End of Tenancy Cleaning in Forest Hill

We had a 3-bed Victorian on one of the streets running up the hill from Dartmouth Road — steep enough that the front door is half a flight above the pavement and the rear kitchen extension sits a full storey lower than the reception rooms. Typical SE23 topography. Family of four — two kids at Fairlawn Primary — had been there 3 years at £2,100/month. Stanford Estates managing from their Dartmouth Road office.

Parked two doors down. Free. SE23 residential streets are easy.

The hallway set the tone. Encaustic tiles — the original Victorian geometric pattern, cream and oxblood, in good condition apart from some scuffing near the front door. pH-neutral mop only. Never acidic on encaustic tiles. The staircase was the original timber with a turned balustrade — wiped down, treads vacuumed. The front door had stained glass — a simple floral panel — cleaned with a soft cloth.

Reception room. Period features: a tiled fireplace with green glazed tiles, a cast-iron register grate, and a carved wooden mantel. pH-neutral on the tiles, barely-damp on the iron, surround polished. Cornicing — a simple but clean egg-and-dart pattern, dusted with the extension brush. Sealed timber floorboards, mopped with specialist product. Bay window: two sash panels, tracks vacuumed, glass cleaned. The view from the bay went out over rooftops toward the city skyline — the kind of view that keeps Forest Hill rents higher than Catford.

Down to the kitchen extension. Half a storey below the reception rooms, built into the slope. A rear door to the garden — the track was packed with 3 years of garden debris and cooking residue mixed together. Crevice vacuum first, then damp cloth until finger-test clean. The extension ceiling had a damp patch in the corner where the slope meets the main house — not mould, but a discolouration from moisture. Photographed it. That's the building meeting the hill.

The cooker was a Zanussi freestanding, gas. Pulled forward. Wall behind: 3 years of family cooking. Scraped, degreased. Both cavities sprayed, 20-minute dwell. One pass cleared the upper, two on the lower. Hob done. Extractor soaked. Fridge cleaned. Worktop was laminate — standard product. Floor: quarry tiles, mopped with pH-neutral.

Upstairs bathroom. Bath-shower combo with a glass screen. Limescale at ~260 ppm, 3 years from a family of four — waterline needed two passes. Screen descaled, one pass. Taps done. Toilet done. Floor mopped.

Three bedrooms. The master had the bay window at the front (tracks done, glass cleaned), a built-in wardrobe (wiped inside), and sealed floorboards. The children's room had sticker residue on one wardrobe door (removed) and a small pencil mark on the skirting (cleaned). The box room — used as a study, desk surface wiped.

Stanford Estates came the next morning. Their SE23 lettings negotiator walked through with a clipboard — she's done hundreds of these Victorian terraces on these streets. Hallway tiles: inspected on hands and knees. Stained glass: checked. Fireplace: tiles and surround finger-tested. Bay tracks: tested. Extension ceiling damp patch: photographed, accepted as structural. Kitchen: oven torched, rear-door track tested. Waterline: gone. Kids' marks: resolved. Passed.

Deposit back in 8 days. Full return. The family were moving to a 4-bed further up the hill — closer to the Horniman, bigger garden, still in catchment.

The slope-facing extension was the detail. Every house on these streets has one, and every one traps moisture differently depending on where the hill meets the wall. If that damp patch had been disputed, our photos would have shown it was the building, not the tenant. Our guide on deposit dispute evidence covers how we document structural issues.