£22 per hour for cleaning - REALLY?!

[DorotheaShottery]

I was thinking the other day "Dot - you've had enough of this cleaning lark - get yourself a cleaner!"

I put some feelers out on FB and it appears the going rate is £20-£22 per hour!!

Is that normal in the not-SE-not-Cheshire parts of the UK? AIBU to think it's ridiculous?

As well as avoiding tax by asking for cash and not putting it through their books, some tradies also do it to reduce how much child maintenance they have to pay, based on their (supposed) earnings - aka robbing their own children.

It’s absolutely ridiculous. Cleaners get paid more than junior lawyers , nurses and teachers . It’s £25 to £30 where I live . Then people complain cuts if living is going up when professions with minimum or no qualifications are charging ridiculous amounts . Same for hairdressers over £90 an hour

I never understand the angst about this
The cleaner is providing a service and can charge what they want ,you either agree up pay it or you dont
The cleaner could charge £1000/ if they want ,i doubt they would get any takers but they could still say thats what they would charge.

@Namechangerage At the moment I pay £15 for 3-4 hours (price set by the cleaner) but I would be ok with paying up to £18 if needed. I pay via bank transfer.

I am flexible, give a tip of about a week’s pay at Christmas and generally keep cleaning going when we happen to be away, so they don’t miss out on pay.

In terms of roles, I think that cleaning shouldn’t really be paid much more than being a school TA as that is a far more skilled and challenging role requiring a body of knowledge and often quite significant responsibilities.

Ugh yes- even on here I’ve heard about this kind of scenarios many times! It really screws the woman over and their children of course. And the taxpayer! So frustrating.

I think that's about the going rate now unfortunately. It's worth it if your cleaners are good. Not worth it if they're not. I wouldn't pay £25 an hour that's too expensive Imho.

The TA is employed therefor cant dictate their rate of pay
The cleaner is self employed so can.

Wow! Fancy someone self employed having the audacity to charge the rate they want and think they are worth?!!

How much they should or should not be paid if they are self employed is up to them and then up to you whether you choose to use them. Teachers and nurses have set pay bands and know this when they choose to do the job

We pay £20 an hour. New customers for our cleaner pay £27 an hour. She gives two free cleans once you’ve been with her a year. We pay less as we’ve been reliable to her for many years and paid bits during covid and other times.

She’s amazing. She has a wait list and will drop clients who expect too much or crib about prices.

there are two other cleaners locally who charge £12 an hour. They always have spaces, and they have those spaces for a reason.

Thats about what it costs here, local company is £30 p/h inc VAT. South West

Why is it ridiculous ?
Being self employed somone can charge what they want its their perogative
A Docter / Nurse is paid their pay grade.

You are lucky. It’s very annoying trying to remember to keep the right amount of cash available.

The local dog walker probably charges quite a bit too but it always seems to be cleaners that people think should be paid peanuts

Because they have no training . The mentality of I can charge what I think I’m worth is nice until you realise it makes those with professions that as you say have a pay grade and are professional cannot keep up .

Local dog walker charges £12 per walk up to 45 m

Why are people trying to compare cleaners and solicitors rates of pay? Solicitors spend years and years at university and training, and have significant professional and legal responsibilities. This is totally different from the career path of a cleaner. Also solicitors may be charging hundreds of pounds per hour but they are not actually earning that (unless partner/magic circle type).

And why are people saying cleaning is a profession? It's an occupation, and a valuable one which clearly provides very sought after services, but it's not a profession.

I'm not knocking either, I am a cleaner-turned-solicitor myself.

Ours is £15ph but that’s because she’s my mother and I also do her hair and eyebrows for her. For non family members or family members who don’t do anything in return then she charges £20, but that’s because it’s less of a career more just something to keep her busy since she’s reduced her hours at her main job a lot. Going rate round here is £25ph. I would want more to clean someone else’s house though some people are mining.

My last cleaner was £20 an hour and I supplied the cleaning materials. I am in the South

I do cleaning work as one of my business and I don’t work for less then £22 an hour some jobs I make what people make in a month in two days but I doubt they would want to clean up after someone has died in a property or sort out a drug den. Cleaning work ca vary but a standard clean that’s 20/22 ph is fair you don’t get paid between jobs you don’t have holiday and you have your own costs and insurance to cover. If a cleaner charged minuim wage and had two clients on a day they would be going home with under £50 for a days work. You cannot have a successful business doing that.

I think the issue is people see cleaning as beneath them when they wouldn’t blink twice at spending twice as much on some cheap junk food on uber eats.

I have just remembered several years ago I did pay cash to this one driving instructor a few times and yes it was a pain!

I can’t remember if I eventually insisted on bank transfer, but I dropped him (for other reasons) and made sure that new one did accept bank transfer.

Yes, it reminds me of the stalky people on local selling sites who (sometimes aggressively) inform you what they will pay - even after already loading the item into their car - as your clearly-stated asking price is "ridiculous and nobody will ever pay you that for it".

There's nothing wrong with making a polite lower offer; but if somebody IS asking too much for their item or services and finds that nobody will pay it, what on earth does it have to do with you? They have the exact same right to ask as much as they want for what they're selling, just as much as potential buyers/customers have the right to decide not to buy it at that price.

That makes no sense
They are providing a service so can set their own rates of pay ,
As a client you either agree to it or you dont
You cant tell rhe cleaner well im only going to pay you x amount becsuse Dr,s and nuraes are on less because you are client not their employer .

What's the least you'd be prepared to be paid to clean somebody's sticky piss, shit stained toilet? Don't kid yourself that cleaning other peoples houses just involves dusting the bookshelves, and throwing the hoover about. I clean for a living, it's fucking rank. It never fails to suprise me what state some peoples houses are in, sometimes because of their own physical constraints but sometimes just because theyre dirty entitled bastards at home.

Mine invoices me from her company every week, and I pay by transfer, so assume legitimate. £19 pound per hour in the SE and she’s great.