End of Tenancy Cleaning in Shepherds Bush

A first-floor flat in a converted Victorian terrace on one of the streets between Askew Road and Uxbridge Road — about 5 minutes from Shepherd's Bush Market station, 3 minutes from Loftus Road. Two bedrooms, a galley kitchen, an open-plan living-dining room, and a bathroom. The tenant — a marketing coordinator at a media agency in White City — had rented for 18 months at £1,800/month. Managed by Lawson Rutter (been in Shepherd's Bush for decades, know every street in W12).

The booking came in for a Saturday. We checked the QPR fixtures — home match that afternoon, 3pm kick-off. The streets around Loftus Road get temporary match-day restrictions from about noon, and this property was three streets away. We called the tenant and moved it to Monday morning instead. Five minutes of scheduling that saved two hours of parking chaos.

First-floor flat, narrow shared staircase — all equipment carried up manually. Standard for Askew Road conversions. We've done hundreds of these.

The galley kitchen ran along one wall — about 10ft long and too narrow for two people to pass. One person started at the oven end, the other at the fridge end. The oven was a freestanding Indesit that had seen 18 months of a single person who clearly liked cooking. Pulled it forward — the wall behind had a grease layer running down to the skirting. Door glass out (inner pane had a film — not dramatic but the agent would check it). Both cavities sprayed and left. The gas hob had four burners — caps lifted, each one degreased, the hob surface cleaned around the mounts. Extractor filter off and into the sink with alkaline solution.

The worktops were laminate — non-abrasive cream, no scouring (scouring leaves scratch marks that get flagged as damage, which is exactly the kind of thing that costs someone their deposit for no reason). Cupboards opened and wiped. Fridge cleaned inside. The kitchen window — a small sash facing the rear — was cleaned and the track vacuumed. Floor mopped right into the corners and under the kickboards. Total kitchen: 45 minutes.

The bathroom was compact but modern — a bath-shower combo with a glass screen. Limescale at ~260 ppm. Phosphoric acid applied, 10-minute dwell, scrubbed — one pass, came up clear. Taps (lever handles) descaled and polished. The bath had a light scale ring — concentrated product, non-scratch pad, sorted in a couple of minutes. Toilet cleaned inside the rim. Tiles wiped, mirror cleaned, floor mopped including behind the toilet. The extractor fan cover was dusty — removed, cleaned, replaced. Total bathroom: 25 minutes.

The open-plan living-dining room had cornicing, a sealed fireplace with a simple wooden surround, and laminate flooring. Cornicing dusted with the extension brush. Fireplace surround wiped. The bay window (front-facing, overlooking the street) had sash tracks that hadn't been touched in 18 months — packed with dust. Crevice vacuum pulled out a decent ridge. Glass cleaned both sides. Skirting boards wiped the whole room. Radiator vacuumed between the fins.

Two bedrooms — the master was a decent double with a built-in wardrobe (wiped inside: shelves, rail, door interior). The second bedroom was smaller, rear-facing, used as a home office. The desk surface and the cable management area behind it were dusty — wiped down. Both rooms had carpet vacuumed including the edges.

The communal hallway: tenant's front door wiped both sides. Landing swept. Shared staircase wasn't our responsibility but we made sure we didn't leave any marks on our way out.

Lawson Rutter came the next morning. They've managed this street for years and they know these conversions inside out. They checked the oven door glass (held it to the window — clean between the panes), the shower screen (clear), the sash tracks (ran a finger — clean), and the laminate worktops (no scratch marks). The kitchen window was noted as properly cleaned. Everything passed. Deposit back within 7 days. The tenant got a nice email from the landlord saying it was one of the cleaner handbacks they'd had on that property.