what's the going rate for an evening baby-sitter in London?

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Thanks!

I am just north of London (herts) and I charge £10. For someone with lots of experience and/or qualifications, that is probably the amount you should be looking at

per hour - sorry

5.65 in the week
6.50? at the weekend

in SW London, i pay £8/hour to girls from the nursery.

for a friend's aupair i pay £5/hour

Sitters charge about £6 i think, but then there is a reservation fee/subscription, but it still works out less than £8/hour and they are all qualified nannies/nursery nurses etc.

If the children are up, the babysitter has to bathe/put them to bed (i only use girls fro the nursery if i need this) then i am happy to pay the £8. If they are in bed and i am paying someone to watch my TV then i am happy with "borrowing" a friend's au pair.

I get £10 per hour

Blimey - I am in Surrey , qualified first aider , have an Nvq 3, CRB etc and have two children myself and I charge £6.00 per hour - £8 per hour to girls from the nursery !

My part of Surrey it's £10 per hour... been that way now for a good couple of years. Therefore, I would expect London to be higher.

£10 per hour?! That's LOADS. Am up north though.

that makes sitters sound a bargain

I would not pay £10 an hour
Nursery/creche girls here want £8 an hr plus a cab or lift home

I'm a c/m in Cheshire and I charge £7 per hour up to midnight and £9 after and I could get work 4 plus days every week if I wanted it.

West London £8-10 per hour, plus lift/cab home.

Agencies can be less overall, depending on how often the service is used. You need to remember to include all the extra costs that agencies add to the hourly rate, including minimum number of hours. Some agencies require a minimum of 4 hours, where in my experience, many families often go out for less than 3 hours (for example I babysat last night for 2h 40minutes).
There are other factors that affect if a parent will choose to us an agency or an individual. Some parents will like the ability to have anyone care for their child, while others will want one particular person who their children get to know. If the parents are going out for 3 hours or less (and in my experience parents often go out for 2 to 3 hours), then in London area a babysitter charging £10 per hour, would be competitively priced with large agency rates.

Out of interest, how much is a Cab home these days? I've not been in a Cab for many years, but last time I did, I didn't get change from £10 and that must have been a good 5 years ago.

i am in SW London and all my friends think i am mad to pay what i do for babysitting (i.e. £8/hour)... they all pay £5 or £6/hour, either to Sitters, or to neighbours/students.

Ah but, comparing hourly rates between paying an individual and paying an agency, isn't a fair comparison... as agencies have all those extra fees. So your £8 per hour may actually turn out to be less cost, than your friend paying Sitters a lower hourly rate (but having to pay booking and membership fees).

Interestingly, the nannies/childcarers who have posted so far, all seem to charge about the same. Those who use nursery staff, also are paying them about the same (though less than a nanny). Plus unqualified people (such as au-pairs) are getting less. Location is also a factor, within London area itself, plus within the whole of the UK. Local market forces will dictate how much a babysitter can get.

I am a nanny and a charge about £8 or £9 p/h. Plus a pizza! (just a normal oven one, not a dominos or anything!)

When I nannied in London I got £8 per hour for evening babysitting. I was 18 with 1st Aid but unqualified and had 4 years babysitting experience.

I still only get that even though I'm now qualified, older and wiser with at least twice as much experience, but that's my own fault for moving to Birmingham!

I babysit for lots of families in my area (blackheath) and I charge £7 per hour with a min of 4 hours, as otherwise it's not really worth me coming out and leaving ds with messy dh!
I am experienced although not qualified.

Also pay £7ph to our teenage babysitter who lives in the flat above us.