to find a 20% increase in cleaner's fees too much? How much do you pay?

[applesauce1]

My husband and I are average earners (I'm a non-SLT teacher). We've had a cleaner for about 3 years after I found I couldn't juggle all of the housework with my teaching work, and my husband doesn't get home from work until really late and does what he has time for. He plays sport every weekend and after a day of school work at the weekend, I'd actually like to do some things for myself!

Anyway, our first cleaner was £9/hour. Our new cleaner has been £10/hour. She's asked us to up the rates to £12/hour. I'm desperate to keep her, but we just can't afford the 20% increase when we scale it up to the yearly cost.

What do you pay for your cleaner's hourly rates outside of London? Am I being unreasonable to not stump up an extra £4 a week for someone who makes my life so much better?

I do nursery paintings as a hobby, and did realise that I am selling my paintings for less per hour than I pay the cleaner currently which really highlighted how much the increase meant for us...

Don't fret OP. People can see you're not being goady and you don't mean any harm.

Completely get your point about what you do to bring extra cash in v. what you're paying out to cover it.

If it's too much then it's too much and that's just the way of it.

@Guardsman18 Thank you! It's only Monday and I'm already losing my ability to communicate!

Painting was a hobby that I'd do occasionally. As our finances became tighter, I decided to start taking orders to try and pay for luxuries like having a cleaner and buying my contact lenses. I clearly need to charge more/be quicker with the paintings so that they are actually helping to pay for the luxuries and not just making me even more time poor.

I don't really feel like I can ask her to meet me in the middle, because as PP have said, £12 is the going rate, and I don't want her to feel like I don't appreciate her enough to pay her what she deserves. I don't want to insult her!

£10 per hour average round here.

I pay mine £13/hr (North Yorks). She brings her own products, vacuum cleaner etc. I think this is fair enough, as she has to run a car, buy products, wash her cloths every night, pay tax, make provision for holidays and pensions etc. Plus it means I don't have to do it. :)

£18.75 in Berkshire. They're not even that good!

I currently pay £16.50 per hour here in the north west. It's gone up twice in the past year and I've only really just realised how much we're paying. Our cleaner isn't even that good.

Our previous cleaner was £10 per hour. She was a meticulous cleaner, but also a massive flake and used to try and spend at least half an hour of every clean telling me about her latest medical ailment. Hence going with an agency.

Just had a quote from another agency for £12 per hour which am more comfortable with.

£12 an hour Bolton

it depends how rural you are (travelling expenses) and how many hours she has at your house.
I cannot imagine how a self employed person manages on £10 per hour

Only you know if she is worth that much to you. For me the vital points would be, how good is she? How reliable is she? How difficult would it be to replace her? Will I miss £4/week?

I would pay. Cleaners find it hard to fit in a full 8hour day if they do multiple 2 hour jobs.

£10 p/h is going rate here. South west Scotland

We pay £12 ph in SE. Worth every penny.

Well OP, this is business. She can ask, you can accept (or not)

I no longer can afford a cleaner (boohoo) as going rate here (SE) is £12-18

£12.50 here
Could you do some tutoring?

We pay £15 per hour and worth every penny. 20% looks a big increase but that because it is at a low level - its £4 a week

applesauce1, ignore me, I'm being a mardy cow

have you decided what to do yet?

SW and I pay £12 and i provide all the cleaning materials. She's here for 3 hours (£36) and does 2 of us a day. Not a bad daily rate £72 for 6 hours work!

@ssd you're not! The way I worded some of that made me sound like a total arse. What I should have said is: my cleaner has upped her rates. What are the going rates? P.S. we scrimp every week and count each penny so the increase is significant to us. All of the rest of the information was superfluous and, you were right, made me sound like an idiot.

What have I decided? That it's definitely a fair increase and unless I can sell my commissions for more money or can turn more out more quickly, we can't afford it. Yes it's only £4 a week, but we account for every pound and it's £4 we can't afford, especially when we're trying for a baby.

well, you sounded like an idiot and I sounded like a grumpy cow

there must be a compromise you could work out, say to her could she do every fortnight rather than every week, maybe?

£12 is the going rate here (east anglia) too. Good cleaners are very hard to find and they charge more than carers/nannies etc as there is so much demand.

£11.50 per hour in South Wales

We have a fortnightly cleaner, often enough that nothing ever gets too dirty but not too expensive. I would have preferred weekly but it is a lot better than never having one.

£13 an hour here (Cambridge)

You're not on the Essex/London borders are you OP? I also had a message from my cleaner today saying that she was upping her rate from £10 to £12 ph. Will be an extra £8 per clean for me which is a little hard to swallow...

Anywhere between £10-£15 an hour here in the South East. I think £12 is probably about right if she does a good job.