Updated 22 October 2026 · Avenclear Cleaning
Typical hourly rates in 2026
Contract cleaning companies usually charge between about £18 and £25 an hour outside London, and more in London and for specialist work such as clinical cleaning. The rate has to cover far more than the cleaner's pay.
From 1 April 2026 the National Living Wage for workers aged 21 and over is £12.71 an hour. The voluntary Real Living Wage, announced on 15 October 2026, is £14.10 an hour across the UK and £15.45 in London, with accredited employers given until 1 May 2027 to pay it. A contractor that pays the Real Living Wage will charge more, but tends to keep staff longer, which shows in the quality of the clean.
What goes into the hourly rate
- Wages, at or above the legal minimum.
- Holiday pay. Workers are entitled to 5.6 weeks of paid leave a year, which the rate must fund.
- Employer National Insurance on earnings above the secondary threshold.
- Workplace pension contributions for eligible staff, at least 3% of qualifying earnings.
- Supervision and cover for sickness and holidays, so the site is never left uncleaned.
- Equipment, chemicals and insurance, including public and employers' liability.
- Overheads and margin: recruitment, training, vetting, management and profit.
Taken together, these on-costs typically add 50% to 80% on top of the basic wage, which is how a minimum-wage clean ends up near £20 an hour.
Worked monthly examples
These figures use the same assumptions as our online estimator: an office cleaned at about 2,200 sq ft per hour, a charge of £21.50 an hour and 4.33 weeks in a month. They exclude VAT and periodic tasks such as carpet extraction.
| Office size | Cleans | Approx. monthly cost |
|---|---|---|
| 2,000 sq ft | 3 a week | £419 |
| 2,000 sq ft | 5 a week | £699 |
| 5,000 sq ft | 5 a week | £1,059 |
| 10,000 sq ft | 5 a week | £2,117 |
| 20,000 sq ft | 5 a week | £4,235 |
What makes a quote higher or lower
- Frequency. Five cleans a week cost roughly five times one clean, minus a little for set-up time.
- Room mix. Washrooms, kitchens and clinical rooms take longer per square foot than open-plan desks.
- Clutter and occupancy. A busy, full office takes longer than a half-empty hybrid floor.
- Access hours. Narrow windows, for example a 6am to 7am slot, can need a bigger team for a shorter time.
- Location. London wages and travel costs push rates up.
How to compare quotes
Ask every contractor to price the same written specification, listing each room, task and frequency. Then compare the hours each one is allowing as well as the price. A quote that is much cheaper usually allows fewer hours, and the missing time shows up as skipped tasks a few months in. Our guide to writing a cleaning specification explains how to set one out.