How we chose
We started from the thirteen end of tenancy cleaners trading across Telford. Industry credentials were sourced from the Environment Agency waste register, each firm's own website and trade directories such as the NCCA and BICSc listings [5] [3] [4]. Each business must first meet our basic checks: it is who it says it is, it is trading today and can be reached, and anything it must hold by law is in place. Ten firms met all three. What customers say counts most toward the score, then qualifications, then whether the firm has traded two years or more and whether its cover is stated, then pricing clarity and website detail. All evidence is dated 4 September 2026.
How to hire
Start with the inventory, not the mop. Your checkout is judged against the check-in report you agreed when you moved in, so pull it out before you ring anyone and walk each room against it. Under the Tenant Fees Act, your landlord can ask for the property back in its original condition, allowing for fair wear and tear, but cannot require you to pay for a professional clean or to use a particular firm [2]. Photograph every room in daylight and share dated copies with the agent, so a later dispute turns on evidence rather than memory.
There is no licence register for cleaners to check, so check what does exist. For carpet and upholstery work, search the National Carpet Cleaners Association directory by postcode: members have passed an approved course and examination and carry public liability cover [3]. For contract-style firms, search the British Institute of Cleaning Science membership directory by company name [4]. Where the job includes clearance, ask for the waste carrier number and type it into the Environment Agency public register to confirm the registration is live [5]. A SafeContractor or similar badge on a website is a company claim until you see the certificate behind it.
Get two or three itemised quotes on the same written scope. Each quote should list every room and what happens in it, whether the oven, carpets, internal windows, fridge and limescale removal are included or extras, how many cleaners attend and for how long, and whether the price is fixed or hourly. Ask whether VAT is included or added, since small firms and large ones treat it differently. Treat an outlier far above or below the rest as a question rather than a bargain, and ask what has been left out.
Know where your deposit sits while you plan. Deposits are capped at five weeks' rent for most tenancies and must sit in a government-approved scheme until the tenancy ends [2]. Read your tenancy agreement for any cleaning clause and measure it against the check-in inventory you signed. Try to attend the checkout inspection yourself, inventory in hand, and raise any disagreement there and then rather than by email a week later.
Set the clean up to succeed on the day. The property should be empty of belongings, the fridge defrosted and switched off, and the water and power left on for the team. Confirm parking and access for stairwells, courtyards and permit streets, and agree who supplies equipment and products. Most firms bring their own; where carpets need machine cleaning, confirm the machine is included rather than assumed.
Finish with paperwork, not a handshake. Keep the itemised invoice, the before-and-after photographs and any waste transfer note for rubbish taken away, and hold everything until the deposit is back in your account. If the agent claims against the deposit for cleaning, ask for the checkout report, the invoice for the re-clean and dated photographs, then take any dispute to the scheme holding your money [2].
Pricing
As of autumn 2026, national cost guides put a studio clean near £180, a one-bedroom flat near £220, a two-bedroom property near £260, a three-bedroom home near £300, a four or five-bedroom house near £370 and the largest homes above £415, with hourly rates around £20 to £25 [1]. Telford quotes should be judged against that table rather than against London, where the same jobs run higher [1]. Treat every figure as a ballpark: firms price by size, condition and time on site, not from a national tariff.
Extras move the total fastest. Carpet cleaning averages around £50 a room, and oven or upholstery work is sometimes priced apart from the main clean [1]. In this round, Cleveland Cleaning publishes guide prices from £149 for carpet work alongside a free quotation route, while most other firms quote only on enquiry, so compare what each price actually covers before you compare the figures.
Condition is the other lever. A well-kept flat takes a team a few hours; a home with heavy oven build-up, limescale or pet hair takes longer and costs more, as does an occupied property cleaned around furniture [1]. Extra bathrooms, difficult access and parking all add time, and asking how access affects your quote keeps later surprises away.
Get the money terms in writing before anyone lifts a cloth. Ask whether VAT is included, whether the price is fixed for the whole checkout list or charged by the hour, and what happens if the agent fails the clean: who returns, and who pays. Cleaning needs no deposit for materials, so be wary of large payments demanded before the work is done. Keep the written quote, the invoice and the photographs together until the deposit is returned.
Red flags
Quotes a full tenancy clean without asking the bedroom count, for photographs, or to visit.
Shows an NCCA logo on its site or van but does not appear in the association directory [3].
Takes clearance rubbish away with no carrier registration to show and no transfer note offered [5].
Asks for full payment in cash before starting, with no written quote or terms.
Promises your full deposit back if you agree the job on the day.
Gives one fixed price for a large property with no room list and no breakdown.
Will not put the rooms covered, the price and the date in writing before starting.
The bottom line
For most Telford moves, start with Shropshire Expert Cleaners: one firm for the clean and any clearance, with waste paperwork and a live company record behind it. Its prices are quote-only and its insurance states no amounts, so get both in writing first. If your clean sits inside a managed property brief, Cleveland Cleaning is the closer fit, with guide prices and a free quotation route.
Match the firm to the job: Sanis for a simple tenancy clean with a free quote, Browns for carpet and deep cleans from a long-running family firm, Simon's for ovens and upholstery, and Charlie's Angels for holiday-let changeovers around Much Wenlock. Then get two or three itemised quotes on the same written scope, and photograph every room against the inventory before you hand back the keys.
Corrections and business responses
Tell us what needs checking, or ask to claim a listing and reply to an assessment.