Am I being unreasonable increasing my cleaning rates to £17.50 an hour?

[Chattychoo]

I am a cleaner , I am half semployed half self employed. I charge £15 an hour(north west) , some I provide cleaning products some they provide.
I last increased my rates 3 years ago but now employ my daughter a few hours a week.
I have a few clients I travel to (20 mile round trip) and due to inflation, fuel and general increased prices thought it was time for a price increase.
i have googled and tried to find what the general prices people charge and I don't want to overcharge anyone.
i have sent a couple of clients that I travel to an email raising to £17.50 an hour but it's not going down well. I haven't heard off one but the other has questioned it . I stated costs have risen and did mention fuel which I probably shouldn't have.
Ive been asked to re consider as it's now coming back down but all my other costs have gone up, insurance , minimum wage even cost of washing my cloths , even my rent so now I don't know how to reply , I feel I'm overcharging and wish I'd never mentioned it!

I raised my hourly rate from £15 to £17. When you take your expenses into account you’re only actually being paid about the minimum wage. My customers were ok with it. If they don’t want to pay the increase I’d say we’ll have to call it a day.

Where abouts in the country are you? Are yours all local?

But some people will moan at any increase - regardless of how small. They'll also often second-guess that you're deliberately trying to fool them into a big increase by increments; so you can easily just end up with 5 rounds of complaining rather than 1.

I think that's fine after 3 years and the overall rate is cheap. We have recently started a cleaner for 2 hours a week and its £60. She is lovely and excellent so we are happy to pay her. She brings her own products.

Midlands

I’m in the north west and pay mine £18 per hour. I was struggling to find any cheaper than that.

Most seem to put prices up £1 each year so 2.50 over 3 years is about right. If they cancel you because they aren’t happy with the increase then they’ll soon be back when they realise they can’t find anybody cheaper.

You should definitely factor in fuel prices and other costs. You’re a business at the end of the day and expenses should be offset against your hourly fee.

Cleaners in my area - Worcestershire charge anywhere from £15 ph (which I think Is cheap) to £22 ph.
I don’t think £17.50 ph is expensive at all.

@Chattychoo
NMW plus employers National Insurance and pension contributions is £15 an hour!! Plus your other costs.

stick to what you’ve said. Or you’ll never be able to put prices up.
I pay my cleaner £20 an hour.

if you lose a client, they were thinking about finishing you anyway. Find another. Charge them £20.

Its what we pay and we are outside London

What she is currently charging is cheap. Where I live a good cleaner is £20 ph upwards.

Mine has just increased to £20 an hour

Ours (through a company that we also pay a quarterly fee to) is now £15 an hour (Midlands) due to minimum wage now being that, the company told us.

You do have to cover your costs so I would simply say due to your costs having risen in the X years since you started charging this rate it will now be xx. Some people may opt to leave or for less time, obviously out sky that’s a judgement call. Maybe put it up £1.50 to start and increase again by £1 in six months?

But petrol prices are part of the running costs of her business as are her commute times etc. it’s not the same because you will be employed to go to a place of work and you’ve chosen have 1 journey there and back each day. A cleaner will have multiple journeys and often far more miles in a day than a normal commute so this needs to be factored in.
if she’s working 8 hours a day she will be earning £120 then she needs to deduct her business insurance, her consumables costs, her tax, time to go and restock supplies,the wear and tear on her vehicle and the cost of fuel. I doubt very much when you take all that into account that she’s even earning minimum wage.

You are dirt cheap (sorry 🙂). I have a cleaner because I hate cleaning. I’m also disabled and have a number of health issues which are lead to a number of exciting accidents. She cleans, she changes my bed. She does all sorts of things that I don’t want to do. She’s worth every penny. £17.50 is a bargain.

Don’t back down. You know that you’re worth the money don’t let anyone convince you differently. If you’re a good cleaner you will get more clients. If they don’t want to pay, they can find another one who’s cheaper. I was being paid £15 an hour ten years ago.

But increased travel costs are part of the cost of living,
and aren't inflation and cost of living increases why people ask for pay rises in the first place?

If someone is too lazy to clean their own gaff you should charge them whatever you like! A cleaner is a luxury.

A cleaner isn't a luxury for all of us, and we aren't all capable of cleaning our own homes. (I'm talking about things like health/mobility issues here.) Just saying.

Hi OP..
You mentioned, amongsst other things:

1. that you have clients who cancel at short notice and you lose pay.. how many times have you ever cancelled with them at short notice?
2. that you are grateful to people who tell you they are going to be away on holiday.. but then you also lose pay.
3. Some people pay the cheaper rate for providing their own cleaning products - but then they run out and so you end up paying for them anyway... so you've been short changed again - I think when they do this you should leave a note reminding them with a list of what they need to stock for next time, so that you can be prepared.

It sounds to me as if you need to get a contract together with terms and conditions. Particularly a cancellation fee.

I've never employed a cleaner but I did sign childminder contracts... and they still got paid if I cancelled at short notice, it was all spelt out. It wasn't like they could grab another child to look after on the odd day we couldn't make it. Hell, the dentist charges if you don't give 48 hours notice. Nearly every service I can think of does. You should because its not like you can suddenly replace those lost hours...

Of course you should have a price increase if you've kept your rate the same for three years.
Sometimes people like to think they can negotiate, but I think having asked for more you should stand firm. Its not an unreasonable wage. Remind them that you are self employed, this is a business. You have all the normal business costs.

People value what they pay for. Stick to your guns.

Im sure people on here could suggest somewhere to get a contact template (and this gets sent to all new clients as well as a polite email to old clients. Or maybe try Chat gpt for ideas... but I think making it clear that there's a charge for missed appointments is also a top priority.
I hope your nice but further away clients stay.. but if they break with you over a small pay rise after 3 years of excellent and reliable service, maybe its time to part company. I wish you and your DD all the best.

She won’t find another cleaner for £15ph. I’ve put your message into chat GPT and this is a response for you to give your client:

Hi [Name],

Thank you for your message, I do understand your concerns and I appreciate you being honest about how you feel.

I haven’t increased my rate for three years, and during that time my costs have gradually gone up, so this adjustment is to help me keep things sustainable while continuing to provide the same level of service.

I completely understand that any increase can be difficult, so if it would help I’m more than happy to look at slightly reducing the time or adjusting the frequency to keep things within your budget.

Of course, I also understand if you need to have a think about it.

Kind regards,

[Your Name]

I posted earlier that I pay my cleaner more than £17.50. I also pay when she has holidays, because she doesn’t go away except in the summer, plus Christmas and occasionally when she’s been ill, because I’ve always had that myself, being employed.

I’m not saying this to big myself up, I’m saying this because I would never sign a contract to confirm all that. I run a mile from the slightest suggestion that I might be her employer.

You are entitled to raise your prices to reflect your costs.

You could mention that over the last three years you have not increased the rate but you intend to this year.

The increase if nearly 20% an hour might put sone off. Could you increase by 10% this year, going to £16.50 then a further 10% next year for existing clients and all new vlients at £17.50?

Ultimately your clients will decide what is affordable first them and you need to fi the same for yourself. Hope it all works out.

My cleaner is £15ph - she uses a combination of mine and her products. She does ironing for me too and she finishes when she finishes (sometimes 3 hours per week and sometimes 3.5). She just tells me how long she’s done and I transfer the amount.

I am south west/midlands area.

If she went upto £17.50 I would think that was a steep jump. However I would pay it because I haven’t got a spare 3.5 hours to clean each week and beyond that:

I trust her, she has a key to my house.

she’s been with me a number of years and knows how I like things

I can’t be bothered to find someone new to save a few quid over the month

Having a cleaner is a luxury - if they can afford one, a few quid more for someone on minimum wage they’ll find way a way to justify. Yes you’ll get a few they can’t/wont, but mostly they will figure it out.

Where we live, £18ph is the going rate for a cleaner. I don't resent it, it's a tough job plus if you supply your own materials, products, have to drive around, you presumably sort out your own admin like tax, payroll, accounting, expenses and have to shop for those things and clean your own cloths etc. I bet if you split it all out, took away all your business expenses (mileage, products, washing powder etc) and included the time you need driving to and from job, to shop for products, to do your admin etc. You'd probably only be earning minimum wage per actual hour of work dedicated to your business. Problem is, your clients are looking at "well you're in my home 2 hours a week, I'll pay 33 pounds, so you're earning 17.50 an hour" but you're not because they're ignoring all your overheads, the costs of running a business, your tax, your time getting to and from jobs etc. Even the 10 minutes chasing invoices each week adds up.

fair enough. But I do think there should be a mention of a cancellation fee.. ie if they cancel with less than X hours notice, they should pay.