After builders cleaning in Elephant and Castle, SE1
From £212 all in: two cleaners for three hours with their own equipment and detergents. Every extra cleaner-hour is £30.
- Crews of two or more, with their own kit
- 7 days a week, 8am to 7pm
- No payment online; a 50% deposit holds the date
Nearly three in ten homes round the Elephant (29.7% in the council tax figures) were built in 2015 or later, so much of the work here is handover cleans in new blocks. Complete After Builders cleans a new 2-bed flat at handover with 2 cleaners for 3 hours: £212 all in.
Elephant and Castle in numbers
- 28%of homes here were built before 1919VOA, homes with a recorded build date, 2025
- 89%of households live in flatsCensus 2021, St George's
- 18conservation areas within 800 mplanning.data.gov.uk
- 137listed buildings within 800 mHistoric England list, planning.data.gov.uk
Elephant Park, the town centre and the blocks still to come
Lendlease started building Elephant Park in 2014, and Southwark expects around 3,000 homes there when it is complete. A planning committee report of 17 March 2026 said every plot was finished apart from H11, then under construction, and H1, then the subject of a new application; it expected plot H11b and the park at the centre to be finished by the end of 2026. Next door, on the town centre site, permission 16/AP/4458 is bringing 979 homes for rent, a London College of Communication campus and a new way into the Northern line.
The council's brownfield register lists more sites for new homes nearby, the biggest on the Aylesbury estate rebuild in Walworth. At the 2021 Census 88.5% of households in St George's ward lived in flats (79.3% in purpose-built blocks), and 31.2% rented privately.
What a handover clean in a new block covers
A new flat has no rubble, but fine dust from drilling and sanding gets inside every unit and on to every ledge. The crew works top to bottom and covers:
- kitchen units and drawers inside and out, worktops, splashback, sink and taps, appliances wiped outside;
- labels, stickers and protective film off windows, doors and fittings, and paint flecks off new glass where they lift;
- grout haze on new wall tiles, sealant smears where they will come off, shower screens, taps and sanitaryware;
- skirting, frames, sockets, switches, vents, radiators and light fittings;
- hard floors vacuumed and mopped, carpets vacuumed, the balcony swept.
Book the lift and the loading bay with the building manager, and tell the office the concierge's hours so the crew can collect keys. Before the crew leaves, someone from the developer or the buyer walks round, and anything pointed out is put right there and then. Labels and film on glazing are covered in more detail on paint and labels off new windows, and haze across a whole tiled floor, which is the hard floor deep clean at £6 a m², on tile and grout cleaning.
West Square, the Pullens and the older streets
In the same council tax figures 25.5% of homes date from before 1900, and 18 conservation areas lie within 800 metres of the middle of St George's ward, among them West Square, Elliot's Row, St George's Circus, the Pullens Estate, Walworth Road and Trinity Church Square. There are 137 listed buildings in that radius; the obelisk at the centre of St George's Circus is Grade II*.
A refurbished flat in a Victorian or Georgian building is a slower job than a new one: sash boxes and runners full of plaster dust, cornices brushed down first and old boards that need a mild product. A 2-bed after a full refit with dust in every room usually takes 2 cleaners for 5 hours, £332 all in.
Builders clean prices for flats round the Elephant
A 1-bed flat after a refurbishment usually takes 2 cleaners for 3 hours: £212 all in. A 2-bed takes 2 cleaners for 4 hours, £272, and a new 2-bed at handover £212. Each bathroom beyond the first adds about an hour and a half. All of them are £30 per cleaner-hour plus £32 for equipment and detergents, set out in the full price list. Shops and studios in the new schemes are commercial after builders cleaning, at £30 per cleaner-hour plus £32.
In a new block, ask the building manager about visitor parking before the day; in the streets, a resident's session for a visiting tradesperson does the job, and any paid parking is passed on at cost. West towards the river, builders cleans in Vauxhall follow Lambeth's rules, and north up Blackfriars Road and over the river, Blackfriars is in the City of London. Council fees for skips, scaffolds and bays are on the Southwark page.
What a builders clean costs here
CleanersHours£30£32 kit
Every crew brings its own vacuums, cloths, ladders and detergents; the £32 covers them once per job. The table shows our usual starting point for a standard refurbishment. Lighter or heavier work moves it, and you can set your own crew and hours in the form.
Price my cleanElephant and Castle builders clean questions
Anything else? Ring 07418 351088.
Can you clean several flats in one block in a single visit?
Yes. Send the number of flats, their sizes and the handover date; the office sets a crew and hours for each flat. The works must be finished in every flat being cleaned.
Do you take off the protective film and stickers?
Yes, from windows, doors and fittings, along with labels on new glazing. Paint flecks come off where they will lift without damaging the surface.
Can the crew start while trades are still in the corridor?
Only if the flat itself is finished and nobody needs to come in. If trades are still working inside, the dust settles again and the clean has to wait.
How much is a handover clean for a new 1-bed?
Usually £212 all in for 2 cleaners for 3 hours. A 1-bed after a full refit, replastered throughout, can need 2 cleaners for 4 hours, £272.
Sources for the local facts on this page
- Council tax stock, Southwark 034 (Elephant and Castle), March 2025, of all 4,780 homes: 29.7% built 2015 or later (about 1,420 homes); 25.5% before 1900. gov.uk
- Elephant Park: Lendlease began construction in 2014; around 3,000 new homes when complete (page updated 9 June 2026). southwark.gov.uk
- Planning committee, 17 March 2026: all Elephant Park plots completed apart from H11 (under construction) and H1 (application 25/AP/2859); H11b and the park expected by the end of 2026. moderngov.southwark.gov.uk
- Elephant and Castle town centre (16/AP/4458): 979 rental homes, London College of Communication campus, new Northern line entrance. southwark.gov.uk
- Brownfield register: sites for new homes within 1.5 km of the middle of St George's ward, the biggest the Aylesbury estate rebuild. planning.data.gov.uk
- Census 2021, St George's ward: 88.5% flats, 79.3% purpose-built; 31.2% private rented. nomisweb.co.uk
- 18 conservation areas within 800 m of the middle of St George's ward, including West Square, Elliot's Row, St Georges Circus, Pullens Estate, Walworth Road and Trinity Church Square. planning.data.gov.uk
- 137 listed buildings within 800 m; obelisk at the centre of St George's Circus Grade II*. planning.data.gov.uk
Builders nearly done?
Book the clean for the day after they finish. Price it in a minute, or ring and talk it through.
Page updated