Cost of a cleaner

[ThisCalmJadeSquid]

So I realise this could be slightly controversial and I’m not trying to be rude, but I was recently looking into getting a cleaner for my house… I am working more and juggling kids and dogs and thought it might help take the pressure off a bit. But they are changing £20-25 an hour. I don’t make anywhere near that an hour and work as an accounts/office manager.. so I’m struggling to justify the cost.. can anyone advise why the cost is so high? Thanks

That’s a lot. Search around. We are in London and pay £15 an hour

Our current cleaner asked for 15 an hour
We pay her 20 as she is amazing

They charge that much because they are self employed and out of that money comes tax and NI ( if they earn enough). Pension contributions, holiday and sick pay also come out of that money.
If you don’t want to pay that amount then you need to do your own cleaning.

Mine charges £20 an hour. They have to take into account tax, NI, public liabiity insurance, equipment, holidays, sick days, pension and travel between clients so in reality it's probably equivalent to a minimum wage job in a large organisation that has a lot of perks.

Mine’s £18 an hour. 18-20 seems fairly standard around here

Strangely cleaners in London tend to be cheaper. I think it is because there are a lot of people who don’t have great English looking for work.

that’s the going rate. If you don’t want to pay it then do your own cleaning

the rate will include NI, tax , pension contributions, supplies etc

£20-25 is high. I pay £18.00. I certainly wouldn't pay £25!

£25.00 certainly isn't the going rate. £20.00 might be in some areas.

They are self-employed usually, so no paid annual/sick/maternity leave, their travel time between jobs isn't paid and they won't usually be able to work a full 8 hour day, so the hourly rate isn't comparable to yours.

We pay £17.50 an hour through a small agency. Just outside London.

£20 ph in Wales. But she's a whirlwind, twice as fast as me on a good day and so thorough

We pay £15 ph in London direct to the cleaner (bank transfer). I have used an agency in the past and that was a lot more.
She’s a lovely lady but her cleaning is very average so I don’t really want to pay a lot more.
If she moved or stopped I’d probably do it myself now as my work circumstances have changed.

If you added up what it actually costs your employer to employ you, it would be loads more than £25 per hour, I expect. You get holiday pay, sick pay, bank holiday pay, national insurance paid, pension contributions. Your cleaner will also have to pay travel, tax etc.
i am self employed and my take home is about half my hourly rate.

That does make more sense. I contacted 4 local cleaners and they were ranging from
£20-£25. I’m in Aberdeen. I guess I wasn’t taking into account the tax and ni but equally my rate is far far less when you take that into account too. Holiday pay might account for it.. just think that’s really high if in London it’s £15 an hour..

In Cornwall it can be up to £30 an hour!

I'm also on the hunt and got a quote for something crazy. When I worked it out per annum she was on 70k a year. Anyway I've found someone charging 18 quid who's coming next week.

I’m certain she won’t be as a self employed person, after deducting tax, national insurance, holiday pay, business insurance, consumables etc, she’ll probably not even be on half that

Yes, it is usual for contractors working in a company alongside the company’s own employees are paid about twice as much to compensate for all the other costs.

Fair point. I'm also not on what my job is advertised after NI, tax, etc either and it's significantly less than 70k. That said, regardless it was more than I had to pay and I've found someone within budget. She seems to have plenty of business so good luck to her 🙂

I used to pay £15 an hr in the SW, my friends cleaner came while we were in holiday and charged £18 an hour i don’t know if that’s her usual rate or extra cos I’m an extra. £25 is mental

Wow… is that because of holiday rentals? Or just normal houses?

You wouldn’t be paying them for a day’s work but for a very physically intensive few hours. I don’t have a cleaner but I don’t get that people are willing to get their hair done regularly at the insane cost it is but think someone who scrubs their floors and does things they can’t/ won’t shouldn’t get more than minimum wage. That sounds harsh and I don’t mean it against anyone it’s just I think cleaners are amazing- I hate cleaning!!!!

You are paying a cleaner to do a job you dont want to do. You are paying to have that luxury. £20-£25 is acceptable.

Because they are self employed so have to pay NI, Tax, save for holiday and sick pay, plus pay business insurance on their car as well as public liability insurance.
Then they also have to factor in the cost of equipment (hoovers, mops, cleaning cloths, sprays, grout cleaner etc).