Leases end, and Phibsborough moves
Phibsborough has a lot of renters and a lot of moving. Students at TU Dublin's Grangegorman campus, staff at the Mater hospital and people who commute into town on the Luas all rent here, in divided red-brick houses, flats above shops and newer apartment blocks. When a lease ends, the furniture, the mattress and the bags that won't fit in a friend's car have to go somewhere.
This page is about those end-of-lease clear-outs, for tenants moving on and for landlords getting a flat ready for the next person. For family homes, bigger houses and the area in general, see our main Phibsborough page.
Moving out? Sort these first
You want your deposit back and you have a hand-back date. The clear-out is the part people leave too late, so a few days before:
- Find the inventory. Check which furniture belongs to the landlord, so it stays.
- Decide what's going with you. Everything else can go in one visit, from the bed frame you bought to the clothes rail and the broken desk chair.
- Empty the fridge and the presses. We take bagged food waste, but the landlord will want the shelves clean.
- Book the clear-out before the cleaner. Clear first, then clean, then hand back the keys.
Send photos of each room and tell us which floor you're on. A one-bed flat is usually cleared in a couple of hours.
Letting a flat again? What landlords need
Between tenants, every empty week costs rent. What's usually left behind is much the same in every flat: a mattress, a bed frame that won't survive another move, a sofa, bags in the wardrobe and a bike in the shared hall.
We clear the lot in one visit, leave the floors swept and send you photos of the empty rooms, which also helps if there's a disagreement about the deposit. If you have several flats in one building, we can do them on the same day, and keys can be collected from you or your letting agent. For a full checklist, see preparing a rental property, and for bedsits and flats in converted houses across the city, flat clear-outs in Dublin.
spotless.ieGetting down from the top floor
Most flats in Phibsborough's older houses are up steep stairs with no lift. That's normal for us, and it's part of how we price the job. Wardrobes and bed frames are taken apart in the flat, shared stairs and halls are covered, and other tenants' bikes and post are left exactly where they were.
Basement flats have their own quirks: steep outside steps down from the footpath, a low door and sometimes a narrow passage to a back yard. If yours is below street level, say so with your photos, and send one of the steps.
In a shared house, let the other tenants know the day and rough time of the clear-out. Nobody wants to meet a wardrobe coming down the stairs while they're carrying a bike up, and a note in the hall the day before avoids it.
Lease ending in Dublin 7? Send photos of each room, the floor number and your hand-back date on WhatsApp. We'll reply with a fixed price, usually the same day.
Timing around the college year
Rentals near the Grangegorman campus turn over in waves. Many student leases end in late May or June, after exams, and the next group arrives in late August or September. Landlords with a summer gap want the place cleared, cleaned and ready in between, and so does everyone else on the street.
If your date falls in one of those busy weeks, send photos as early as you can. Hospital staff on fixed contracts and rotations tend to move at set points in the year too, so the same advice applies if you're leaving a flat near the Mater.
Not every rental clear-out is routine
Some are harder. When a long-term tenant has died, the landlord and the family have to agree what happens to their things, and we treat that job like any other bereavement clearance: personal items kept for the family, and no rush. See bereavement house clearance. A flat that has become very full gets the same care; see hoarder clearance.
If the rental is a whole house, the attic, the yard shed and any rear garage off a lane can be cleared on the same visit. Flats in purpose-built blocks with lifts and management companies are covered under apartment clearance.
Where the leftovers end up
Mattresses and fridges have their own disposal routes and are included in the price. Sound furniture is set aside for reuse where possible, metal and electricals are recycled, and the rest goes to licensed facilities. We're fully insured and an authorised waste carrier, permit NWCPO-25-13287-01, so nothing ends up dumped in a lane. For clearances across the rest of the city, see house clearance in Dublin.
