How to pass a military housing march-out: a cleaning guide for service families
What gets checked at a march-out, a room by room cleaning plan, and how to fit the clean around a posting move.
A posting move comes with a long list: packers, removals, schools, paperwork, and the march-out at the end of it. The cleaning part is the one you have most control over, and it is where a lot of avoidable charges come from. This guide walks through what gets checked and how to plan the clean so the handover goes smoothly.
Every housing provider has its own guidance, so always read the move-out paperwork you are given and follow it first. What follows is the cleaning standard that most inspections look for.
What a march-out looks at
The inspection compares the home with how it was when you moved in. For cleaning, that usually means:
- Kitchen: the oven, hob and extractor, inside cupboards and drawers, the fridge and freezer (switched off, defrosted and dry if you have been told to), sink and taps
- Bathrooms: limescale on taps, screens and tiles, the toilet, grout, extractor fans
- Every room: skirting boards, doors and frames, light switches, window sills and internal glass, inside built-in wardrobes
- Floors: carpets vacuumed and free of marks, hard floors washed
- Outside, where it applies: bins emptied and clean, garage or shed cleared
A room by room plan
Kitchen
- Clean the oven inside and out, including racks, trays and the door glass
- Degrease the hob, splashback and extractor hood, and wash or replace the filter
- Empty and wipe every cupboard and drawer, inside and out
- Defrost, clean and dry the fridge and freezer if instructed, and leave the doors as your guidance says
- Descale the sink and taps
Bathrooms
- Descale taps, shower heads, screens and tiles
- Clean the toilet thoroughly, including the base and behind it
- Scrub grout and sealant and wipe the extractor fan cover
Bedrooms and living areas
- Dust high up first: light fittings, curtain rails and the tops of wardrobes
- Wipe skirting boards, doors, frames, handles and switches
- Clean internal windows, frames and sills
- Vacuum carpets, including edges and under where furniture stood
Plan the clean around the move
- Book the clean for after the removal. An empty house is quicker and easier to clean properly.
- Leave a buffer before the inspection. A few hours gives you time to put right anything you spot on a final walk round.
- Keep your move-in report to hand. It is the standard you are being measured against.
- Do not forget the outside. Bins and garages are easy to miss on a busy last day.
When to hand it over
If the move is tight, the house is large, or the oven and carpets need more than a quick going over, a professional move-out clean takes the pressure off. Our march-out cleans and end of tenancy cleans start from £145 for a 1 bedroom property, £175 for 2 bedrooms, £225 for 3 and £295 for 4, with a standard oven clean included. Carpet cleaning can be added from £40 per room.
We work with service families around Thetford, Brandon, Lakenheath and Mildenhall. See the areas we cover, use our end of tenancy checklist if you are doing it yourself, or ask for a move-out cleaning quote with your number of bedrooms and your march-out date.
