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?

It is expensive. I employ a cleaner through an agency because they are then insured to work in your property, and if they have hols or decide to leave you get a replacement. I pay the cleaner directly and a quarterly fee to the agency. It's about £14 a month. I'm happy to pay this for the back up going through an agency provides. I wouldn't pay £15 an hour purely for someone to clean.

Trills - sure, but that's not really the customer's problem. As someone said up thread it will depend on area too. I imagine it's easier to get a few jobs close together in a crowded suburban area than it would be somewhere rural and prices will reflect that.

I didn't say it was the customer's problem, I was saying that it was relevant to think about travel time when considering what makes up a "living wage" for cleaners, or anyone else who works in multiple locations for multiple employers.

Archery - that's before tax and national insurance. most private cleaners take cash in hand and don't declare it.

£10 is about right for a hard working cleaner imo.

the £25 ph agencies - are you sure it's not the price for 2 cleaners together ?

It's the norm where I am I'm afraid. London is cheaper.

it's on the higher end of normal imo
we pay 10£ per hour, cleaner charges 12 if they have to supply cleaning products.

Can anyone recommend some of these cleaners to me? I am looking for someone trustworthy that will cover Central/East London and have not used a cleaner before. Also, what is the general gist of cleaning...does it include a small amount of tidying? Many thanks!

Local cleaning agency here charges £15 per hour. Private cleaners are hard to come by and charge between £10 to £12 per hour.
Derbyshire.

Depends how good she is.

I live in Edinburgh and our fabulous and lovely cleaner charges £12.50 per hour, however she does more in 2 hrs than the the previous one did in 3, so overall costs me less money.

A local company came to look round my house to quote for cleaning. They decided that they would need 2 cleaners for 4 hours a week, costing a neat £120 a week. Plus £300 for a one off "spring clean" before they start.

I wasn't even asking them to do the whole house - just the main rooms...

I declined, funnily enough...

Wow, 2x4h = 8 hours a week. So you'd work one full day just to keep on top of things. I could easily spend that time, I think, but that's because of the backlog of paperwork, garage, bedding etc. Stuff the cleaners wouldn't do.

Also, what is the general gist of cleaning...does it include a small amount of tidying?

I can only speak for my lovely cleaner but she doesn't tidy as such. If there is washing up on the draining board, she puts is away. She also tidies up my stuff on the dressing table. Other than that the house is tidy anyway. She vacuums, mops, cleans the worktops and sink in the kitchen, cleans the loos and the bathroom, dusts.

I'm a cleaner /housekeeper i not only clean I do shopping ironing dog walking appointments i.e. taking clients to doctors /dentist & personal care I'm on the south coast & charge £12.90 per hour and most of my clients are long term