End-of-lease office cleaning: how to avoid dilapidations charges

When an office lease ends, your landlord's surveyor walks the space with a copy of the lease. Every item they note can end up on a schedule of dilapidations, a list of the work they say you should have done, with a price attached. Some of those items are structural or decorative and need a builder or decorator. A surprising number come down to cleaning: stained carpets, limescale in the washrooms, dust on the light fittings, a kitchen nobody has cleaned behind for years.

This guide explains how the dilapidations process works in England and Wales, what an end-of-lease office clean should cover, and how to time it so the office you hand back matches what your lease asks for. It is general guidance, not legal advice. For anything beyond cleaning, speak to a building surveyor or a property solicitor.

What dilapidations are, and where cleaning fits

Dilapidations are breaches of the lease covenants about the condition of the property. Most office leases contain an obligation to keep the premises in repair, another to redecorate at set points (often in the last year of the term), and a duty to reinstate by removing anything you added, such as partitions or extra kitchen units. Many also require you to "yield up" the premises clean and tidy at the end of the term.

The Dilapidations Protocol is the Ministry of Justice pre-action protocol that sets out how landlords and tenants should handle these claims before anyone goes to court. It deliberately does not define "dilapidations". As the protocol says, the work required depends on the terms of your lease. So the first job, months before you leave, is to read the repair, decoration, reinstatement and yield-up clauses carefully.

Cleaning will not fix a cracked ceiling tile or a failed boiler. What it does is remove the easy items that pad out a schedule, and it shows the surveyor an office that has clearly been looked after.

How a dilapidations claim works

Under the protocol, the landlord sends a schedule listing the alleged breaches, the work needed to remedy them and, where relevant, the landlord's costings. Breaches should be grouped into categories such as repair, reinstatement and redecoration. Schedules should be sent within a reasonable time, which the protocol says will generally be within 56 days after the tenancy ends.

With the schedule comes a quantified demand: the sum the landlord is claiming, supported by invoices or detailed estimates, plus any other losses set out in detail. You are then expected to respond, usually within 56 days of receiving the quantified demand.

Two more points are worth knowing:

• Surveyors on both sides work to the RICS professional standard Dilapidations in England and Wales, first published in 2016 and reissued in December 2023.
• Section 18(1) of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1927 caps damages for breach of a repairing covenant at the amount by which the disrepair reduces the value of the landlord's interest in the property.

That cap is an argument for your surveyor to make. It is far simpler not to hand the landlord the items in the first place.

Vacant possession and break clauses

If you are leaving early under a break clause, clearing and cleaning matter even more. Many break clauses only work if you give vacant possession, and courts apply that condition strictly. In Riverside Park Ltd v NHS Property Services Ltd (2016), the High Court held that the tenant had not given vacant possession because it left demountable partitioning in place. The break failed and the lease carried on.

So clear everything you brought in, including furniture, stored boxes, kitchen cupboard contents and anything else you installed, unless the landlord has agreed in writing that it can stay. Then book the clean. Not the other way round.

What an end-of-lease office clean should cover

A regular office clean keeps the place tidy day to day. An end-of-lease clean is a full reset, and because the office is empty, cleaners can reach every surface.

Floors

• Hard floors machine-scrubbed, with edges and corners done by hand
• Carpets vacuumed edge to edge, including where desks and cabinets stood
• Stains recorded, because some leases require professional carpet cleaning or replacement

Washrooms and kitchens

• Toilets, urinals, basins and taps descaled. Thames Water says all the water in its region is hard, so limescale is one of the first things a London surveyor spots
• Wall tiles and grout cleaned, cubicle partitions washed down
• Kitchen units cleaned inside and out, and any appliances staying behind pulled out where safe so the floor and walls behind them can be cleaned

High and low level

• Light fittings, diffusers and air vents dusted
• Window sills, ledges and the tops of door frames wiped
• Skirting boards, doors and door furniture washed down
• Internal glazing and glass partitions cleaned to a smear-free finish

Final checks

• Blinds dusted or cleaned
• Risers, cupboards and store rooms emptied and swept
• Every bin emptied and taken off the floor

External windows above ground floor need the right access equipment, so book them early if your lease mentions them.

Getting the timing right

The most common mistake is booking the clean too early. Removing partitions, making good walls and redecorating all create fine dust that settles everywhere. If the cleaners go in first, you pay for the clean twice.

A workable order for the last three months:

1. Three months out. Find the lease, any licence for alterations and any schedule of condition agreed when you moved in. Instruct a surveyor if a claim is likely.
2. Six to eight weeks out. Book removal, reinstatement and redecoration contractors, and book the deep clean for the days after they finish.
3. The final fortnight. Move out furniture and equipment while the trades complete their work.
4. The last few days. Deep clean the empty office, then walk round with the lease in your hand.
5. Handover. Take date-stamped photos and video of every room, keep every invoice, and return all keys and fobs against a signed record.

A schedule of condition can be valuable, but only if your lease limits your repair obligation by reference to it. Without that wording, you may be expected to hand back the office in repair even if it was worn when you arrived, so check exactly how your lease is drafted.

Evidence wins arguments

Dilapidations disputes often turn on the state of the office on one particular day. Your photos, the cleaning contractor's completion record and invoices for any specialist work are what your surveyor will rely on when responding to the schedule. Ask your cleaner for a short written record of what was done and when. It takes ten minutes and can save weeks of argument over whether the washrooms "were descaled".

Common questions about end-of-lease cleaning

How long does an end-of-lease office clean take?

It depends on the size and condition of the office. A small suite can often be done in a day, while a full floor with a kitchen and several washrooms may need two or three. Your contractor should give you a timescale after surveying the space, not before.

Should we clean the carpets or replace them?

Check the lease first. Some leases require carpets to be cleaned, some require them to be replaced at the end of the term, and some say nothing specific. If the carpet is worn through, cleaning will not change what the surveyor records, so take advice before spending money on either.

Who should attend the final inspection?

Ideally your surveyor or facilities manager, the landlord's surveyor or managing agent, and someone who knows what work was done. Bring your photos and invoices with you.

Commercial deep cleaning for your lease exit

JJ Prime Clean Solutions carries out end-of-lease and between-tenant cleans for offices across London as part of our commercial deep cleaning service. We survey the space, give you a written plan of work and schedule the clean for after your other contractors have left, between 7:00am and 8:00pm, Monday to Saturday. Book a free site visit and we will plan the clean around your handover date.

Sources

• Ministry of Justice, Pre-Action Protocol for Claims for Damages in Relation to the Physical State of Commercial Property at Termination of a Tenancy
• RICS, Dilapidations in England and Wales, 7th edition
• legislation.gov.uk, Landlord and Tenant Act 1927, section 18
• The National Archives, Riverside Park Ltd v NHS Property Services Ltd [2016] EWHC 1313 (Ch)
• Thames Water, Hard water