AIBU to wonder if I am being overcharged for cleaning?

I am a cleaner in London. I charge between £15 and £20 an hour most of the time but might charge someone in need as little as £10ph. Family homes where lots of people are using all communal rooms usually warrant more than say a couple. Some families are messier than others too. There is no way I could fairly charge everyone the same price, even if I excluded the "charity" work i do for £10ph (I do free cleans too, it's just most people insist on paying something)

I've done a quote this week for £180 to deep clean someone's bathroom. I wonder if it is you! Some things to say, though.

• it will not be taking 2 hours. There is lots of stuff in there to move, sort and put back.

• there are some things that haven't been cleaned for a long time properly, the shower glass will need scraping, limescale build up under taps and knobs, tub is embedded with dirt and will need a scrub to get it back

• all the books and crannies need a good scrub and will need to sit with some sort of cleaner to reduce the pink mould.

*the grout is yellowing. Once you get a scrubbing brush to those tiles, you'll see the pinky yellowy start of mould coming off.

• Toilet cistern has never been cleaned inside.

• The floor needs to be scrubbed. The smell of urine around the toilet is ++++. I don't think the client can smell it. It's the same in the cloakroom. The males in that family "miss".

I'll be using several products and appliances. It will likely take me about 5 hours in total to get it to a decent standard. Then I would be able to sustain that standard weekly for about £17ph for this home.

£20 an hour seems cheap for London.
If the OP is always busy then put the price up to £22.

It's not a big company or anything

We are in Hampshire (not a posh part) and pay £20ph

@2026babyIve used Fantastic services for a bit, I found the cleaners really hit & miss.

my window cleaner has just increased to £21

Paid £15 an hour, 6 years ago
She would make drinks and eat her lunch that she had with her (in my time) amd then sometimes leave her baby with me to keep an eye on while she cleaned

She was great and worth it

We are zone 4-5 and it’s around £15/20 an hour here. You can get £15 if you post local mums Facebook group but the quality isn’t great

I'm in London - mine charges £15/hr. She isn't looking for more clients. When we found her, prices ranged from £14-20/hr.

Or they'll realise its low skilled work they can:

• do themselves
• pay a teenager a tenner an hour to do
• replace with a robot hoover etc

Its not always a given that you can keep demanding more money for basic/routine work. People can just choose to not have a cleaner.

£20 is fair, I have had people try to charge more on a per job basis but didn’t keep them on.
the window cleaner is an absolute rip off unless it’s a high floor and I’m missing something. I pay £180 for regular exterior clean for a substantial house

My cleaners prices doubled from £11/h 9 years ago to wanting £23/h 6 months ago (home counties).

We bought a robot hoover amd realised it was stuff we could easily do ourselves so got rid of cleaners. I actually love it and barely notice, its only one day out of 7 they did. It was costing me about £300 a month out of my post tax pay, I have to earn £6k a year to pay that. Its not worth it.

I'm in SE and pay £20ph through a company. I did start to have a look for a new one as they were messing me around a bit and everyone else seemed to cost more.

And my window cleaner charges £20 for a 4 bed semi with loft conversion.

Favourable NHS employer benefits, holiday, sick pay, employee protections and pension. Can’t compare hourly rate. Lots of demand for domestic cleaners if the stress gets too much…

£20 per hour for London seems cheap? I’m in the North East and was quoted £20 per hour with an agency. It is cheaper if you can find someone independent but then you don’t get the reassurance of insurances and holiday cover.

You're undercharging. Anyone paying under 20 quid for a self employed cleaner is absolutely taking the piss. Don't sell yourself short. Charge what you're worth and if you get the customers who want to pay peanuts, they can find someone else.

£20 is very cheap for London..You can pay more than that in the Midlands.

I’m in London, zone 4 pay £18 an hour to an agency (so cleaner gets less per hour).

My cleaner in zone 3 N london charges £20 per hour, price went up from £15 last summer and I am fine with it. All above board, no cash in hand. Sounds like you are getting quotes from the type of companies who do one-off end of tenancy cleans and the like- I rent out a flat and use those on occasion and that pricing sounds familiar. Your issue will be that you are not looking for a regular service. Have you tried any of the franchises like Merry Maids or Fantastic Services?
Presumably as a competitor you’re not interested in paying someone cash in hand for a more casual arrangement? There are lots of “unofficial” cleaners in London…

My council have introduced parking zones and parking rates are through the roof. My cleaner charges £15 per hour and I also pay for parking vouchers.

I sometimes wonder if I'm being a bit soft with the parking but she's reasonably good and I don't want to go through the faff of finding someone new and getting used to them.

That's Scotland and my window cleaner for the outside is £15 for 2 big picture windows monthly.