
Fridge and freezer
- Defrosted, starting the day before
- Shelves, drawers and door bins removed and washed
- Door seals opened out and cleaned, which is where mould sits
- Top of the unit and the floor beneath it
- Left off with the door propped if the flat is going back empty
Sink and taps
- Bowl and drainer polished dry, no water marks
- Taps and spout brought back to a shine
- Waste and overflow cleared
- Sealant line where the sink meets the worktop
Cupboards, drawers and presses
- Emptied completely
- Wiped inside on every face, shelf undersides included
- Doors, handles, edges and handle screws
- Crumbs lifted out of the back corners
- Tops of wall units, which are eye level for nobody and camera level for a clerk
Worktops and tiles
- Every surface wiped and dried
- Grout free of grease and splash
- Sealant lines clean along the full run
Floor
- Vacuumed, including under the kickboards where you can reach
- Mopped to the edges and behind the bin position
Bin area
- Bin emptied and washed inside and out
- The floor underneath it, which is the smell trap
Bathroom checklist
Glasgow's water arrives soft from Loch Katrine, so bathrooms here are not a scale removal job the way they are further south. What costs tenants money is grout, sealant, soap film and finishes left damp rather than polished dry.
WC
- Pan scrubbed inside and out
- Under the rim, which is the single most missed spot in the flat
- Seat top, underside and hinges
- Cistern, handle and the pipe run behind
- The join where the pan meets the floor
Bath, shower and screen
- Bath surface including under the lip
- Waste and overflow
- Shower tray free of soap film
- Screen glass polished dry so no water marks show in a photograph
- Shower head and hose cleaned through
- Riser rail and bracket
Tiles, grout and sealant
- Tiles wiped then buffed, not left to air dry
- Grout free of mould
- Sealant lines around bath, tray and basin clean and mould free
Basin
- Bowl, waste and overflow
- Taps and spout polished
- Pedestal or vanity unit inside and out
- The wall behind the taps
Mirror and cabinet
- Polished streak free
- Frame, edges and the top surface
- Cabinet interior emptied and wiped
Floor and extractor
- Mopped, behind the door and around the pan base included
- Skirtings wiped
- Extractor vent cover taken off and washed if it lifts
Bedroom checklist
Easier rooms, but they are where the joinery detail gets skipped.
- Wardrobes and presses: empty, wiped inside, rail cleaned, top surface dusted
- Drawers and chests: empty, wiped inside and out, runners cleared
- Bed frame: dusted, underside included where it is solid
- Skirtings: all four walls, including behind the door
- Door, frame and handles: both faces of the door
- Switches and sockets: finger marks off with a damp microfibre
- Windows: glass, frame, sill, reveal, and the sash runners with the sash moved
- Curtains, poles and blinds: dusted, slats done individually
- Cornice, picture rail and ceiling rose: dusted with a soft head
- Floor: carpet vacuumed slowly to the edges and under the bed, or boards dry picked up then barely damp mopped
- Radiator: top, front fins and the wall behind where you can reach
- Wall marks and fixings: your hooks out, holes filled if you made them
Living room checklist
The same joinery discipline, plus the things people put down and forget.
- Bay window recess: the reveals, the sill run and the shutters if the flat still has them
- Media unit and cabling: wiped, and the dust behind it lifted
- Sofa and chairs: cushions out, crumbs vacuumed from the frame, arms brushed
- Tables: tops and undersides
- Shelving: emptied and dusted shelf by shelf
- Fireplace: hearth swept, tiled surround wiped, mantel dusted
- Cornice and ceiling rose: dusted
- Cobwebs: ceiling corners and the tops of the window reveals
- Light fittings and shades: dusted, bulbs working
- Floor: taken to the skirting line, not just the walked area
- Radiators, switches, thermostat: wiped
Hall, stair and close
Halls are the first thing anyone sees, and in a tenement the hall is a room in its own right.
- Floor: vacuum then mop, edges and corners included
- Skirtings: the full run on both sides, which is longer than people expect
- Every door and frame off the hall: both faces
- Internal stair in a conversion: treads, riser fronts, banister, spindles, newel post
- Vestibule: tiles cleaned, storm doors both faces, letterbox interior
- Coat hooks, shelf and meter cupboard
- Cornice and cobwebs: high corners along the run
- Entry phone handset: wiped
Your own close and stair are usually maintained by the factor. If yours is not, or the lease puts the landing outside your door on you, do the landing and the stair down to the next half landing.
Appliances
Each one is checked against the inventory line that describes it.
- Washing machine: drum, door seal folded back and cleaned, detergent drawer removed and washed, filter cleared where it opens
- Dishwasher: filter, spray arms, racks, door seal and the lip below the door
- Microwave: cavity, turntable, roller ring, door and the vent
- Toaster: crumb tray out, emptied and washed
- Kettle: rinsed through and polished outside
Glass, doors, switches and sockets
These are the jobs that exist in every room and get done properly in almost none.
- Internal panes: cleaned and buffed dry, no streaks
- Sash and case windows: sashes moved so the runners, cords and staff beads get cleaned rather than wiped around
- Frames, sills and reveals: including the underside of the sill
- Door faces: both sides of every door in the flat
- Frames and architraves: including the tops
- Handles, escutcheons and finger plates
- Switches and sockets: faceplates and the wall immediately around them
- Thermostat and entry phone
Which bits get missed most often in Glasgow flats?
These are the ones that show up on checkout reports here more than anywhere else:
- The layer between the two panes of the oven door glass
- Sash runners, cords and the staff bead
- The tops of panelled doors and architraves
- Cornice returns in the corners of the room
- Skirting behind a door that lives open
- Under the kitchen kickboards
- The top of a wall unit
- The extractor filter, rather than the hood face
- The pan hinges and the underside of the seat
- The sealant line where the bath meets the tile
- The floor behind the washing machine
- The vestibule tiles and the inside of the storm doors
If you only have an hour left, spend it on that list.
Does the oven have to be done professionally?
Quick answer: No law requires a professional. The oven simply has to come back to the condition recorded at check-in, which means cavity, racks, both panes of glass and the seal. Most self-cleaned ovens fall short on the glass, and that is the photograph that ends up in the file.
Budget two to three hours if you have never stripped one back, and buy proper caustic gel rather than a spray. If you would rather not, we add an oven deep clean for £55. The full method, step by step, is in our oven cleaning guide.
Do carpets need shampooing at the end of a Scottish tenancy?
Vacuuming is part of every clean. Shampooing is separate, and you only need it when one of these is true:
- The tenancy agreement asks for it in terms
- The check-in inventory recorded the carpets as freshly cleaned
- There are marks beyond fair wear and tear
Many Glasgow tenements have stripped and sealed boards rather than carpet, in which case none of this applies. Where carpet exists, expect from £35 a room. Full figures are in our Glasgow cost guide.
How clean does the flat legally have to be?
The bar is the condition at the start of the tenancy, allowing for fair wear and tear. Fair wear and tear covers faded paint, a worn patch on a carpet in a doorway and small marks from ordinary living. It does not cover grease, dust, food residue or smells.
Worth knowing: a landlord in Scotland cannot charge you a fee simply for existing as a tenant. Charging a premium on top of rent and deposit has been unlawful here since the Rent (Scotland) Act 1984. A clause insisting on professional cleaning as a flat requirement, with no cleanliness issue behind it, is on shaky ground. A deduction for a flat that genuinely was not cleaned is a different matter and is usually upheld.
The wider rules are set out on our end of tenancy cleaning laws page.
Can a landlord take money off the deposit for cleaning?
Quick answer: Yes, where the flat comes back below the check-in standard, and only if the deduction is reasonable, proportionate and evidenced. Your deposit is capped at two months' rent and must be lodged within 30 working days with SafeDeposits Scotland, Letting Protection Service Scotland or mydeposits Scotland.
If you disagree, the scheme holding the money runs a free adjudication. The adjudicator reads the check-in inventory, the checkout report, the photographs and any cleaning invoice, then decides. If it goes further than that, it is the First-tier Tribunal for Scotland, Housing and Property Chamber, that hears it.
Two practical points. First, the money stays with the scheme while the dispute runs, so a landlord cannot simply keep it. Second, evidence beats argument every time, which is why the walkthrough below matters more than anything else on this page. There is more detail in our guide to getting your deposit back in Glasgow.
What should the final walkthrough look like?
Do this on the morning of the handover, not the night before.
- Empty every bin in the flat, including the bathroom one.
- Open every cupboard, drawer and press and check for anything left.
- Check the hall press, the box room and any close storage.
- Open the windows for ten minutes to air the flat through.
- Wipe over anything that has gathered dust since you cleaned it.
- Vacuum the floors once more to clear yesterday's footprints.
- Read the meters and write the numbers down.
- Photograph every room, every appliance interior and every window, with the date on.
Take far more photographs than feels sensible. They cost nothing and they are the only thing that answers a checkout report you disagree with.
When is it worth booking rather than doing it yourself?
| Your situation | What we would do |
|---|---|
| Small modern flat, two clear days, done ovens before | Clean it yourself with this list |
| Traditional tenement, sash windows, cornice throughout | Book it |
| HMO or student share with four tenants | Book it, and price on the fit-out |
| Handover the same day you move out | Book it |
| Boards rather than carpet, light use, short tenancy | Clean it yourself |
| Pets, heavy cooking, or a tenancy over two years | Book it |
We work to this exact list across all ten areas we cover, from Hillhead and Partick in the West End through to Shawlands and Battlefield on the Southside, starting at £155 for a studio. Student handovers around Byres Road are covered on our student page, and if the date has already run out on you we do same day cleans when a team is free.
For landlords and letting agents
This is the same list our teams work from on portfolio jobs. Three or more Glasgow properties gets a per property rate, priority slots around turnover, and the same 48 hour re-clean guarantee on every job. Our landlord page has the detail, or get in touch.
FAQ
How long does a full checkout clean take? A studio takes three to four hours done properly. A two bedroom tenement takes five to seven. A three bedroom with original detail takes seven to nine. Double those figures if you are working alone for the first time.
Do I clean before the checkout or before I move out? Clean once the flat is empty, then do a short lap on the morning of the handover. Cleaning around furniture guarantees a line where the furniture was.
What is the single most missed item in a Glasgow flat? The sash runners, closely followed by the layer between the oven door panes and the tops of the panelled doors.
Can my landlord insist on professional cleaning as a standard clause? A blanket professional cleaning requirement with no cleanliness issue behind it is not enforceable as a fee. Charging tenant premiums has been unlawful in Scotland since the Rent (Scotland) Act 1984. A deduction for a flat genuinely left dirty is a different thing and is usually allowed.
Do I have to clean the outside of the windows? Almost never above ground floor, and in a tenement it is not physically your side of the glass anyway. Internal panes, frames, sills, reveals and runners are all yours.
Is the cleaning check separate from the inventory check? No, it is part of the same visit. The clerk works down the check-in report and notes cleaning issues alongside damage and missing items.
What happens if I disagree with a cleaning deduction? Raise it with the landlord or agent first, in writing. If that fails, use the free dispute service run by whichever of the three Scottish schemes holds your deposit, and submit your photographs, the check-in inventory and any invoice.
How long does the landlord have to lodge my deposit? Thirty working days from the start of the tenancy, into SafeDeposits Scotland, Letting Protection Service Scotland or mydeposits Scotland. Working days, not calendar days.
How much notice do I give to end a Private Residential Tenancy? Twenty eight days in writing as standard, unless you have agreed a longer period with the landlord. A PRT has been open ended since December 2017, so there is no fixed end date to work back from.
Can you clean on the day of the checkout itself? Yes, and we do it regularly. Book the earliest slot available so we are finished and out well before the clerk arrives.
Rather not spend your moving week with a scraper in your hand? Get a fixed quote in about a minute. Prices from £155, all kit brought by us, and a 48 hour re-clean guarantee if anything gets flagged.