Why That £250 End-of-Tenancy Quote Can Leave You Out of Pocket

End-of-tenancy cleaning looks like a nice little earner on paper. A letting agent rings, you quote £250 for a two-bed flat, the job takes a day, and you move on. But the headline number is not the same as the money you keep. In 2026, with fuel, products and insurance all taking their share, a job that looks profitable can quietly turn into a donation to the landlord's deposit scheme. Here is where the margin goes, and how to quote so it does not.

The £250 quote is only the start

Most cleaners price end-of-tenancy work from the headline number: two bedrooms, one bathroom, kitchen, living room, maybe a hallway. That feels tidy. The trouble is that the tenant has usually moved out, the agent wants it done yesterday, and nobody has mentioned the oven racks, the limescale behind the tap, the balcony, the inside of the cupboards or the parking permit that does not exist.

A quote is not a price until you know what is included. If you quote from a phone call, you are guessing. If you quote from three blurry photos, you are guessing with extra confidence.

What a two-bed flat really costs you

Say the flat is a standard two-bed, one-bath, no garage, in a mid-sized UK city. You send two cleaners for four and a half hours. That is nine labour hours. At £14 an hour, labour is £126. Products such as degreaser, limescale remover, oven cleaner, cloths and bags come to £18. Travel and parking add £12. A card fee on £250 at 1.5% is £3.75. A share of insurance, phone, software and van costs is £20. Admin time to quote, book and chase access is 30 minutes at £15, so £7.50.

Total cost: £187.25. Gross profit: £62.75. That is before tax, and before anything goes wrong.

Now add one re-clean. The agent says the oven was not touched properly. You send one cleaner for three hours at £14, which is £42, plus £6 for products and £6 for travel. That is £54. Profit drops to £8.75. If the tenant disputes the deposit and the agent asks for photos, a statement or a callback, you have lost money. That is the trap. The job was never worth £250 in the first place if it came with a free re-clean and an open-ended admin tail.

Where end-of-tenancy jobs leak profit

The leaks are rarely dramatic. They are small, repeated and easy to ignore.

• Scope creep. The job starts as a clean and becomes a deep clean of the oven, the fridge, the washing machine filter, the balcony and the skirting boards behind the furniture.
• Access delays. Keys are not where the agent said, the concierge has gone home, or the parking bay is suspended. You are still paying wages.
• Products and equipment. Oven gel, limescale remover, microfibre cloths, mop heads and bin bags are not free. They are a job cost.
• Re-cleans. Without dated before-and-after photos, a re-clean is your word against the agent's checklist.
• Deposit-dispute callbacks. Deposit schemes such as TDS, DPS and MyDeposits can ask for evidence weeks later. If you have not priced that support, it is unpaid work.
• Travel and parking. A job 25 minutes away with no parking is not the same as a job on your route.

A quoting checklist that protects the margin

1. Use a room-by-room scope. Do not sell 'an end of tenancy clean'. Sell a list: kitchen surfaces, cupboard fronts, oven exterior, hob, sink, bathroom, bedrooms, floors, skirting boards and internal windows. State what is excluded.
2. Ask for photos or a short video before quoting. If the agent cannot provide them, quote with a inspection fee or price in a buffer.
3. Price extras separately. Oven interior, fridge interior, carpet shampooing, external windows, balcony and garage are add-ons. Put them in writing.
4. Add travel and parking. Use a simple zone fee. If parking is not available, say the job cannot be booked or add the cost of a permit.
5. Set a re-clean window. Offer a paid return visit within 48 hours if something is genuinely missed. Do not offer unlimited free returns.
6. Take dated photos before and after. This is your evidence if the agent or tenant disputes the standard.
7. Charge for deposit-dispute admin after the first 14 days. You can include a short evidence pack in the price. Extra statements, calls and site visits are billable.
8. Take a deposit for new letting-agent work. A 25% booking deposit is normal for a job you have to schedule staff around.
9. Use seven-day payment terms, not 'on completion'. Agents are busy. A clear due date gets you paid faster.
10. Review the job after 30 days. If it produced a re-clean, a dispute or extra travel, update your quote template.

The bottom line

A £250 end-of-tenancy clean is not automatically a bad job. It is a bad job if you have not priced the re-clean risk, the product cost, the travel and the admin that comes after the last bin bag leaves the flat. Price the whole job, not the headline. Your margin will thank you.