To ask how much you pay for a cleaner?

[Saltdoughmuncher]

I’ve been looking at getting a cleaner and have a few quotes but they vary greatly.

How much do you pay per person per hour for non London cleaning? And how many hours would you expect a 4 bed, 3 bath house to take to clean?

To do a decent job, I would allow 4 hours. £10ph really isn't much - NMW is £8.21ph, but that will probably be longer than 3-4 hours per shift (so the commuting costs work out cheaper per hour) and they'll get holiday pay, pension, sick pay and some job security etc on top of that. I would say £12 is the minimum amount you should pay a cleaner if they're not through an agency. Would you expect them to bring their own cleaning materials or use yours?

We pay £12 an hour. Minimum was 2 hours a fortnight in our area when we rang round. So that's what we pay for, she cleans most of our smallish 4 bed house (Hoover, dust surfaces, mop downstairs laminate floor, bathroom, loo and kitchen surfaces/hob but not the oven) but not in great detail, we decided to ask for as much coverage in the time available, rather than deep cleaning in certain rooms.

Wow! Those quotes are extortionate

Ask people you know if anyone knows a cleaner.
Ask your Facebook friends, or on a local community Facebook site.
Ask your colleagues.
Put a notice in the local shop or on the community noticeboard.
Put a little advert in your Parish magazine / Church notice sheet
Ask at your local 6th form or FE college or University.

Those quotes you have are ridiculous.

I wonder if it is the rural location pushing the price up for you op. As they may be travelling much further than normal, less earned in the regular time it would take to go to your house and the next and more fuel etc used to travel so pushing up price as they need to make it worth it for them?

2 bed flat in Bristol- £15PH- we were paying £12 through the agency and then she left to start a new job not cleaning but she was just incredible so I offered £15. She comes once a week for 2 hours so £30PW. She's worth every penny and is just the most wonderful person

4 bed and 3 bath here. £11ph for 3hrs per week.

£10 ph for a 4 bed. 4 hrs a fortnight to get it done

£110 8:30-5pm. I collect and drop back. SE

10 per hour is shit. Shame on all of you. Why? I don't get holiday pay for a start. No one wants me next week so I'm a week without wages. Then I need to put fuel in the car, pay insurance. The last time I suggested people pay their cleaners a decent wage the comments were 'she sets the rate' I guess if people are too tight to pay cleaners what they are worth they are reluctant to ask for more.
I charge between 12 - 15 ph which means I can take next week off and still pay my bills.

4 bed / 3bath / 2 reception plus large utility & study (which doesn’t get touch as I am working in there) £15 per hour, was 4 hours once a fortnight but I’ve decided I would prefer more regularly so going to 3 hours a week.
2 adults, 2 dogs, 1 baby & reasonably tidy. Hopefully with every week I won’t have to do anything other than put on the robot Hoover each day

10 per hour is shit. Shame on all of you. Why?

What is shameful about paying above NMW - indeed NLW - for a job that actually hasn't needed years of training, or a specific talent, or exams or qualification ? A job that means you can set your own hours. A job that means you can choose to work (for example) when your dc are at school but be there to take them and pick them up? A job that means you aren't working unsociable hours ? A job that means you aren't working shifts? A job that means you aren't out in the foul weather all day long ?

£12 per hour. Cleans whole house, does all ironing and changes bedding once a week, takes 5-6 hours. I love my cleaner. East Anglia.

I'm a cleaner and get in the region of £20 per hour, north west.
Not cheap but I've many long term customers, a great reputation, do a fantastic job, provide all products and I'm fully insured.
Some people do balk slightly when I quote them but many realise that you get what you pay for and it's worth the extra for peace of mind and knowing you're getting a professional.

£10 is what my cleaner charges @Northernsoullover. I didn''t decide what she gets paid. She's self-employed and that's what she asks for. I didn't shop around for a cheap one. She was recommended to me, she came to look at my house, that's what she asked for.

...so yes, I'm one of the people you're talking about. But I'm not sure what you expect me to do? She likes working for me. She likes that I'm flexible, as she often has family issues that cause her to have to cancel. It's not up to me to tinker with her hourly rate. She likes to keep things casual.

£12.50 per hour. North West, paid directly (not through an agency). I have a similar sized house to you but only pay for 2 hours a week. She does 1 bathroom, Hoover's upstairs, cleans the kitchen and in the remaining time dusts as much as she can.

BackforGood I agree with you in so much as you pay what they charge, which if £10 pH is what it is. I massively disagree that no specific talent is required- there are some people spectacularly shit at cleaning (organising home help, including cleaners is part of my professional role).

£15 ph for 3 hours a week here but she’s brilliant and provides all cleaning products x

£12 per hour for 3 hours per week in the South East. We have a largish 3 bedroom 2.5 bathroom house so I would say 4 hours weekly would be about right.

@BackforGood 10 isn't above minimum wage though. I put 25 in fuel for my weekly work. I don't get paid sick or holidays. I pay insurance and book keeping too. That all has to come out of my hourly rate. Why should I earn less than minimum wage? Which I would if I only charged 10p/h.
For the poster who doesn't want to 'tinker' with her cleaners wage how thoughtful of you you could just give her extra?

Agree northernsoullover

£10 doesn’t equate to min wage when you take out all your costs. I use all my own equipment including vacuum cleaner which is a battery hoover so I’m using my own electric at home to charge that. The only electric I use at a clients house is the light in whatever rooms it in (which are sometimes on anyway) and the kettle for filling my mop bucket. I wash my mop heads and clothes after each use in my own washing machine at home. All my own products. That’s before you look at petrol and insurance etc and the fact I don’t get paid when people cancel. Next week I have no income. Some of my lovely clients gave me cash gifts for Xmas this week which is massively appreciated as it’s how I’m going to feed us and buy electric next week. Without it I would be really stuck.

Cloths! Not clothes. Although I do have clothes too I’m not a naked cleaner. (No-one would want that!)

I pay £80 per week for 6 hours of cleaning. She comes twice a week. We have a 3 bed 2 bath flat. The second day will be spent changing sheets l, cleaning the fridge and other jobs just need doing on rotation.

@WireBrushAndDettolMaam luckily I know my worth and charge enough to put some towards my week off. I'd have worked if they wanted me but the time off will be nice. I also had some lovely gifts and cash to help towards it.

I agree £10 doesn't equate to minimum wage. I pay £12.50 which probably just about does. Thing is, if my cleaner charged much more I wouldn't be able to afford her, or would only be able to afford her fortnightly so I guess there's a "sweet spot" for them with regards to charging sufficiently to make a living but not pricing out of the market. In our area it's an over crowded market, there's always cleaners advertising for work.

We've only had our cleaner a couple of weeks so didn't give her a Christmas tip (did give her a card and small gift). But I did pay her the week she cancelled due to sickness.