End of Tenancy Cleaning in Canary Wharf

A 3-bed furnished apartment on the 52nd floor of Landmark Pinnacle — the tallest residential tower in Western Europe at 75 storeys, on the western edge of South West India Dock. The family — a senior HSBC banker, partner, and two children — had been on a 2-year London posting managed through HSBC Global Mobility's relocation programme. Rent was £4,800/month furnished. Managed by Knight Frank Canary Wharf, with the relocation company's independent inventory clerk attending the checkout.

The logistics started three days before the clean. Landmark Pinnacle's concierge requires 48-hour notice for service provider registration, a pre-booked goods lift slot (we reserved 9am–12pm and 1pm–3pm, two separate windows to cover the 7-hour job), and visitor parking in the underground car park (£20/day, invoiced to our account). Our three-person team checked in at the ground-floor concierge desk at 8:45am, collected the service fob for the goods lift, and ascended to the 52nd floor.

The apartment was approximately 1,200 sq ft with an open-plan kitchen-living-dining space, three bedrooms (master with en-suite, two further bedrooms sharing a family bathroom), a separate utility cupboard with a Miele washer-dryer, and a winter garden overlooking the dock and the Thames beyond. The views from the 52nd floor are panoramic — and every pane of floor-to-ceiling glass had to be streak-free.

The winter garden was the most time-intensive single element. An enclosed balcony with glass on three sides and a sliding panel to the interior. The north-facing glass panels had condensation residue along the bottom edges — a consistent issue above the 20th floor in Docklands towers, where the temperature differential between the heated interior and the exposed glass creates moisture that pools at the base. Royal Cleaning cleaned every panel inside and out (the exterior face of the winter garden is accessible from inside), wiped the aluminium frames, cleaned the drainage channel at the base of the glazing where condensation collects, and mopped the porcelain tile floor. Total winter garden time: 45 minutes.

The kitchen: Gaggenau oven (single cavity, high-spec — 50 minutes to dismantle and degrease), Siemens induction hob (non-abrasive ceramic cleaner, no scratching), Caesarstone worktops (pH-neutral), and a full suite of Miele integrated appliances behind handleless cabinet fronts. Inside every cupboard, drawer, and pull-out unit cleaned. The island unit was cleaned on all four sides including the underside of the overhang where food and dust accumulate.

Three bathrooms. The master en-suite: Hansgrohe rain shower (ceiling-mounted, premium chrome), Duravit basin, heated towel rail. The frameless glass shower panel was cleaned streak-free both sides. Limescale moderate at ~275 ppm but the premium chrome required polishing to a standard where no water marks were visible under inspection light — the inventory clerk used a torch. The family bathroom and the guest WC followed the same approach.

The furnished inventory: a 40-page photo document compiled at move-in by Knight Frank's inventory partner. Every piece of furniture — the sofa (leather, no marks), the dining table and 6 chairs (oak, checked for scratches), the master bed frame and mattress (no stains), the children's beds, the wardrobes (interiors wiped, hangers counted), the crockery set (12 pieces, none chipped), the glassware (wine glasses, tumblers — 2 missing, documented), and the cutlery (complete except 1 teaspoon — documented). Royal Cleaning photographed the 2 missing wine glasses and the missing teaspoon and flagged them to the relocation company before the checkout. These were accepted as normal attrition over a 2-year tenancy.

Knight Frank's agent and the HSBC Global Mobility inventory clerk inspected the same afternoon. The checkout used the building's digital portal — each room photographed on tablet, compared against the move-in inventory, and the result uploaded before 5pm. The winter garden condensation channel was specifically checked (clear). The Gaggenau oven cavity was inspected with a torch. The shower panel was checked for streaks under the bathroom spotlight. Royal Cleaning passed on every point. The relocation company confirmed closure the following morning.