HOW TO HIRE · CLEANING

How to hire a house cleaner in the UK
The checks, the questions and the paperwork.

House cleaners need no licence anywhere in the UK. The checks that matter are yours: identity, insurance, a written list of jobs and a basic record check.

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TWO WAYS TO BUY THIS

Which do you need?

An individual by the hour

One house cleaner, booked for a set number of hours, who works through the list you give them. You pay a rate per hour, and a cleaner on their own is usually not VAT-registered, so nothing is added.

A company for the job

A cleaning firm sends a team, supervises it and works to a written scope with a price for the whole clean. It suits a large house, a one-off top-to-bottom clean, or when you need cover if someone is ill.

What changes

Rate per hour against a price for the job; one cleaner against a team; your own instructions against a written scope; and VAT at 20% from a registered firm, where a sole cleaner under the threshold adds none.

THE 60-SECOND VERSION

Hiring a house cleaner in five steps

  1. Accept that no register existsThere is nothing official to look a house cleaner up on, so you make the checks: ID, insurance, references.
  2. Write the list of jobsRooms, tasks and what is not included — the oven, inside windows, ironing — so the hours have a shape.
  3. Ask about insurancePublic liability covers a broken vase or a flooded floor. Ask who the insurer is.
  4. Talk about keys before you hand one overWho holds it, where it is kept, and a basic record check if they will be in alone.
  5. Agree the first clean as a trialThe first visit takes longer. Review it against the list before you settle a regular slot.

BEFORE YOU BOOK

Check before you book

No register applies

No licence or register applies to house cleaners in any of the four nations: anyone may offer to clean a home. That puts the weight on trader status, insurance and references, which are the checks you control.

Ask for the business name, an invoice for each clean and the name of the insurer.

A basic criminal record check

No law requires one for cleaning a home, but a self-employed house cleaner can request their own basic check — from DBS in England and Wales, Disclosure Scotland in Scotland or AccessNI in Northern Ireland — and show you the certificate.

Ask to see a recent basic check certificate before you hand over a key. gov.uk →

Cleaning products and COSHH

HSE's COSHH rules on hazardous substances apply to self-employed people who take hazardous products into other people's premises. A house cleaner who brings their own products should know what they are and how to use them.

Ask which products they bring and whether they will use yours instead. hse.gov.uk →

Self-employed or your employee

gov.uk describes a self-employed person as someone running their own business: quoting for work, sending invoices, paying their own tax and National Insurance, with no holiday or sick pay. HMRC can take its own view for tax. A house cleaner who is none of those things may legally be your employee.

Ask whether they work for themselves, clean for other households and invoice you. gov.uk →

VAT

House cleaning is standard-rated at 20%. A cleaning agency or firm over £90,000 in turnover must register, charge it and show it separately; a house cleaner working alone under £90,000 does not charge VAT and has no VAT number to give.

From a firm, ask for the VAT number and the 20% on its own line; from a sole cleaner, ask whether they are registered at all. gov.uk →

“Do you work for yourself as a cleaner, and for other households?”

A good answer: A clear yes, an invoice or receipt for each clean, and other regular clients. That is what self-employed looks like.

“Are you insured if something gets broken while you clean?”

A good answer: Public liability insurance, with the insurer named. A cleaner without it should say so, so you can decide.

“Have you got a basic record check you can show me before I give my cleaner a key?”

A good answer: Either a recent certificate, or a willingness to apply. It is not required by law, but it is fair to ask before they have a key.

“What do your hours cover, and what is extra?”

A good answer: A list: kitchen, bathrooms, dusting, floors, bins. The oven, inside windows, the fridge and ironing are usually extras.

“Do you bring your own cleaning products and equipment?”

A good answer: They say what they bring, and ask about surfaces such as marble, oak or a new kitchen before using anything strong.

“Who cleans if you are ill or on holiday?”

A good answer: An honest answer. An independent house cleaner usually just misses a week; an agency may send someone else.

“How do you want to be paid, and how much notice to cancel?”

A good answer: A stated rate, a way to pay that gives you a record, and a notice period both ways.

Getting the quote right

  • From a firm: the rooms and tasks in a written scope, with the price for the clean and the extras priced on their own
  • Who actually attends, whether they are employed or subcontracted, and who covers when they are off
  • The firm's VAT number, with VAT at 20% shown as its own line
  • Who supplies products and equipment — you or the cleaner
  • Booked by the hour instead, the house cleaner settles the rate per hour, the minimum hours and the list of rooms, with ID checked and a rating, and adds no VAT if unregistered
  • The notice period for cancelling a clean, and whether a missed clean is charged

Walk away if

  • No surname, no address, nothing you could find them by if something went missing
  • Unwilling to discuss insurance at all
  • Asks for a key before the first clean
  • Wants several weeks paid in advance, in cash
  • Will take bags of rubbish away but has no waste carrier registration
LOW
£13
TYPICAL
£19
HIGH
£25

What a house cleaner costs: £13–£25 per hour

House cleaners charge by the hour, usually with a minimum of two or three hours a visit; the first clean takes longest. House Cleaning price guide →

Guide prices compiled by the Locufy team from published Irish and UK provider price lists and 2026/27 cost guides. Updated 2026.

KNOW WHAT TO LOOK FOR? NOW FIND ONE

House cleaners near you, with the badges that matter shown

ID checked, trader status and one score from every review — on the card, before you message anyone. Nearest first. No account needed to look.

Or post the job free and let them come to you, or book by the hour.

  1. Walk round togetherOn the first visit you show the house cleaner the rooms, the products to use and anything fragile.
  2. Kitchen and bathrooms firstThe rooms where dirt builds fastest are done while the cleaner is fresh.
  3. Dust high, then lowShelves, sills and skirting, top down, so dust is not knocked onto clean floors.
  4. Floors lastVacuuming then mopping, room by room, working towards the door.
  5. Bins and a final checkBins emptied and relined, and a last look round against the agreed list.

Public liability insurance
Cover for damage to your property or injury caused by the cleaner's work.
Basic DBS check
A certificate showing unspent convictions in England and Wales; Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own.
COSHH
HSE's rules on hazardous substances, which include strong cleaning chemicals.
Self-employed
Working for yourself and invoicing clients, rather than being someone's employee.
Waste carrier registration
The registration needed to take other people's rubbish away as a business.
Descaling
Removing limescale from taps, screens and tiles — slow work in hard-water areas.

AFTER

When the job is done

Keep a record of each cleanAn invoice or a message with the date and hours. It is your proof of the arrangement and of what you paid.
Check against the listWalk the rooms after the first clean with the list in hand, and say what you want done differently.
Agree how problems are raisedBreakages reported the same day, in writing; a missed task fixed on the next visit.
Review the visitA few lines on the clean help the next household choose. If there is a problem, the make-it-right step sends it to the house cleaner before your review appears.

STEP 1Complain to the house cleaner firstSay what is wrong with the clean and what you want done about it. Under section 49 of the Consumer Rights Act 2015 the clean had to be carried out with reasonable care and skill; if it was not, you can ask the house cleaner to put it right at their own cost (section 55) or for money off (section 56).
STEP 2Use the make-it-right stepA score under four stars opens the make-it-right step: you choose whether the house cleaner gets the chance to put the clean right first, and we chase it to an end before you publish.
STEP 3Trading Standards, through the helplinesA house cleaner who will not engage can be reported through the consumer helplines, which pass cases to Trading Standards — Citizens Advice (0808 223 1133) in England and Wales, Advice Direct Scotland (0808 800 9060), Consumerline (0300 123 6262) in Northern Ireland.
STEP 4Small claims, if money is owedAn unpaid refund or repair bill from the clean goes to small claims: £10,000 is the limit in England and Wales, £5,000 in Scotland using simple procedure, and £5,000 in Northern Ireland — all designed to be used without a solicitor.

Hiring a house cleaner: questions people ask

No. No licence or register applies to house cleaners in England, Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland, which is why insurance, references and a written list of jobs matter.

It is not a legal requirement for cleaning a home. A self-employed cleaner can request their own basic check from DBS, Disclosure Scotland or AccessNI, and it is reasonable to ask before handing over a key.

Possibly, if you pay them directly and they are not self-employed. gov.uk's employment status guidance explains the test; a cleaner who works for several households and invoices you is usually self-employed.

£13–£25 an hour, about £19 typical, with London and the South East at the top. The house cleaning price guide explains the range; your town in the search box above shows cleaners who cover it.

Only if they hold public liability insurance. Ask before the first clean, and ask who the insurer is.

Only if they are registered as a waste carrier. In England and Wales you have a legal duty to hand household waste only to someone authorised to take it.

MORE GUIDES

More hiring guides in cleaning

How to hire: Regular Domestic CleaningHow to hire: Deep CleaningHow to hire: One-Off CleaningHow to hire: End of Tenancy CleaningHow to hire: Spring CleaningHow to hire: Oven CleaningHow to hire: Carpet CleaningHow to hire: Window CleaningAll 701 hiring guides →

House cleaners near you

House cleaners in LondonHouse cleaners in ManchesterHouse cleaners in BirminghamHouse cleaners in GlasgowHouse cleaners in BelfastAll house cleaners on Locufy →Do it yourself: cleaning a whole house in a day →

Sources — checked October 2026

  1. gov.uk — basic DBS check
  2. mygov.scot — Level 1 (basic) disclosure
  3. nidirect — apply online for a basic check (AccessNI)
  4. HSE — does COSHH apply to the self-employed?
  5. gov.uk — employment status: self-employed and contractor
  6. gov.uk — register as a waste carrier, broker or dealer (England)
  7. Environmental Protection Act 1990, section 34 — duty of care
  8. Consumer Rights Act 2015, section 49 — reasonable care and skill
  9. Citizens Advice — more help with a consumer issue (England)
  10. VAT rates — VAT rates for goods and services: standard rate 20% on most goods and services
  11. GOV.UK — Register for VAT: when to register