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Going rates: GBP 13-18/hr independent, GBP 16-22 via agencies (insurance and cover included in the margin), London on top. The buying-time frame is the honest one: if your free hours are worth more to you than the rate: earning, parenting, or just not spending Saturday morning on the bathroom: the maths works. Etiquette that keeps good cleaners: pay holidays for regulars, don't pre-clean (but do tidy: clutter is billed by the hour), and the Christmas bonus week is standard.
What The House Cleaner Cost Calculator Works Out
- Per year: hourly rate x hours per visit x visits per year (52 weekly, 26 fortnightly, 12 monthly). Independent cleaners charge about GBP 13 to GBP 18 an hour, agencies GBP 16 to GBP 22 with insurance, vetting and holiday cover priced into the margin, and London adds its usual premium. A weekly three-hour clean runs GBP 2,000 to GBP 2,800 a year.
- Hours bought back: hours per visit times visits, about 156 hours a year for a weekly three-hour clean. The valuation of those hours is genuinely personal, which is why the calculator prints the trade rather than a verdict.
- The honest test: the cost per reclaimed hour. A cleaner is cheaper than most things bought to feel better and dearer than doing it yourself; the unused gym membership and the takeaway habit usually audit worse per hour of satisfaction.
- Cleaning products you supply (advanced): independents often expect you to provide products and equipment, typically GBP 1 to GBP 3 a visit; agencies usually bring their own.
- Travel or minimum call-out (advanced): some cleaners charge a travel fee or a minimum per visit, which matters most on short fortnightly or monthly visits.
- Paid holiday and Christmas bonus (advanced): the retention etiquette for a regular cleaner is to pay for their holiday weeks and to give a bonus week's pay at Christmas. Good cleaners are scarce; this is what keeps them.
- One-off deep cleans (advanced): an end-of-tenancy, pre-sale or spring reset at GBP 15 to GBP 25 an hour, entered as a yearly total on top of the regular slot.
- All-in cost, per month and true cost per hour (advanced): everything above added together, divided by 12 for the budget, and divided by the hours bought back to show what each hour really costs against the headline rate.
- Against your own time (advanced): enter what your hour is worth (your post-tax hourly pay, or whatever you would honestly pay to not do it) and the card says whether the hours bought back are worth more than the all-in cost, or shows the break-even hourly value if you leave it blank.
- Employment status: a cleaner working only your hours with your equipment drifts toward employment obligations; a self-employed cleaner with several clients, or an agency, keeps the arrangement clean. Cash in hand carries both parties' risks.