How Much Does End of Lease Cleaning Cost in Australia?

Bond cleaning - end of lease cleaning, same thing under a different name - is priced strangely compared with the rest of the industry. Most cleaning is hourly; vacate cleaning is usually quoted as a fixed price against a checklist, because agents inspect against a checklist. That's reasonable - but it means the quote you're comparing depends entirely on what's inside the list, and those lists differ more than the prices do.

Typical fixed-price ranges in 2026

Across Australian capital cities, for a standard vacate clean in an average-condition property:

• Studio / 1-bedroom apartment: $250 - $420
• 2-bedroom apartment or unit: $320 - $550
• 3-bedroom house: $450 - $750
• 4-bedroom house: $600 - $1,000
• 5-bedroom or larger: $900 - $1,500+

Bond cleaning prices in Melbourne generally sit mid-range - a little under Sydney, a little over Adelaide and Hobart. Bayside and south-east suburbs like Mentone, Sandringham, Brighton East and Beaumaris are broadly in line with the metro average, though older homes with more windows and more grout can push toward the top of a bracket.

What's usually extra

This is where quotes diverge. Commonly quoted separately:

• Carpet steam cleaning: $35 - $60 per room, often with a minimum call-out around $120 - $150
• Exterior windows: $5 - $15 per pane, or a flat rate for the property
• Balcony, garage or carport
• Blinds, especially venetians - slow and charged per unit
• Pest control / flea treatment - $80 - $180, and worth checking your lease, because a treatment certificate after keeping a pet is a genuinely common condition
• Wall washing beyond spot-cleaning marks
• Rubbish removal if anything's been left behind
• Lawn mowing and edges for a house

A $380 quote with three of these excluded is more expensive than a $520 quote with them in. Always compare the inclusion list, not the headline.

What drives the price beyond size

• Condition, not square metres. A well-maintained 3-bedroom can take less time than a neglected 2-bedroom. Oven condition alone can swing a quote by an hour or more.
• Bathrooms. The most labour-intensive rooms in the house. A second bathroom adds meaningfully more than a second bedroom.
• Pets. Hair and odour add time, and sometimes a treatment requirement.
• Whether the property is empty. Cleaning around furniture is slower and usually can't be quoted as a standard vacate clean at all.
• Bond-back guarantees. Often priced in. They're usually worth having, but read what triggers a re-clean and what the time limit is.

Hourly or fixed - which is actually cheaper?

It depends on one thing: the condition you're leaving. A fixed price prices in the risk that the property is worse than average, so a tidy, well-maintained home effectively subsidises the neglected ones. If you've kept the place in good order, hourly is usually cheaper and often noticeably so. If the oven hasn't been touched in three years and there's mould in two bathrooms, a fixed price with a bond-back guarantee is the safer buy.

Worth knowing before you pay

In Victoria, the standard you must meet is that the property is left reasonably clean compared with its condition at the start of the tenancy - and a blanket lease clause demanding professional cleaning generally isn't enforceable on its own. Paying for a professional clean is often the easier, faster choice, particularly when you're moving house in the same week. Just know you're buying convenience and a clean result, not satisfying a legal obligation to hire someone.