Is £15 p.h. a lot for a cleaner?

[winkywinkola]

I've just had one come round for a chat and she charges £15 per hour. And for ironing too.

Now that seems a lot to me but she said she had been told she under charges people. Agencies, she says, charge £25 per hour.

Really? £15 just seems a lot to me. Am I being unrealistic?

Yes, that's a lot. I pay £10ph for cleaning and ironing in London. I know of others paying around £8ph.

That's loads. I live in a wealthy part of Surrey and it's £10 an hour or £12.50 and hour if you use an agency.

Where abouts are you as that would have some implications.
Think its about £10 per hour here SW.
Does she use her own products etc?

Hi - I live in London and pay £10 an hour for a lady that does two hours a week (which includes ironing.)

Yes, that's a lot. I pay £12 an hour in London and that's top whack round here. I don't mind paying our cleaner£12 at all because she's very good and reliable and she's been with us years.

I pay £10 in London. I wouldn't pay £15 unless she had magic powers.

Yes, thats a lot -unless she can deliver something exceptional.

That's definitely a lot. She could be brilliant though and do two hours work in an hour!!

That sounds too expensive. I don't think agencies charge £25 per hour for one cleaner.

No. I provide all cleaning products. I'm in Bucks.

I think I'm going to cancel her and find someone else.

I'm happy to pay £10-12. Thanks all.

It depends - if you want loyalty and a long term cleaner, and someone who wants to keep your business, then no, it's about average, maybe a bit under. If you don't care if she moves on, then sure, pay less.

i am outside london and pay £8ph. i would have been prepared to pay £10ph

I'm in London- pay £35 for 4 hours.

I'm looking for a cleaner at the moment and am struggling. I am in the East Midlands and have previously paid £8 - £9.50 ph. Would go to £15 at a stretch. The only agency that called me back charges £26 ph. Yes, thats right, £26! I almost fell off my chair in shock.

I think it can be sometimes counter-intuitive - you'd expect London to be more expensive but actually, there is a lot of competition so that keeps prices around the £10-£12 mark.

That's what my parents pay by it she's amazing and does EVERYTHING even oven cleaning and window washing. She pays her stamp too iirc.

I pay £8. I found her through an agency but she also did private work so I took her on privately.

It's a lot until she has proven her worth. Some cleaners are well worth that as they really move and get stuff done, they are bloody good at what they do and can achieve a lot in an hour. Some, however, are just taking the pee. Does she come very highly recommended through friends or through an ad?

I suspect she hasn't been told she undercharges people but is saying that so you think you are getting a good deal.

Sounds expensive to me. We paid £9 ph till recently, London/Surrey.

I'm in the north east and pay £10 ph but she supplies all her own products and equipment.

I pay £14ph, but that is with 2 of them for 2 hours. They do an amazing job and my house is cleaned from top to bottom with the exception of DHs office :)

FYI the London minimum living wage is £8.80/h. This is usually for people who are in settled jobs - for people like cleaners who work two hours here, two hours there, and who aren't paid for their travelling time, it obviously needs to be higher.

Nobody gets paid for travelling time and there's no other outlay in doing the job if using clients' products.

Nobody gets paid for travelling time, but if you work in one place all day the you don't NEED to be, you can go to the place, work your paid hours, and go home. If you work 2 hours in one place, 2 hours in another, etc, then the same number of paid hours will take a lot longer.

So you need to earn more per "paid" hour to get the same per "hour out f the house"".