What cleaners run into in St Kilda's flats and streets
Flats and renters
In those same census areas, 60% of occupied homes were rented in 2021, and 88% of the rentals were flats or apartments. Separate houses were just 5%.
Old blocks
Several of St Kilda's mansions were split into apartments and boarding houses from the 1890s. In the 1930s new flats outnumbered new houses about ten to one, and more went up in the 1960s, some on undersized sites. If there's no lift, say how many flights.
High-rise too
Edgewater Towers, finished in 1961, was Melbourne's first privately developed high-rise. In a tall block, ask the manager how contractors get in and whether the lift needs booking.
Street parking
Check the sign on your street before the day. If you hold a Port Phillip visitor permit, leave it out for the cleaner. The council also has a tradesperson permit and says to apply ahead, so raise it early.
Acland and Fitzroy Streets
Acland Street is a dead end at Barkly Street, with a tram stop and plaza across it, so the quickest route on a map can be wrong. Trams 12, 16 and 96 all run here.
Festival weekend
The St Kilda Festival draws over half a million visitors a year. Keep your clean away from that weekend, and from big show nights at the Palais.
Hard waste in a block
Port Phillip says apartment residents book hard waste through their building manager or owners corporation. Ask early if you're clearing out before a move.
Warning signs in a St Kilda end of lease cleaning quote
- It never asks about your floor, the stairs or parking.
- The business says your agent requires a professional clean. In Victoria that's only true in two set cases.
- It promises you'll get the whole bond refunded. Nobody can promise that.
- There's no ABN on the quote.
- It wants the full amount before anyone has seen the flat.
- The re-clean terms are only spoken, never written down.
Leaving a St Kilda flat: the law on cleaning
Victorian law asks for the flat back reasonably clean, allowing for fair wear and tear, and you can do that yourself. A rental provider can only ask for a professional clean if one was done just before you moved in and you were told, or if it's what it takes to get the flat back to how it started. If you'd rather spend the week on boxes and keys, an end of lease clean is the one to ask for.
If it were our flat: getting St Kilda cleaners to the door
Write down the trip from the kerb to your door: street, intercom, stairs and floor. Leave the visitor permit with the key if you've got one. A flat that's easy to reach gets more of the cleaner's time spent inside it.
