To think £80 is too much

[Dancingfairy]

My mum asked me to look for some quotes for her for a gardener for her small front garden, it's over grown and she's not in a condition to do it herself. I hate bugs and all stuff like that so I'm no help. Anyway I've just been quoted £80 to cut the grass and trim the hedges! Seems extortionate! Was expecting half that. Aibu to think it's a lot?

The council does take are garden waste for free where I am.

They may take it for free from households but not from businesses - so a self-employed gardener would need a permit and have to pay for it.

When I brought up NMW I was expecting someone to snip that it's lower for younger people.

But in order to clear NMW they'll need to cover costs for eg travel, insurance, waste disposal permit, advertising etc.

You may have a branch of AgeUk nearby.
Ours charges £18 an hour for over 65s, £25 for under 65s. They don't take the rubbish away.
I'd say those prices are about the same as most gardeners charge round here (Outer London).

That sounds a fair price to me, if he's legit he will have to pay at the tip to dispose of your garden waste, unless you intend to dispose of it yourself.
I can't believe the poster who thought £7.50 an hour was reasonable, guess they must live in a very poor part of the country or just be very mean ?
When getting quotes I try to ask myself this:-
Could I do the job myself ?
Would I want to do that job for that money ?

Last time my brother paid a gardener for her the never took the waste away, just put it in her garden waste bin

Unless they pay per visit to the tip that wouldn't help - perhaps the previous guy didn't bother with a permit and saved costs that way.

I'm with you on the bugs btw.

I pay £15 per hour for my rented property, around £60 a month because the tenant won't do it!

We pay £10 an hour as and when we need weeding/hedges cut etc. The chap we use is absolutely brilliant

I pay £20 ph for gardener in Surrey.

The annual hedge cut costs me about £180 give or take £20. That is with me disposing of the trimmings....

If your mum is a pensioner, try Age Concern, they have a list of gardeners for older people.

My gardener charges £17 per hour! And my maintenance guy £10 ph. I feel as if I am being ripped off having read this thread.

(In the North, too, but a chichi part...)

My brother charges £10 per hour in the south east for jobs like this, but he does charge extra to dispose of garden waste as it's a rural area and most have compost heaps. He is on AgeUk's list though and charges less for elderly and/or disabled customers so if you didn't mention it was for your elderly mother he may well quote you £15-£20 an hour. Also without seeing the garden he will usually go with a cautious estimate of how long it would take, in the theory that no one complains if he finishes quicker and charges them less than the original estimate.