Is this hourly rate too high?

[Question285]

I’m looking for a cleaner for a couple of hours weekly. I budgeted £18-20 per hour, but I’ve received a quote of £25 per hour. This is an independent cleaner, albeit with a proper set up. AIBU to think that this is a lot?

I’m in the NW in a reasonably affluent area, but it’s not London. Also, we live in a very normal family home. It’s not a job with an NDA in a mansion.

I’ve checked some local sm groups and it seems that £25 per hour is not unheard of, so I don’t think she was trying to put us off.

I understand overheads, tax etc. come out of that, so she’s not left with £25. But I can’t help thinking that I earn less than that gross in a role that took the better part of a decade to train for. It also comes with a lot more responsibility and less flexibility than a self employed cleaner has.

Is this where things are because of minimum wage increases? I’m not saying they were a bad thing, people should be able to live off their wages. But it seems that middle earners salaries have not kept up if for a low skilled job you can earn as much as a high skilled worker.

Hyperbolic much? 😂
I work in the NHS and work with many specialists. They and I understand that when we choose to work in the public sector, we don't earn as much as we do in the private sector. No ones wages are what they "deserve" to earn, don't get your knickers in a twist cos a hairdresser knows people will pay £100ph for their services (and you do!)
I'm sure when (if?) you do your private work you charge higher than your NHS rate, no? You don't still charge £30ph out of the goodness of your heart?

The reasons why immigrants are cheaper is horrendous. Don't wish their lives on others

I’d agree it does seem expensive but she could easily be taking home equivalent of min wage after expenses , unchargable time, travel admin etc. Maintaining a car, insurance, cleaning materials, pension , holiday pay , sick pay. It’s really up to you if you think it’s worth it.

Regardless of the many justifications for that price, it does seem to be at the very top end so I think you could find someone a fair bit cheaper.

People don't see that. They just see someone lower than them who is only worth a take home pay of a fiver an hour because they trained for their shit paid job for a few years.

Self employed is self employed. Everyone has bills to pay.

I am a cleaner myself, and also live in Surrey.
I still think that a lot, I charge my clients £15/ hours.

No one said anyone is ‘lower’. It doesn’t mean we can’t question things. And these people who ‘trained for their shit paid job for a few years’ are midwives and teachers, just to give two examples. Are you saying their work is not important and they shouldn’t have bothered?

I'm in Sussex and my cleaner charges £12.50 ph, the one before that was £10 and her predecessor £12.50. I have sometimes paid £15 for deep cleaning but never more than that.

No hyperbole, just extra info on the dictation you so fiercely disagree with. Only fair to let your colleagues know how you feel about them then. You def won't have supported the picket lines then
Probably also explains why you either think £195k pa is appropriate overheads for a single chair hairdresser, or that hairdressers are more valuable than specialist clinicians. The definition of appearance being more valuable than health.
Viva neo-con capitalism.

You're not making any sense. Let my colleagues know what about how I feel ? You understand that the NHS and other public services don't operate for profit like the private market, surely? It's why any of us that work in them know we won't be paid as highly as we could achieve in the private sector. Why would that mean I don't support pay rises for public sector workers? 🫠 I can support pay rises while knowing I'm still never gonna earn what I do in the private sector - no doctor is striking to be paid £350 per hour are they? It's not gonna happen.
Again you're making up this weird overheads point, literally no one said you are paying £70 for overheads, it was just pointed out to you that the £100 she charges you isn't pure profit. Are you saying a hairdresser should be paid £30 salary, charge only exact overheads as a margin and make no profit?

Who is saying hairdressers are more valuable than specialists? Specialists charge several times over what a hairdresser charges when they work privately, far more than £100ph.

For all the talk of how highly skilled you are you seem to have a really loose grip on basic economics. You also could choose to get a haircut for less than £30 if you so despise to pay anyone more than you get paid. It seems to be lost on you that because you happily pay 100 like her other customers, she charges 100.

Your figure do not relate to the previous posts. You were attempting to argue against the figures Iquotes from my 1st post. Start from the beginning rather than bringing in a completely new scenario.

That's completely different. We are paid by the state and it would go bankrupt if it payed us what our skills are really worth (my private rates are four times higher, for example).

Not every public sector worker can charge more in the private sector. It doesn’t mean their work is not important or skills are not valuable. And my reply was in relation to the pp’s dig at highly trained people in what they see as shit paid jobs.

Yes but they're figures you made up - no one said she has £70 of overheads per customer, you're implying she must to in order to justify charging £100ph because 'your time' is paid at £30ph you see that as all she is entitled to her for her time and anything else in the price must be overheads.

Cheshire is expensive. Not many cleaners. There are lots in London and people from cheaper areas will travel in.

We pay £15 an hour but provide everything.

Everyone else I knows pays £25

Anyone with the skills you're referring to absolutely can charge more for it in the private sector. Even secretaries and admins (which doesn't require you to have a med sec qualification) can earn £20ph self employed privately which is way more than they get in the public sector or privately employed. All I'm saying is skills and professional qualifications don't always equate to what people can charge for their time in the private market. I'm not making a dig at highly trained people unless they're making a dig at someone charging what they perceive as too much because that person is less "highly trained" as them especially when that person is doing a pretty hard job like cleaning which is never going to pay off in the long term as well as your professional job.

You're clearly in the finance world but a quick look at the gov.uk says that basic rate dividend tax is 8.75%? So less than half basic rate PAYE. Maybe that's not worth taking advantage of for the effort expended or some other reason.

The company has already paid 19% - 25% on the same profits paid out as dividends. So it works out very similar compared with a sole trader.

Eg company profit £50k
Corporation tax £9.5k
Post tax profit £40.5k
Paid out as dividend
Personal tax £3,500
"Net take home" £37k
Effective tax rate 26% which is very close to what income tax (20%) and NIC would be on a £50k profit for a sole trader.

Hope that explains why limited companies aren't what they used to be under Gordon Brown's idiotic changes!

I'm in London and am freelance, and industry standard rates are lower than that. I don't get holiday/sick pay or insurance, and have to spend time and money generating work for myself.
That is not bad for a cleaning job.

Our cleaner charges £18.50 an hour. This includes her bringing all her own materials, including vacuum and mop. She takes such a lot of stress away in keeping my home clean, tidy, sparkling etc not to mention entertaining the dogs.
I think £25 an hour for a good, reliable cleaner who you trust is not out of the question. It's what you are willing to pay, for the service you get. If you think it's too pricey, look for another cleaner, but don't give this one the boot until you've tried the cheaper one on a trial run. You might find the grass isn't greener!

I think that's on the high end, I have just had a quote for £15 per hour, but its been really hard to find someone with availability so if they are good and you can afford it I would grab it!

My point is you don't wish low wages on others because you think you deserve more than them. Question your own pay.

Jack your job in and become a cleaner?

It’s called equality. A basic assumption that our time is as valuable as each others. You appear to have argued that people should simply be out for what they can get. A bit like US style healthcare.
Interesting that you hear the term specialist and immediately go to medical practitioners and how much they can earn.

That’s simply not true - maybe on a moral basis when you’re meeting a friend and then I’d agree - I hate when people assume their time is more important than mine and think it’s ok to keep me waiting. BUT professionally it’s totally different.