What to charge / Cleaners · Checked 29 September 2026
UK customers typically pay a domestic cleaner £13 to £25 an hour, and about £19 on average, according to the 2026 price guides from Housekeep and Fantastic Services. London costs more, end of tenancy cleans are priced by the job, and office contracts are usually quoted before VAT. Here are the figures, the costs your rate has to cover and a calculator for your own price.
Rates
| Rate | Typical range | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| An hour, domestic cleaning, UK average range | £13 to £25 [1][2] | Regular home cleaning, what customers pay. Both guides agree on this range. |
| An hour, typical domestic price | £19 [1] | Housekeep’s average, including VAT. |
| An hour in London and the South East | £20 to £28 [2] | Fantastic Services’ figure. Housekeep puts London independents lower, see below. |
| Per cleaner hour, office contract | £15 to £25 [3] | Outside London, before VAT. One-off office cleans run £20 to £30. |
| Extra an hour for out-of-hours office work | £5 to £10 [3] | Or 15% to 25% on the contract rate. |
Job prices
What customers are typically quoted, from published UK price guides. Use them as a check on your own quotes, not a fixed price list.
| Job | Typical price | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| Weekly clean, about 3 hours | £45 to £75 a visit [2] | Outside London. £60 to £100 in London and the South East |
| Weekly clean, 3 bed 2 bath home | £50 to £85 a visit [2] | 3 to 3.5 hours outside London. £70 to £110 in London |
| One-off or occasional clean | £60 to £120 [2] | Outside London. £90 to £160 in London and the South East |
| End of tenancy, studio | £100 to £120 [5] | Outside London, including VAT. £150 to £220 in London |
| End of tenancy, 2 bedrooms | £140 to £200 [5][4] | Outside London, including VAT. £180 to £280 in London. MyJobQuote’s UK average is £150 to £180, or £190 to £220 with carpets |
| End of tenancy, 3 bedrooms | £240 to £470 [5][4] | Outside London, including VAT. £300 to £590 in London. MyJobQuote: £250 to £280 with carpets |
| Oven clean | £50 to £70 [6] | Single oven. Double £60 to £80, range cooker £80 to £100 |
| Small office, 5 to 10 desks, 2 or 3 visits a week | £195 to £500 a month [3] | Outside London, before VAT. £280 to £650 in London and the South East |
Your numbers
Start from what you want to earn, add what the business costs to run, and divide by the hours you can actually charge for. Travel, quoting, paperwork and chasing payments are not chargeable hours, so be honest about them.
The starting numbers are examples, not a recommendation. Change them to match your year. The result is before income tax and National Insurance, and before VAT if you are registered.
Before you set a price
Pricing well
Regular customers understand an hourly rate and a set weekly slot. End of tenancy, after-builders and oven cleans vary too much for that, so quote a fixed price by the number of bedrooms and what is included, such as carpets, windows or the oven.
Travel between houses is unpaid time. A two or three hour minimum per visit keeps your day efficient. The published weekly prices above are all based on visits of around three hours.
Housekeep’s figures show agency cleaners charging around £2 an hour more than independents in each of the three areas it lists. If you work alone you can undercut agencies and still earn more per hour, because you keep the whole fee.
The legal minimum is £12.71 an hour for staff aged 21 and over. Holiday pay, employer costs, travel time and equipment push the true cost well above that, so an hourly price in the low teens will lose you money once you take on staff.
The National Living Wage rises every April. Review your prices at the same time and give regular customers a month’s notice. Most accept a small yearly rise far more readily than a big one after several years.
A good rate only helps if the customer reaches you. Most callers who hit voicemail ring the next name on the list. If you miss three calls a week and two in five would have become a £170 job, that is about £883 of work a month going to someone else. See what a missed call costs, or how While You Work answers calls for cleaners while you are on a job.
Questions
Customers typically pay £13 to £25 an hour for regular domestic cleaning, about £19 on average, according to Housekeep and Fantastic Services. Housekeep’s figures for independent cleaners are about £14 an hour outside London and £17.50 in London, including VAT.
Housekeep’s 2026 guide puts an end of tenancy clean at £100 to £120 for a studio, £140 to £200 for two bedrooms and £240 to £470 for three bedrooms outside London, including VAT. London prices are higher. Carpets, oven and windows are often priced on top.
Around £45 to £75 a visit outside London and £60 to £100 in London and the South East, according to Fantastic Services.
Sources differ. Housekeep puts an independent London cleaner at about £17.50 an hour including VAT, while Fantastic Services quotes £20 to £28 for London and the South East. End of tenancy work in London costs more, at £30 to £35 an hour according to MyJobQuote.
Fantastic Services quotes £15 to £25 per cleaner hour on contract outside London, before VAT, or £195 to £500 a month for a small office cleaned two or three times a week. Out-of-hours work usually adds £5 to £10 an hour.
Only once your taxable turnover passes £90,000 in a 12-month period. Most self-employed cleaners are below that, which is one reason independents can charge less than agencies.
Figures checked on 29 September 2026. Price guides change, so check the source before you rely on a figure. Where a source says whether a price includes VAT, the page says so; where it does not, treat the figure as unconfirmed on VAT.
Quote these figures
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