Move-out cleaning or end-of-tenancy cleaning — which one your lease requires
Your lease says loppusiivous. The cleaning company's price list says muuttosiivous. The two are not the same thing, and the difference shows up on the invoice as roughly a hundred euros either way.
What the words mean
Loppusiivous is the clean of the flat you are leaving, brought up to handover condition. It is the work the landlord judges when deciding whether the deposit comes back. The scope is clear: one flat, the one you are moving out of.
Muuttosiivous is broader. It often covers both ends — the old flat before the keys go back, and the new one before the boxes go in. Some companies use it as a synonym for loppusiivous, others in this wider sense.
In Finland the terms are used interchangeably, and neither has a definition fixed in law. So the only reliable approach is to ask what the price covers.
| Loppusiivous | Muuttosiivous | |
|---|---|---|
| Property | the old flat | often old and new |
| Who requires it | landlord or buyer | the customer |
| Timing | empty flat before handover | old one empty, new one before the move |
| Typical time, one-bedroom | 4–6 h | 6–9 h |
Read the clause before you book
Leases almost always say loppusiivous rather than muuttosiivous. The wording, though, varies more than people expect.
Some contracts require a receipt from a company. Cleaning it yourself then does not count, however good the result. Others say only that the flat is handed over clean — there you can do it yourself.
A third form has the landlord arrange the clean and deduct it from the deposit. That is not automatically a bad deal, but check the price in advance; it is rarely negotiable afterwards.
Cleaning the new flat — the part people forget
A new flat is seldom in the state you would want to carry your belongings into. The previous tenant cleaned to their own standard, and a painter or a plumber may have been through since.
The practical order is this: the new flat is cleaned while empty, before moving day; the old one after the move. Both in the same day does not work unless two teams are on site.
If the new flat has just been renovated, that is a different job from a normal clean. Construction dust keeps settling for days after the work finishes, and surfaces have to be wiped twice.
In an owner-occupied home the same words mean something else
In a property sale there is no statutory cleaning obligation of the kind that exists in a tenancy. The deed usually states that the property is handed over cleaned, but the standard is left open.
In practice a seller does well to do the same work as a tenant. An argument about cleaning on handover day is hard to settle: the flat is empty by then, and neither side can show what state it was in.
Which one to book
Moving from one rental to another, with the new flat in decent shape: a loppusiivous of the old one is enough.
New flat empty for a long time, freshly renovated, or vacated in a hurry: book both.
Buying a property: cleaning the new one is more useful than the old, because the standard for the old one is set by the deed rather than by a landlord's inspection.
We bill both by the hour, 45 euros per hour with one cleaner. The difference between two flats is that the new one is empty and tidy — it rarely takes more than three hours.
The move-out cleaning page sets out point by point what the work includes. Tell us the size of both flats and the moving date and we will give you a price and a duration.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between muuttosiivous and loppusiivous?▾
Loppusiivous is the clean of the flat you are leaving, brought to handover condition, and the landlord judges the deposit on it. Muuttosiivous is broader and often covers both the old and the new flat. Neither term is defined in law, so always ask what the price covers.
Which one does a Finnish lease usually require?▾
Leases almost always say loppusiivous. The wording varies: some require a receipt from a company, some state only that the flat is handed over clean, and some have the landlord arrange the clean and deduct it from the deposit.
Should the new flat be cleaned before moving in?▾
It is worth doing. The new flat is cleaned while empty, before moving day, because the previous tenant cleaned to their own standard and a painter or plumber may have been through since. An empty flat rarely takes more than three hours.
Can a move and an end-of-tenancy clean be done on the same day?▾
Not in practice, unless two teams are on site. A one-bedroom end clean takes 4-6 hours and is only done once the flat is empty. The usual solution is to agree with the landlord that the keys are handed over the following morning.
What does cleaning two flats cost?▾
Both are billed by the hour at 45 euros per hour with one cleaner. An end clean of a one-bedroom is 4-6 hours; cleaning the new flat is usually under three, because it is empty and tidy.
Need a hand?
Tell us the job, the address and when suits you — we reply within the hour with an estimate.
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