Cleaning Hourly Rate Calculator
Most cleaners set their rate by asking what the person down the road charges. This calculator works the other way round: start from the income you need, subtract the reality of unbillable time and overheads, and see the rate that actually gets you there.
Cleaning Hourly Rate Calculator
What you actually need to charge to hit your target income.
To take home £32,000 after tax
- Paid hours per year
- 1,800 hrs
- Billable hours per year
- 1,260 hrs
- Unbillable hours
- 540 hrs
- Overhead per billable hour
- £4.92
- Profit needed before tax
- £42,667
- Turnover required
- £48,867
Every £1 you charge above £4.92 an hour is profit before tax.
Why "£15 an hour" is not £15 an hour
A self-employed cleaner charging £15 an hour and working what feels like a full week rarely ends the year with anything close to £15 × 40 × 52. The gap comes from four places, and all four are predictable.
First, billable hours. Between driving to jobs, buying supplies, answering messages, quoting new clients and chasing invoices, most solo cleaners bill 25–30 hours in a 40-hour week. Second, weeks worked: take a fortnight off, add bank holidays and a couple of sick days and you are at 45 weeks, not 52. Third, overheads: insurance, fuel, chemicals and equipment come out before you get paid. Fourth, tax and National Insurance.
Run those four adjustments and a £15 headline rate is often £7–£9 an hour of genuine take-home. That is the number worth comparing against a job.
What UK cleaners charge in 2026
London and the South East typically sit £3–£6 an hour above these ranges. If you are supplying staff rather than doing the work yourself, your rate has to carry the employed cost of a cleaner plus supervision: usually £4–£7 an hour above a sole trader rate for the same job.
| Type of work | Typical hourly rate | Who charges it |
|---|---|---|
| Self-employed domestic cleaner | £15–£22 | Sole trader, own clients |
| Agency domestic cleaning | £20–£28 | Includes agency margin and cover |
| Deep clean / one-off | £25–£40 | Specialist kit and chemicals |
| Commercial contract cleaning | £16–£26 | Priced per visit or per m² |
| End of tenancy | £22–£35 | Usually sold as a fixed price |
| Specialist (carpet, jet wash, oven) | £35–£70 | Equipment-led rates |
Raising your rate without losing clients
- Give notice in writing, 4–6 weeks ahead. A dated letter or email reads as a business decision. A verbal mention on the doorstep reads as negotiable.
- Raise everyone at once, on a fixed date. Staggered increases mean you have this conversation eleven more times and clients compare notes.
- Anchor to something real. National Living Wage, insurance and fuel all moved. You do not need to apologise for arithmetic.
- Expect to lose 5–10%. If nobody leaves, your rate was too low. Losing one client in ten on a 12% increase leaves you better off and with more capacity.