domestic

Domestic cleaning, regular and one-off

A domestic cleaner charges £15 to £22 an hour across most of the UK and £20 to £30 in London, with two hours the usual minimum visit. A three-bedroom house takes three to four hours to clean properly, which is where most weekly arrangements land.

A living room part vacuumed, with a caddy of bottles on the floor and a cloth at the window

What this covers

What it costs. A domestic cleaner costs £15 to £22 an hour outside London and £20 to £30 inside it. Full cost breakdown.

What the job covers

Weekly or fortnightly cleaning of an occupied home
Kitchens: worktops, hob, sink, front of units and the floor
Bathrooms: bath, shower, screen, WC, basin and mirrors
Dusting, vacuuming and mopping through the living rooms and bedrooms
Changing bed linen and putting a wash on where that is agreed

What is involved

The work is a fixed round done on a repeating visit, and what makes it work is that the scope is agreed rather than assumed. A cleaner given three hours for a three-bedroom house cannot do every room to the same standard every week, so the arrangements that survive usually have a fixed weekly core, the kitchen, the bathrooms and the floors, with a rotating extra on top: bedrooms one week, the oven and the fridge the next.

Time spent tidying is time not spent cleaning, and it is the single biggest reason a regular clean disappoints. Clearing worktops and floors before the visit can be the difference between a bathroom being cleaned and being wiped.

Products and equipment vary by arrangement. Many cleaners use what is in the house, some bring their own and charge a few pounds a visit for it, and either is normal. What matters is agreeing which before the first visit rather than discovering it on the third.

Choosing someone for the job

Ask who will actually come and whether it will be the same person each week, because continuity is most of what makes this work: the second visit is always better than the first.

Ask to see a public liability insurance certificate. It is one page and any insured business can send it in a minute. If anybody other than the owner will be in your house, ask for employer's liability too, which is a legal requirement once a business has employees.

Then settle the dull things in writing: the notice period, what happens to a cancelled visit, and how holidays are handled. Almost every arrangement that ends badly ends on one of those three.

Common questions

How long should a regular clean take?

Two to three hours for a two-bedroom flat, three to four for a three-bedroom house, four to five for a four-bedroom house. Less than that is a maintenance visit rather than a clean, which is a fine thing to buy as long as both sides know it.

Do I need to be at home?

Not usually, and most regular arrangements end up on a key or a code. Be there for the first visit, though, so you can walk the property together and say which rooms matter most to you.

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