How Much Does a Cleaner Cost?

How Much is a Cleaner in 2025?

The key question everyone has is - how much does a cleaner cost? Well, this all depends on what type of cleaning you require.

Professional home cleaning services include:

• Regular cleaning.
• Deep cleaning.
• End of tenancy cleaning.

There are also commercial cleaning services available, with agencies and independent cleaners often offering both commercial and domestic cleaning.

On average, the professional house cleaning cost per hour is between £15 and £25. However, this can vary depending on the type of service you choose and where you are in the country, among other factors.

Cleaning Services Cost List

The table below breaks down the cost of cleaner prices:

Additional Cleaning Costs

There are a few additional costs that could crop up with a professional cleaning service. The cleaners you employ will provide their own specialist equipment, cleaning equipment and chemicals, should they be required.

If you live quite far away from the company you employ, maybe in a rural area away from towns and cities, you may incur some additional travel expenses, but these will always be discussed upfront.

There may be some occasions when you want extra tasks completed. The following will cost extra and may be undertaken by different people:

Oven Cleaning

Regular oven cleaning is an integral part of keeping your kitchen clean, but it requires more intensive labour and chemicals than regular cleaning tasks.

The typical oven cleaning cost is around £70. However, expect variations if you have a non-standard oven.

Carpet Cleaning

Another specialist task is carpet cleaning, often via the method of deep steam cleaning.

The cost of carpet cleaning will depend on the size of the room and whether any of the carpets are delicate enough to need extra care. Typically, owners of a 3-bed property would pay around £200 to have all their carpets cleaned.

Window Cleaning

Professional window cleaning for the outside of your home can improve its brightness and the lifespan of your windows.

Again, the overall window cleaning cost will depend on how big your home is and how much work needs to be done. On average, though, it's priced at between £10 and £25 for an average-sized 3-bedroom home.

How Much Do Cleaners Charge?

Cleaning services are essentially entirely labour-cost-based as there are no materials to budget for.

As we've explained, the typical cost of hiring a professional cleaner will be between £15 and £25 per hour. Yet, if you have a large house, the hourly rate can add up quickly.

When you book a cleaning service, they will be very clear about what is included in the price they provide at the quotation stage.

It is at this stage that you can outline the regular jobs that you want to complete, and they will work out the likely time that this would take.

They may require a rough size of the home and rooms, and they may even do this in person to provide the most accurate price. Of course, at this stage, the price can change as you agree with the cleaning company on what jobs you want to complete each week.

What Impacts House Cleaning Prices?

There are a few things that can impact the price of professional cleaning services.

Firstly, the location of your home can impact the price of professional cleaning services. If you live in a rural area, there may be travel incorporated into the price, and large urban areas may have quite a lot of demand, which could drive prices up slightly.

Next, the size and condition of the space can impact the price. If there is a lot of ground to cover, you will need the cleaner for longer, and if there is a lot of clutter, it will take the cleaner longer to finish the job.

The frequency of the service will also affect the price, although some cleaning companies may offer deals for cleaning booked in bulk and guaranteed over a period of time.

Agency or Independent

Independent cleaning services and agency cleaning services differ slightly in price.

Agencies have a bank of cleaners in employment, meaning they usually have better availability, particularly for late notice cleans or additional requirements.

The reason this is more expensive by a small margin is due to the admin team that drives the bank of cleaners, such as reception staff, schedulers, financial teams and others, not to mention marketing campaigns and other similar expenses.

Conversely, independent cleaning services are often cheaper because they have a smaller team with fewer overheads and outgoings. While you may struggle with any late notice bookings, you will get a cheaper and more personal service from the same person each and every time.

What Types of Cleaning Services Are There?

Most cleaning services will have a rate list based on the type of cleaning you need and how often you want cleaners to visit.

Here are some examples:

1. Regular Cleaning: This is cleaning that can be booked in as often as you like and covers whatever general cleaning you want to do each week/fortnight. Typically, this will involve vacuuming, cleaning windows and surfaces, and doing anything else that doesn't require more intricate work. This is priced at an hourly rate, somewhere between £15 and £25 per hour, depending on the company and location.
2. Deep Cleaning: This is for everything missed during regular ongoing cleaning. Think about all the grimy areas of bathrooms and kitchens, skirting boards and under sofas and pretty much anything else hiding in a nook or cranny or hard-to-reach area. Wondering how bad this could be? Run a finger over the top of the nearest bookcase! Again, this is priced at an hourly rate, somewhere between £20 and £30 per hour.
3. End of Tenancy Cleaning: In order to receive back your tenancy deposit from a rental home, you usually need to hand back the property in very good condition. Landlords are notorious for taking a chunk of the deposit to cover a professional cleaning, and more often than not, you can get a better deal doing this beforehand! This type of clean is similar to a deep clean, but with an empty property to ensure it is spotless for handover. The end of tenancy cleaning cost is often a fixed rate depending on the size of the property, usually between £90 and £300.
4. Commercial Cleaning: This is the same as regular cleaning, but in a commercial setting. This is priced at the same rate of between £15 and £25, but remember that the size of the property to cover is usually much larger.

Bear in mind that infrequent cleaning may end up costing more over the long run if dust and grime are allowed to build up. Regular cleaning on a set schedule will help keep your home free of dirt without the need for an intensive clean.

What are the Benefits of Hiring a Professional Cleaner?

Here are some benefits of a professional cleaner:

Convenience and Time Savings

For busy households, especially those households with children and working adults, cleaning the home to a good standard is, and always has been, difficult. Usually, these deep cleaning tasks are reserved for weekends when people would much rather be doing something much more fun. As such, these households have turned to professional cleaners to keep their home clean.

Outsourcing in Commercial Spaces

The majority of UK businesses now opt for outsourced cleaners to keep their offices and facilities clean. Previously, a full-time cleaner may have been employed, which comes with much greater expense and responsibility. Additionally, having specialised cleaning companies on hand becomes very helpful for companies to ensure they have a clear and actionable green cleaning policy for their ESR.

Employment and Economic Growth

By hiring and utilising professional cleaning services, you are helping a growing industry continue to grow and contribute to the economy. Since 2013, there has been a 21% increase in turnover for the cleaning services industry, and this number continues to increase.

The pandemic that the world faced only a few years ago raised awareness about the importance of cleanliness and hygiene. This has, in turn, led many businesses and people to prioritise this more frequently to ensure safe environments. As a result, cleaning companies have been much more in demand to help achieve this increased level of cleanliness.

DIY vs Professional Cleaning

Of course, you can always opt to clean your home yourself and save yourself some money each week. However, many people find that the price they pay is more than worth it for the time and effort they save.

Here are some things to consider when considering whether to hire a professional cleaner:

• The level of cleaning that professional cleaners can achieve far exceeds that of non-professionals.
• They have the skills to clean quickly and efficiently.
• DIY cleaning is not always feasible from a time and skill perspective.

Ultimately, while you can clean your house yourself, you need to weigh up the time and effort it takes against the cost of a professional cleaner's help.

Compliance and Regulations

You may be surprised to find out that in the UK, professional cleaners are subject to quite a few regulations and certification requirements in order to achieve a high standard of service and safety.

While not a legal requirement to possess certain qualifications, several best practices and industry standards are adopted by professional companies and often laid out by organisations like the British Institute of Cleaning Science (BICSc), the Cleaning & Support Services Association (CSSA), and the British Cleaners Association (BCA).

Here are some of the key regulations and certifications that apply:

• Health & Safety: Professional cleaning businesses in the UK must adhere to the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (COSHH) regulations. This regulation requires cleaning companies to control risks associated with any of the chemicals that they may use. The purpose of this is to ensure the safe handling, storage, and disposal of chemicals.
  
  
• Insurance Requirements: Professional cleaning businesses must have public liability insurance to cover any potential third-party claims and employer’s liability insurance if they employ staff. Essentially, these insurances protect against claims of property damage or injury and are essential for avoiding financial risks for both the customer and the business or person providing services.
  
  
• Industry Certifications: Now, this one isn’t mandatory. However, certifications from BICSc or membership with CSSA or BCA can enhance a company’s credibility, so you may find that many advertise that they possess them. BICSc offers a “Cleaning Professionals Skills Suite,” which outlines competency standards for cleaning tasks, and CSSA membership, which requires adherence to a code of practice. It also offers resources to support industry best practices.
  
  

FAQs

Finding and Hiring a Cleaner

Finding and hiring a cleaner is probably the most important aspect of the journey. You need to make sure that you pick someone who you get a good feeling with, has great references, and you are comfortable having in your home.

Nowadays, it's really easy to find a cleaning company to service your home due to the massive amount of resources available online. Firstly, you can use websites like Trustpilot and Yell, amongst others, that will provide you with companies that service your area along with helpful customer reviews, ratings, and services offered, and you can filter the results based on a number of things.

As mentioned earlier, keep an eye out for professional affiliations such as BICSc or the CSSA. Memberships with these organisations often mean that the company or individual adheres to specific standards and codes that will assure quality.

There are many helpful apps and websites like Helpling and Housekeep that will make it easy to book vetted cleaners for residential services - you can even fill in a short form for a more accurate quote. For commercial cleaning, there are similar websites that can be found on search engines that provide the same resources.

Word of mouth can never be underestimated when it comes to finding services for your home. Personal recommendations are unbiased, and you can make them directly through social media platforms like Facebook.

An important thing to note is to get more than one quote. Don’t just settle for the first price you receive, as you may find that another cleaner suits your needs better or can offer a better price based on your area and requirements. It won’t take long to get 4-5 quotes using the tips above, so make sure you’re not paying more than you need to.