Cost guide
How much does domestic cleaning cost?
A domestic cleaner costs £15 to £22 an hour outside London and £20 to £30 inside it. A weekly three-hour clean is therefore roughly £45 to £66, or £60 to £90 in London, and an agency adds £4 to £10 an hour on top of a sole trader's rate.
Typical prices
Ranges, not quotes. A quote depends on the hours you book and whether you book direct or through an agency.
| Work | Typical UK price |
|---|---|
| Hourly rate, sole trader, outside London | £15 to £22 |
| Hourly rate, sole trader, London | £20 to £30 |
| Hourly rate, agency or company | £20 to £35 |
| Weekly clean, two-bedroom flat | £40 to £70 |
| Weekly clean, three-bedroom house | £50 to £90 |
| Weekly clean, four-bedroom house | £70 to £120 |
Pay in the middle of your local range rather than at the bottom. The difference over a year is small against the cost of finding and settling in somebody new every spring, and the households that keep a cleaner for years are almost always the ones paying fairly and asking for a realistic amount of work in the time.
What moves the price
- Where you are. London and the higher-cost commuter belt run £4 to £8 an hour above the rest of the UK.
- Sole trader or agency. An agency rate carries employer's National Insurance, holiday pay, insurance and cover for sickness, which a sole trader's rate does not.
- How long the visit is. Two hours is the usual minimum, because a one-hour job with a twenty-minute drive each way does not pay.
- Whether products and equipment are supplied. Bringing them is typically £3 to £6 a visit.
- Frequency. Fortnightly visits often cost slightly more per hour than weekly ones, because more has accumulated and the round is harder to plan.
- Parking. In a permit area, a visitor permit or four hours on a meter is a real cost and is usually passed on.
Who quotes for it
135 of the 204 cleaning companies listed on this site take on domestic cleaning.
Spread across: Coventry (11), Liverpool (10), Bradford (9), Bristol (9), Nottingham (9).
Questions about domestic cleaning
What is not included in a regular clean?
Inside the oven, inside the fridge, windows other than the glass you can reach, carpets, and anything that needs furniture moved. Those belong to a deep clean, and the guide on what a deep clean includes sets out the difference.
Can I change the hours later?
Yes, and it is better to change the hours than to quietly add jobs to the same three. A scope that grows without the time growing is how a good arrangement goes wrong.