Quick answer: An end of lease cleaning checklist for NSW covers every room from top to bottom, including the kitchen and oven, bathrooms, bedrooms, living areas, floors, windows and outdoor spaces, so the home is left reasonably clean compared with the ingoing condition report. Fair wear and tear is allowed, but grease, grime and rubbish are not. After the final inspection, your bond is claimed through Rental Bonds Online.
How the NSW bond and condition report process works
In NSW your rental bond isn't held by the landlord or the agent. It's lodged with NSW Fair Trading, and most bonds are managed through Rental Bonds Online (RBO). Getting it back comes down to one comparison: the state of the property when you leave versus what was written on the ingoing condition report.
The condition report is your baseline
At the start of a tenancy, the landlord or agent must give you a condition report. You then have 7 days to check it, add your own comments and return a signed copy. That document, plus any dated photos you took when you moved in, becomes the yardstick at the end. If the oven was already stained or the carpet already marked on day one, it should be noted there.
Can't find your copy? Ask your agent for it before you start cleaning. It tells you exactly where the bar sits, room by room.
What "reasonably clean" means
The standard NSW tenancy agreement asks tenants to leave the premises as nearly as possible in the same condition, fair wear and tear excepted, and reasonably clean having regard to how it was at the start. Fair wear and tear covers things like faded curtains or paint that has worn through normal living. Grease on the rangehood, soap scum in the shower, scuffs on walls and dust along the skirting boards are cleaning issues, not wear and tear.
Claiming the bond
After the final inspection, you and the agent ideally agree on how the bond is paid out. Either party can lodge a claim through Rental Bonds Online. If only one side lodges a claim, the other is notified and has 14 days to dispute it, usually by applying to the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NCAT). If nobody disputes it, Fair Trading pays the claim once that 14 days has passed.
A thorough, well-documented clean is the easiest way to avoid the dispute step altogether.
Before you start
- Move everything out first. An empty home is faster to clean and nothing gets marked again when furniture is dragged out.
- Book the clean for the right day. Ideally after the removalist leaves and a day before the final inspection, so small items can be sorted.
- Get rid of rubbish. Overflowing bins and bags left in the garage are a common reason agents ask tenants to come back.
- Check your agreement. Look for any additional terms about carpets, pets, gardens or pools.
End of lease cleaning checklist NSW: room by room
This is the list agents tend to walk through at the final inspection. Work top to bottom in every room so dust falls onto floors you haven't cleaned yet.
Kitchen
- Oven interior, racks, trays and door glass degreased
- Cooktop, knobs and splashback cleaned
- Rangehood wiped down and filters degreased
- Inside and outside of every cupboard and drawer
- Benchtops, sink, taps and plughole descaled
- Dishwasher filter, door edges and seals (if one is supplied)
- Fridge space cleaned, including the floor where the fridge stood
- Light switches, power points and wall tiles wiped
Bathrooms and laundry
- Shower screen and tiles descaled, grout scrubbed
- Bath, vanity, basin and mirrors cleaned
- Toilet cleaned inside, outside and around the base
- Exhaust fan cover dusted and wiped
- Cabinets and drawers wiped inside and out
- Laundry tub, taps and the space behind the washing machine
- Dryer lint area and any wall-mounted shelving
Bedrooms and living areas
- Wardrobes inside, including shelves, rails and sliding door tracks
- Skirting boards, door frames and both sides of every door
- Light fittings and ceiling fans dusted
- Marks spot-cleaned on walls (test a small area first)
- Window sills, tracks and the inside of all glass
- Blinds dusted or wiped
- Cobwebs removed from cornices and ceilings
Floors
- Hard floors vacuumed and mopped, including corners and under where furniture stood
- Carpets vacuumed thoroughly, edges included
- Carpets steam cleaned if a pet condition requires it, or if they're clearly dirtier than at the start
Outside
- Balconies, patios and courtyards swept
- Bins emptied, and rinsed if the agent expects it
- Garage or carport swept and cleared of boxes
- Cobwebs brushed off eaves, outdoor lights and screen doors
- Lawns and gardens as required by your agreement (a tenant responsibility, but a garden job rather than a cleaning one)
Carpets, pets and professional cleaning
Under the current NSW rules, a professional carpet clean can only be required at the end of a tenancy if it was set as a condition when the landlord consented to you keeping an indoor pet. Otherwise, the test is still whether the carpets are reasonably clean compared with the start. In practice, carpets in a home with a dog or cat often need a steam clean anyway to lift hair and odour. Rules do change, so check your agreement and NSW Fair Trading's current guidance before you book.
The details agents check most
Some items come up again and again at final inspections around Newcastle and the Hunter:
- The oven. Baked-on grease on the door glass and racks is the most common callback.
- Window and door tracks. Grit, sand and dead insects, especially in homes near the beach.
- Shower screens. Hard-water scale and soap scum that a quick wipe won't shift.
- Rangehood filters. They're usually removable and often forgotten.
- Walls. Scuffs around light switches, door handles and where the couch sat.
- Exhaust fans and light fittings. Dust and dead insects that are easy to see from below.
Timing your clean around a Newcastle move
For renters near the University of Newcastle in Callaghan, Jesmond and Shortland, the end of semester is a busy time for moves, so book early if you're leaving in late November or December. The end of the month is also popular, because many leases and new tenancies start on the first. If your handover date is fixed, lock the clean in as soon as you've given notice.
DIY or professional?
Plenty of tenants clean themselves and get their full bond back. The trade-off is time: a thorough clean of a three-bedroom house can take one person a full day or longer, before the oven and windows are done. A professional team brings the equipment and products, works through a checklist and usually finishes in hours.
Our end of lease cleaning service follows the checklist real estate agents use. If your agent flags something on that checklist, tell us and we'll work with you to put it right. If the home has been lived in hard, with mould in the bathroom, heavy grease or pet hair through every room, starting with a deep clean may save you a second visit.
Keep your evidence
- Take dated photos of every room once the clean is finished
- Keep your cleaning invoice and the checklist used
- Save emails and messages with your agent
- Note the date and time you returned the keys
If a dispute does happen, this paper trail sits alongside the condition report as your best evidence.
Book your end of lease clean
We cover Newcastle and the Hunter, from Newcastle and Lake Macquarie to Maitland, Port Stephens and the Hunter Valley. Tell us the number of bedrooms and bathrooms, whether the carpets need steam cleaning and your handover date, and we'll send a free, no-obligation quote.