End-of-tenancy cleaning in Singapore runs about $200-450 for an HDB flat and $350-900+ for a condo, priced by size and condition. And yes, you usually need it: most Singapore tenancy agreements require a professional cleaning receipt, often plus aircon servicing, before you hand back the keys.
We’ve cleaned 50,000+ homes across the island, and move-out jobs are among the calls we field most. Usually it’s a tenant a week out from handover, suddenly staring at a four-figure deposit they’re not sure they’ll get back. So here’s the straight version: what it actually costs, what’s involved, and where tenants lose money they never had to lose.
How much does end-of-tenancy cleaning cost in Singapore?
Move-out cleaning is priced by size and condition, not by the hour. An empty, well-kept unit is quick to turn around. A lived-in unit with baked-on kitchen grease, mouldy silicone and an aircon that hasn’t been serviced in two years takes far longer, and costs more. The figures below are typical market ranges for a one-time move-out clean. Any decent company will quote properly once they’ve seen photos of the actual state.
| Property | Rough size | Typical market price (one-time move-out clean) |
|---|---|---|
| 3-room HDB | ~700 sq ft | $200-350 |
| 4-room HDB | ~950 sq ft | $250-450 |
| 5-room / executive HDB | ~1,200 sq ft | $300-550 |
| 2-3 bedroom condo | ~900-1,200 sq ft | $350-650 |
| 4+ bedroom condo / landed | 1,500 sq ft+ | $600-1,200+ |
The factor most tenants underestimate is aircon. Almost every rental tenancy agreement in Singapore asks for the fan-coil units to be serviced or chemically washed on handover, and that’s quoted separately, roughly $30-90 per unit for a standard wash and more for a full chemical overhaul. A 4-room flat with three units can add a few hundred dollars on its own, so budget for it early rather than getting blindsided on handover morning. (Our aircon cleaning service page explains how the chemical wash actually works.)
Do you actually need professional cleaning to get your deposit back?
Pull out your tenancy agreement and read the handover clause. In most Singapore leases, HDB and condo alike, it says the unit must be returned “in the same clean condition as at commencement, fair wear and tear excepted,” and a large share go further and demand a professional cleaning receipt plus aircon servicing records. No receipt, and the landlord or agent has grounds to bring in their own cleaner and bill it to your deposit, usually at a mark-up.
How strictly is it enforced? It varies, but the pattern holds: the pricier the property and the fussier the agent, the harder the inspection. On handover day the agent walks the unit with a checklist, opens the oven and fridge, runs a finger along the window tracks and skirting, checks the aircon filters, and looks up at the wall above the stove. The tenant who scrubbed the visible surfaces, decided it was “clean enough,” and still got dinged is a regular sight in this trade. The deductions almost always come from the spots you can’t see at standing height: aircon coils, the greasy ceiling above the hob, mouldy bathroom silicone, and window grooves black with settled dust.
If your deposit is one to two months’ rent, call it $3,000-6,000, a $300 clean that comes with a receipt is cheap protection. That is what move-out cleaning is really for: deposit protection, not appearances.
What’s included in a move-out cleaning checklist?
A proper move-in/move-out clean is a top-to-bottom job, not a wipe-down. A standard checklist covers:
- Kitchen — degreasing the hood, hob, backsplash tiles and the wall/ceiling above the stove; interior and exterior of cabinets; sink and taps descaled
- Bathrooms — descaling glass and taps, scrubbing floor and wall tiles, treating mouldy grout and silicone, toilet sanitised
- Bedrooms & living areas — full dusting including tops of wardrobes, door frames, skirting and ledges; window tracks and grilles; internal glass; floors mopped
- Fridge and oven — interior degreased and wiped (confirm these are on the list; cheaper quotes quietly leave them out)
- Fixtures — light switches, fans, grilles, cabinet handles
Aircon servicing and chemical washing are usually add-ons, not part of the base clean, because they need separate technicians and equipment. Always check whether “aircon” in a quote means a surface wipe or a real fan-coil service, because your tenancy clause almost certainly means the latter.
Move-in vs move-out cleaning — which do you need?
Same deep-clean scope, different reason:
- Move-out cleaning protects *your* deposit as you leave a rental. It targets your own accumulated living — grease, limescale, mould, wall marks — so the unit passes the outgoing inspection.
- Move-in cleaning protects *you* as you move into a new place. Even a unit that “looks clean” carries the previous occupant’s dust in the aircon and grime in the tracks. Moving into a freshly renovated unit is a different problem again, where you want post-renovation cleaning instead, because fine cement and silica dust behaves nothing like ordinary household dust and settles deep in coils and tracks.
Sometimes the landlord pays for the move-in clean and the tenant pays the move-out, but read your contract. In Singapore the outgoing tenant almost always foots the end-of-tenancy bill.
What pushes the price up?
Beyond size, these add-ons quietly move the final number, and they’re the ones tenants rarely budget for:
- Aircon servicing / chemical wash — the big one; per-unit, and often mandatory in the lease
- Heavy kitchen grease — nightly frying and curry leave a sticky yellow film on the hood, tiles and the ceiling above the stove; ordinary detergent just smears it around, so it needs a proper degreaser and elbow grease
- Mould treatment — units that sat empty and shut for weeks grow mould in bathroom silicone, wardrobe backs and window rubber seals in our humidity; heavy cases may warrant disinfection
- Junk left behind — the previous tenant’s furniture or rubbish still in the unit means disposal is extra; ask for a quote
Should the unit be empty, and how do you prepare?
Ideally, book the clean once the furniture is out. An empty unit cleans faster, cheaper and more thoroughly, with nothing to work around. Keep the power and water on so the crew can run machines and extract, and so you can check the result under working lights. A same-day handover clean is doable, but give yourself a buffer. If the agent flags something, you want time to fix it, not a scramble at 5pm.
What you should *not* burn an evening on: scrubbing the oven, hood or window tracks yourself. A professional crew redoes those anyway. Spend the energy clearing the unit and returning fixtures instead of trying to out-clean the cleaners.
Is it worth it, or can you DIY?
If you’re leaving a small, lightly-used unit and your agreement doesn’t demand a receipt, a determined weekend of DIY can pass. But the moment there’s a cleaning-receipt clause, mandatory aircon servicing, or a strict agent, DIY turns into false economy fast. You can’t chemical-wash a fan coil with a cloth, you can’t out-degrease two years of grease build-up with supermarket spray, and if you scratch the parquet or crack a fixture doing it, that’s a fresh deduction on top. When the whole deposit is on the line, saving two or three hundred dollars is a bad trade.
Red flags when choosing a move-out cleaning company
Not every “cleaner” who quotes you is what they seem. Before you pay any deposit, watch for:
- A firm price with no questions asked — anyone quoting a fixed number without photos or the unit size is guessing, and will “adjust” on the day
- No company, no insurance — a freelancer from a chat group who scratches your floor leaves *you* liable to the landlord; insured, directly-employed crews carry that risk themselves
- Cash-only, no invoice — you need a proper receipt for the tenancy clause, full stop
- No no-show cover — if your one freelancer goes on MC on handover morning, you’re stuck; a real company sends a replacement
This is where being directly employed matters. Our crews are our own trained, insured staff, not gig workers with a rented machine, which is why we can guarantee a replacement and back the work with before-and-after QC photos. Across 50,000+ homes and a 4.9-star rating from 1,476 Google reviews, that reliability on handover day is what tenants are actually paying for.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does end-of-tenancy cleaning cost in Singapore? Roughly $200-450 for an HDB flat and $350-900+ for a condo as a one-time move-out clean, priced by size and condition. Aircon servicing is usually a separate add-on at around $30-90 per unit. Get a quote after sharing photos.
Do I need professional cleaning to get my rental deposit back? Usually, yes. Most Singapore tenancy agreements require the unit returned in its original clean condition and often demand a professional cleaning receipt plus aircon servicing. Without one, the landlord can bring in their own cleaner and deduct the cost from your deposit.
Does move-out cleaning include aircon servicing? Not automatically. The base clean covers surfaces; aircon chemical washing or fan-coil servicing needs separate technicians and is quoted as an add-on. Since most leases require it, confirm it’s included when you book.
Should the unit be empty before the move-out clean? Ideally yes — an empty unit cleans faster, cheaper and more thoroughly. Keep the power and water on so the crew can run machines and you can inspect the result under working lights.
Who pays for end-of-tenancy cleaning — tenant or landlord? In Singapore the outgoing tenant almost always pays for the move-out clean, since it’s a handover condition of the lease. Always check your specific tenancy agreement, as terms occasionally differ.
How long does a move-out clean take, and can you do it on handover day? An empty HDB flat is usually a few hours; a large or heavily-used condo can take much of a day with a bigger crew. Same-day handover is possible, but book with a buffer so you have time to fix anything the agent flags.
Handing back a rental shouldn’t cost you your deposit. If you’ve got an inspection coming up, tell us your unit size and handover date and we’ll give you a straight quote — receipt, aircon servicing and QC photos included, so you walk into handover day with proof the clean actually happened.
