AIBU to wonder if I am being overcharged for cleaning?

[2026baby]

So I am a cleaner in London and charge £20 per hour. Whenever a new client gets in contact they seem to think I am ridiculously expensive, they always try to negotiate and lately I have been refused work based on my hourly rate.

I am currently heavily pregnant so not working but also not coping with my own housework so thought let me get some help in! I didn't think I was cheap so was willing to pay someone else around £20 too (perhaps more even!) and thought that was reasonable.

So far I have been quoted £200 for a basic bathroom clean that should take 2 hours at the most, £350 for exterior window cleaning (I live in a flat and have 4 windows, all accessible from the inside....) and the minimum price per hour seems to be £25 for individual cleaners and £30 if a company!

Is this normal?! Am I wildly undercharging?! Where do I find clients who are willing to pay these prices?

And more importantly where do I find the cheaper cleaners that my clients claim they can get?! Or at least someone charging similar to me!

I'm close to London. Ours is 15 phr. Dont have a minimum but we do 2 hrs pw.

I’m in London. I pay my cleaner £15 per hour and she brings all products and equipment.

£20 for London is cheap!

Are you looking for one off rather than a regular clean? Presumably that’s making it more expensive.

We’re zone 3 and pay £15 an hour. But I think my cleaner needs to put her price up as she’s not raised it since we started three years ago.

If by chance you happen to be close to West/North West London I would love your cleaner's details!

I think £20 an hour for a cleaner in London is the going rate.

One simple way to gauge whether your prices are right when self employed is to see how much work you're getting. If you're getting enough work then your charge is about right. If you're not getting enough work then you're probably over-charging and need to lower your rate.

So did you get enough work when you were charging £20 an hour?

I think most cleaners charge more for the first clean and more for a one off.
Having said that I don't live in London and I pay £15 which I consider quite cheap.

I am always fully booked but my clients are always so complimentary I thought it had more to do with the quality of my work vs the apparent low price!

I just find it weird now that I am looking for a cleaner myself I can't find anyone who charges similar to me or less!

I think you are about right and they are crazy! I think when people don't really need the work, they throw out crazy prices and see if anyone is mad enough to pay them.

The only thing I would ask is can you live on what you earn comfortably and keep busy.

I was ridiculously cheap when I was a gardener, but had few overheads and as a workaholic I was happy to be constantly busy.

There's a fb ad today from a guy who took over a lot of business from me. Everyone was shocked when I warned the I was cheap. But no gardener should be advertising in June if you're OK and reasonably priced

My cleaner gets 15ph. We need her for more hours but she's fully booked out so we just have 3 hrs every 2 weeks. It's not enough time to do any bedrooms!

I am definitely comfortable with my pricing. I charged only £15 a couple of years ago but costs have gone up a lot hence the increase to £20.

I still think the prices I am being quoted are ridiculous though! £200 for a 2 hour bathroom clean is £100 an hour and don't ger me started on each window costing £90 to clean!

Can anyone recommend me their £15 cleaner please?

We pay £20 an hour, in the SE, but not London. I think my cleaner is worth every penny!

…and in answer to your question, I found my cleaner by asking for personal recommendations (rather than companies touting for work) on a local facebook group, maybe ask there?

In in North London and payy cleaner £17.50 per hour.

We are between zone 1-2 and have a cleaner for the communal stairs/hall. She is insured, invoices (not cash in hand) and charges £20 /hr.

The thing is, once you've got yourself a good, reasonably priced cleaner/gardener/window cleaner/ etc the first thing you do is NEVER recommend them to anyone. Recommending them means they are less available to you and more likely to increase their prices. As a private carer I was always in demand, but the only time families recommended me was when their loved one was dead 😀

@ofcolitasI used to recommend my cleaner, she ended up doing loads of neighbours. Went home after Brexit

We pay £24 an hour which I’m happy with as they are brilliant!

That is where I have been looking but I only get people recommending themselves who then send through these ridiculous quotes!

£15 is fair. I work for the NHS is a very stressful job for minimum wage!!!

Massive difference between employment and self employment. You get paid holidays, paid sick leave, generous employer pension contributions, don't have to buy your own equipment/materials, don't have costs of insurance, accountant, etc etc. You're comparing apples and pears. I always tell clients that minimum hourly rate for being self employed is 2X NMW rates to account for all the unchargeable time, overheads, lack of paid leave etc etc. £25 is effectively the bare minimum to make self employment worthwhile.

Most cleaners are self employed and will not get sick, holiday pay or pension entitlement. Will also have to fund travel and insurance. Can also get notice immediately. Lot to be said for having a contract.

I've had a cleaner a couple of times in the last year where I am (midlands) and they've charged £20ph. If I was regular, it would be £19ph. When I was looking around for someone to do a one off clean, another company said they would have to visit and would only quote for the whole house (5 bed). They visited and then quoted £475 for 7 hours!!!

Most of the other regular clean regular rates I've seen have been £18 minimum and for that price, I'll just do it myself.
£20 in London seems like a bargain.