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Between tenancies in Dublin
An empty rental in Dublin is lost rent, and there's often a new tenant waiting. The clearance is one job in a short gap that also has to fit the painter, the cleaner and whoever is fixing the shower. We make our part predictable: a fixed price from photos, a date that suits the other trades, keys handled through you or your agent, and photos so you can see the result without driving over.
This page is for lettings. If you're selling, see clearing a Dublin property for sale; our property clearance page covers every type of property job across all areas.
- The tenant's leftovers and your own worn-out furniture, cleared in one visit
- Keys from the agent and back when we finish, or a lockbox
- Dated photos before and after of every room, shed and attic
- White goods and fixtures left in place if they're staying for the next tenant
- An authorised waste carrier (permit NWCPO-25-13287-01), fully insured on every job
Belongings left behind, and the RTB
Most rental clearances start with something the tenant didn't take: a mattress, a sofa, bags of clothes in a wardrobe, a bike in the shed. Before any of it goes, pause.
We're not solicitors, and this is general information, not legal advice. As pointers only:
- The Residential Tenancies Board (RTB) publishes guidance for landlords on goods left behind after a tenancy ends. Read it before anything is removed.
- If anything looks valuable, personal or disputed, such as documents, jewellery or a car, keep it separate and check with your solicitor before deciding what happens to it.
- Photograph what's there, with the date, and keep a note of any contact with the former tenant.
Once you're satisfied the items can go, send us the photos. If some things need to be kept for the tenant to collect, tell us and we'll leave them together wherever you want them.
Working with letting agents and keys
Many of our Dublin rental clearances are booked by the letting agent rather than the landlord. That works well: the agent usually holds the keys, knows the property and can send photos as soon as the tenant leaves.
How it usually runs:
- The agent or landlord sends photos and the date the property needs to be ready.
- We confirm a fixed price and a day, with the agent and the landlord on the same WhatsApp thread if that suits.
- We collect the keys from the agent's office in the morning, or use a lockbox, and return them when we finish.
- Alarm codes, building fobs and the location of the bin store are shared before the day.
- Photos of the empty rooms go to both of you before the keys go back.
If you live abroad or outside Dublin, this is how we'd run it anyway. You don't need to be there at any stage.
Photos as a record
Before and after photos protect everyone. Before we start, we photograph each room as we found it. When we finish, we photograph it empty, along with the attic, the shed and any outside space we cleared. You get both sets, dated, so you have a record of what was left behind and what the property looked like once the clearance was done.
That record is useful if questions come up later about the deposit or the inventory. The RTB runs a dispute resolution service for landlords and tenants who can't agree, and clear, dated photos are the kind of evidence that helps either side.
Fitting in with painters, cleaners and other trades
A tight turnaround only works if the jobs don't trip over each other. The clearance usually goes first, because the trades after it need empty rooms:
| Who's coming next | What they need from the clearance |
|---|---|
| Painter | Furniture out, and walls clear of shelves and pictures you're not keeping |
| Cleaner | Every room empty, presses and the fridge emptied, and the bins gone |
| Electrician or plumber | Clear access to the fuse board, boiler, meters and under the sink |
| Carpet cleaner | Rooms empty and the painting finished |
Tell us who's booked after us and when. If the painter starts on Thursday, we'll aim for earlier in the week. If a bed or a sofa is staying for the next tenant, it stays exactly where it is. Carpets come last; see carpet cleaning in Dublin and our guide to end of tenancy carpet cleaning. The guide to preparing a rental property has the full landlord's checklist.
Got a rental to turn round? Send photos of each room, plus the date the next tenant moves in. We'll reply with a fixed price and a date that fits around your other trades.
Dublin rentals we clear
Different kinds of let bring different jobs:
- Flats in converted period houses, in places like Rathmines, Ranelagh and Phibsborough: narrow shared halls and stairs, other tenants still living in the building, and street parking only. Common areas are protected and kept clear while we work.
- Student houses near the colleges: several bedrooms' worth of left-behind furniture, bedding and kitchen things, usually at the end of the academic year.
- Apartments: lifts, fobs, management company rules and loading bays. Check the storage cage, bike store and parking space too. See apartment clearance.
- Family houses in estates: attics and sheds that have collected things over several tenancies. See attic clearance and shed clearance.
- Lets where belongings have built up over years: rooms that are hard to walk through, often found at an inspection or once a long tenancy ends. We make the exits safe first, set papers aside and can work in stages; see hoarder clearance for Dublin landlords.
For a handful of items rather than a whole property, junk removal is priced to suit.
Pricing a rental clearance
We price from photos: the volume, the access (stairs, lifts, parking) and anything that needs special disposal, such as mattresses, fridges and electricals. You'll get a fixed price before booking, usually the same day, and it doesn't change on the day.
For a rental, the most useful photos are each room from the doorway, the inside of the wardrobes and presses, the attic, the shed and the back garden, plus a note of anything that's staying. Tenants often leave the heaviest things in the least obvious places, like a broken freezer in the shed or a stack of mattresses in the box room, so it's worth a look before you send them.
If you or your agent manage several properties, send each one as its own message, so every quote, photo set and set of keys stays with the right address.
