End of Tenancy Cleaning in Brent Cross

Shirehall Lane runs parallel to the North Circular on the Hendon side of Brent Cross, close enough that you can hear the traffic hum from the front garden but far enough that the air doesn't taste of it. The houses are 1930s semis — the standard interwar pattern, bay windows, driveways, back gardens — and they sit in the odd position of being proper suburban family houses that happen to be 200 metres from one of the biggest shopping centres in London. The family who lived here could walk to John Lewis in 8 minutes. Whether that counts as a benefit or a hazard depends on the family.

Three bedrooms, a front lounge, a rear kitchen-diner, a family bathroom, a downstairs WC, and a garden. The family had been there 2 years — two parents, two children aged 7 and 4. He worked in IT in the City and took the Northern line from Brent Cross. She worked part-time at one of the schools in Hendon. £1,950 a month. Managed by the landlord directly via OpenRent. The landlord lived in Edgware.

Parked on the driveway. No restrictions on Shirehall Lane. The shopping centre car park was visible over the rooftops to the west.

Kitchen-diner first. The dining room wall had been knocked through at some point, giving about 12 sqm. A freestanding gas cooker — a New World, single oven, four burners. Two years of a family that cooked most evenings and did a big Friday night dinner most weeks — challah bread, roast chicken, the kind of cooking where the oven runs hot for a few hours and the kitchen smells like someone's grandmother's house. The oven was moderate to heavy. The roof was darkest above the chicken-roasting zone. Double dwell on the cavity. Second pass on the roof. Hob cleaned, burner caps soaked.

Worktops — laminate — wiped. Sink descaled. The mixer tap had a thick white collar. Double application. Fridge-freezer cleaned — the freezer was well-stocked, took 35 minutes to defrost while we worked the rest of the kitchen. Inside all the cupboards. Under the sink: washing-up liquid, a spare sponge, and a small Brent Cross Shopping Centre loyalty card in a plastic sleeve. The kind of thing that ends up under the sink because it fell out of a handbag and nobody noticed. Floor — vinyl — mopped. Behind the cooker: pulled out, wall degreased. A Shabbat candle. White, half-used, with a drip of wax that had hardened along one side. It had rolled behind the cooker at some point and stayed there. Kitchen total: 34 minutes.

Front lounge. Carpeted, vacuumed. Bay window — UPVC, cleaned. Gas fire in a modern surround — wiped. Radiator done. 8 minutes.

Downstairs WC. Tap descaled, toilet soaked. 5 minutes.

Bathroom. First floor. A white suite — bath with a thermostatic shower over and a glass screen, pedestal basin, close-coupled toilet. Two years of Barnet hard water and a family of four. The shower screen had moderate limescale on the lower half. Double descaler, two passes. Taps — moderate crusts. Bath waterline — the steady ring of regular family use. Standard treatment. Toilet — calcium below the waterline. Standard soak. Grout mostly clean. A small patch of mould at the sealant line. Anti-mould spray, came off. Floor — vinyl — mopped. 24 minutes.

Three bedrooms. Master: carpeted, vacuumed. Bay window at the front — UPVC. Wardrobe — fitted — wiped inside. 10 minutes. Second bedroom — the 7-year-old's room. Carpet vacuumed. Window cleaned. A small bookshelf — the landlord's — wiped. The wall beside the bed had a strip of Blu-Tack residue at about 110cm where a poster had been. Cleaned off. The paint beneath was fine. Under the bed: a pair of swimming goggles. Left on the kitchen counter. 9 minutes.

Youngest child's room: carpet vacuumed. Window cleaned. The windowsill had a collection of small things — a plastic dreidel, a bouncy ball, two coins (5p and 2p), and a stone with a face drawn on it in marker pen. The stone had been sitting there long enough that the sill beneath it had a faint dust circle. Moved, sill cleaned, placed back. The marker-pen face on the stone was smiling. 8 minutes.

Stairs and hallway: carpeted, vacuumed. Front door wiped. 6 minutes.

Total time: 3.5 hours. Two people. A 3-bed 1930s semi on a street that backs onto the North Circular and fronts onto a neighbourhood that has been here since before the shopping centre, the flyover, and the regeneration that's going to change everything around it while the house itself stays exactly the same. The oven took 22 minutes. The bathroom took 24. The Shabbat candle behind the cooker told you about the household in one object. The Brent Cross loyalty card under the sink told you about the location. The stone with the smiling face told you about the child.

The landlord arrived two days later. He drove from Edgware — about 15 minutes depending on the North Circular, which is always depending on the North Circular. He had a printed checklist — two pages, room by room — and a phone torch. He'd owned this house for 8 years and rented it for 6.

Kitchen: oven opened, torch in. Roof checked. Clean. He looked at the back wall where the chicken zone usually darkens. Clean. Tap base: touched. Smooth. Behind the cooker: he crouched and looked. Clean. The Shabbat candle was on the counter next to the loyalty card. He picked up the candle. Looked at it. Smiled slightly. Put it back. He'd seen a lot of things behind cookers in NW4. A Shabbat candle was not unusual for the area.

Bathroom: shower screen angle-tested. Taps touched. Toilet crouched. Sealant checked. All fine.

Youngest child's room: the windowsill collection. He looked at the dreidel, the ball, the coins, the smiling stone. He didn't move them. He looked at the sill beside them. Clean.

Second bedroom: Blu-Tack location checked. Clean. The swimming goggles were on the counter.

Ten minutes. Everything passed. The candle, the loyalty card, the goggles, and the windowsill collection were noted as tenant property. The landlord said 'looks good' as he walked out, which is the highest praise a landlord from Edgware gives.

Deposit returned in full within 9 days. The family moved to a 4-bed detached in Hendon — the next step up, still NW4, gaining a bedroom and a bigger kitchen and a bit more distance from the North Circular. The dreidel went with them. The smiling stone went with them. The swimming goggles went with them. The Shabbat candle probably went with them too, because you don't leave a Shabbat candle behind in a kitchen even if it's half-used and has been behind the cooker for months, because it's still a Shabbat candle and it still means something. The loyalty card stayed on the counter. Someone would pick it up eventually. Or it would end up under the next tenant's sink, where it would stay until the next clean, because shopping centre loyalty cards are the kind of object that outlives every tenancy.