After builders cleaning in Southwark
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
Southwark is a borough of flats: 78.0% of households lived in one at the 2021 Census and 64.4% in a purpose-built block, so a builders clean here often starts with booking the lift. Complete After Builders cleans a 2-bed flat after a refurbishment with 2 cleaners for 4 hours: £272 all in.
Southwark in numbers
- 26%of homes in the borough were built before 1919VOA, homes with a recorded build date, 2025
- 13%were built in 2015 or laterVOA, homes with a recorded build date, 2025
- 78%of households live in flatsCensus 2021
- 29%of households rent privatelyCensus 2021
Building work hours in Southwark: Saturdays end at 2pm
Southwark's standard hours for noisy demolition and construction are 8am to 6pm on weekdays and 9am to 2pm on Saturdays; Sundays and bank holidays stay quiet. Especially noisy work should run two hours on and two hours off, which on a Saturday leaves just 11am to 1pm. Contractors are expected to apply for section 61 prior consent at least 28 days before noisy work starts, or the council sets the hours and conditions itself.
If the floor sander is in on the last Saturday, the fine dust is still settling that afternoon, so book the crew for the following week. About a week's notice is usually enough; Fridays and weekends go first.
Skip, scaffold and bay suspension fees in Southwark
On the 2026/27 fees a skip licence costs £110.25 a month, a minor materials licence for up to 6 square metres £142.80, and a container, site hut or portable toilet £405 a month. A scaffolding or hoarding licence is £561.75 a month up to 10 metres, £750 up to 50 metres and £1,017 beyond that, may carry a deposit of £100 a metre and has to be applied for at least 15 working days before it is needed.
Suspending a parking bay for building works, a delivery of materials or a skip costs a £93 admin fee that is not refunded, plus £53.15 a day for each car space, with seven days' notice and £90.50 to change the dates or cancel. A waiting restriction dispensation is also £53.15 a day, and a resident bay trader's permit £40 a day.
For the cleaning crew there is a cheaper route. A resident can buy a visiting tradesperson a virtual parking session: £9.20 for a day, £4.80 for five hours or £3.00 for an hour, or a first set of ten one-day vouchers for £45.15. Five hours covers a standard 2-bed clean. With no free option, paid parking is passed on at cost.
Builders' rubble, Devon Street and the rule for rented homes
Southwark Reuse and Recycling Centre on Devon Street (SE15 1AL) is open every day from 8.30am to 4.30pm except Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year's Day, and visitors by car, bike or on foot need no appointment. It takes building rubble, hardcore, doors, windows and plasterboard free from residents' own homes, but nothing from a business or from a rented property. A resident bringing a van, pickup or seatless car needs a van permit (four a year), must arrive between 8.30am and 9.30am on the booked day with a driving licence and ID that match the permit, and cannot bring a trailer, a tipper or trade waste. The bulky waste collection costs residents £37 for up to five items in 2026/27; landlords pay £92.80.
So a landlord refurbishing a flat to let cannot tip the rubble at Devon Street. The builder or a licensed waste carrier takes it, and the clean comes after. The crew removes the builders' dust, not their waste, and it does not work round trades still on site.
Conservation areas and Article 4 directions in Southwark
The council's list names 53 conservation areas, running from Addington Square to Yates Estate and Victory and taking in Dulwich Village, Camberwell Grove, Bermondsey Street and Rye Lane Peckham. The Sunray Estate has an Article 4 direction, confirmed on 13 November 1987, that brings some outside alterations under planning control, and directions are also published for Trafalgar Avenue and, in draft, Cobourg Road.
On Camberwell Grove in Camberwell the terraces went up between the 1770s and the 1840s, and round Dulwich Village the big Georgian houses sit beside Victorian and Edwardian terraces. That means sash boxes full of plaster dust, cornices to brush down before anything below them and old boards that take a mild product. The page on construction dust cleaning sets out the order the crew follows.
Old Kent Road, Elephant and Castle and Canada Water
The London Plan 2021 puts four opportunity areas in Southwark, none of them shared with a neighbouring borough, with indicative capacity for 12,000 homes on Old Kent Road, 5,000 at Elephant and Castle, 5,000 at Canada Water and 4,000 at London Bridge with Bankside. The Old Kent Road Area Action Plan, planning around 20,000 homes and 10,000 jobs over 20 years, was examined at hearings in June 2026, and consultation on its main modifications followed (dates on the council site). At the Elephant, the new town centre under permission 16/AP/4458 is providing 979 rental homes with 35% affordable housing, including 116 homes for social rent, beside a new London College of Communication campus. Canada Water sits on the Rotherhithe peninsula.
New blocks bring handover and snagging cleans: protective film, labels on the glazing, grout haze on new wall tiles, fine dust inside every kitchen unit, plus a lift and loading bay to book with the building manager. Shops and offices in the same schemes need cleaning a fit-out before opening, charged at £30 per cleaner-hour plus £32.
Flats, estates and builders clean prices in Southwark
At the 2021 Census 64.4% of Southwark households lived in purpose-built blocks and 14.3% in terraced houses; 39.7% rented from a social landlord (27.1% from the council), 28.9% owned and 28.7% rented privately. Landlords should also know the licensing rules: additional HMO licensing has covered the whole borough from 1 March 2022 and is due to end on 1 March 2027, and selective licensing covers 14 more wards from 1 November 2023 to 31 October 2028, Peckham, Rye Lane, Camberwell Green and Surrey Docks among them.
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 3-bed terrace 2 cleaners for 5 hours, £332. Each bathroom beyond the first adds about an hour and a half. The working is £30 per cleaner-hour plus £32 for equipment and detergents, and what a builders clean costs has every size.
Areas we cover in Southwark
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 cleanQuestions from Southwark customers
Anything else? Ring 07418 351088.
Can I take the builders' rubble to Devon Street myself?
Only if you live in Southwark and the waste came from your own home, within the van permit rules. Rubble from a rented property or a business is refused, so the builder or a licensed waste carrier takes it.
Which parking does the crew need in a Southwark controlled zone?
A free space if there is one; otherwise a virtual session bought by the resident for a visiting tradesperson. Five hours at £4.80 covers most 2-bed cleans, and any paid parking is passed on at cost.
I am a landlord. Can the flat be cleaned the day before the tenants move in?
Yes, if the works are finished, the rubbish is gone and water and power are on. Book about a week ahead, and walk round with the crew before it leaves so anything you point out is put right then.
Do you do handover cleans for developers in new blocks?
Yes. Send the number of units, their sizes and the handover date; the office sets crews and hours for each one and books round the building's lift and loading bay.
Can you price from photos?
Usually. Photos or a short video by email are enough for most flats and houses; for a big or unusual job a site visit costs £20.
Sources for the local facts on this page
- Noisy construction 8am to 6pm weekdays, 9am to 2pm Saturdays, none Sundays and bank holidays; especially noisy work two hours on, two off (11am to 1pm on Saturday). southwark.gov.uk
- Section 61 prior consent at least 28 days before noisy work, or the council sets hours and conditions. southwark.gov.uk
- 2026/27 fees: skip licence £110.25 a month; minor materials licence £142.80; container, site hut or portable toilet £405 a month. moderngov.southwark.gov.uk
- Scaffolding or hoarding licence £561.75 a month to 10 m, £750 to 50 m, £1,017 beyond; deposit up to £100 a metre; 15 working days. southwark.gov.uk
- Bay suspension £93 admin plus £53.15 a day per car space, seven days' notice, £90.50 to change or cancel; dispensation £53.15 a day; resident bay trader's permit £40 a day. southwark.gov.uk
- Visiting tradesperson virtual sessions 2026/27: £9.20 a day, £4.80 five hours, £3.00 one hour; ten one-day vouchers £45.15. moderngov.southwark.gov.uk
- Devon Street Reuse and Recycling Centre, SE15 1AL: every day 8.30am to 4.30pm except 25, 26 December and 1 January; no appointment by car, bike or foot. southwark.gov.uk
- Devon Street takes rubble, hardcore, doors, windows and plasterboard free from residents' own homes; no business waste or waste from rental properties. southwark.gov.uk
- Van permits: four a year, arrive 8.30am to 9.30am with matching licence and ID; no trailers, tippers or trade waste. southwark.gov.uk
- Bulky waste 2026/27: £37 for residents (up to five items), £92.80 for landlords. moderngov.southwark.gov.uk
- 53 conservation areas, Addington Square to Yates Estate and Victory, including Dulwich Village, Camberwell Grove, Bermondsey Street and Rye Lane Peckham; Sunray Estate Article 4 confirmed 13 November 1987; Trafalgar Avenue and draft Cobourg Road directions. southwark.gov.uk
- Camberwell Grove and Grove Lane built from the 1770s to the 1840s. southwark.gov.uk
- Dulwich Village appraisal: big Georgian houses beside Victorian and Edwardian terraces and 1930s homes. southwark.gov.uk
- London Plan 2021 opportunity areas in Southwark (the GLA's 2025 pen portraits place each wholly in the borough): Old Kent Road 12,000 homes; Elephant and Castle and Canada Water 5,000 each; London Bridge/Bankside 4,000. london.gov.uk
- Old Kent Road AAP: about 20,000 homes and 10,000 jobs over 20 years; hearings 9 to 18 June 2026, then consultation on main modifications. southwark.gov.uk
- Elephant and Castle town centre (16/AP/4458): 979 rental homes, 35% affordable including 116 social rent, London College of Communication campus. southwark.gov.uk
- Census 2021, Southwark: 78.0% flats, 64.4% purpose-built, 14.3% terraced; 39.7% social rented (27.1% council), 28.9% owned, 28.7% private rented. nomisweb.co.uk
- Additional HMO licensing borough-wide from 1 March 2022, ceasing 1 March 2027. southwark.gov.uk
- Selective licensing designations 3 and 4: 14 wards including Peckham, Rye Lane, Camberwell Green and Surrey Docks, 1 November 2023 to 31 October 2028. southwark.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.
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