Cleaning Job. Is this the going rate ?

Tabatha_Kitten

My neighbour, who knows Ive been looking for extra work has recommended me to a lady in the village who is looking for a cleaner.
She was complaining to her about the cost of contract cleaning companies.
Its only 1 hour a week to start with helping her with jobs she struggles to do, like bending down to clean the bath, hoovering the stairs etc.
Ive never done cleaning before as a job but Im sure 20 years running round behind my OH gives me the relevant qualifications.
She is offering £9.50 per hour and will supply the cleaning products.
Any there any private cleaners out there ?
Does this sound a good deal ?
Any hints/tips you can give me. Pitfalls you can see ?

a11waysindebt

That sounds about what I will be charging including materials,However,you need to know exactly what you will be required to do in that hour.

Zazen999

It depends on where you are I'm sure.

I pay my cleaner £12/hr. In the Midlands.

ShockingPink

The going rate round here's £7.00 an hour!

Tabatha_Kitten

The deepest darkest depths of rural Cheshire.
The lady is not incapable of doing most things herself, but she has arthritis and struggles with other things.
I guess I leave it up to her to tell me what to do each week.

pebblespop

i used to pay £8 an hour and i supplied my own products.

debtfreein4years

i used to pay £7 an hour, supply the cleanning products and pay the agency £20 a month so for 8 hours a month is added up quite quickly.

£9.50 sounds very reasonable per hour especially as she is providing the cleaning products and im assuming it will be cash in hand so no tax to pay unless you decide to go the self employed route.

it might be an idea to draw up a contract between yourselves to protect you both i.e what happens if you break something whilst dusting or bleach accidently gets spilled.

good luck

Tabatha_Kitten

OMG ! Tax !
I never thought about that. How do I go about sorting that out ?
Is one hour a week enought to be classed as self employed ?
I don't want to get in any trouble.

mcspanna

Don't panic! you have 3 months after you start earning to register as self employed...google government gateway and that should bring up everything you need!

:-)

elliep_2

The tax stuff really isn't difficult. you'll just need to keep track of how much you get paid and how much you spend, e.g. travel costs to get there, anything you end up supplying (it's not unusual for you to be expected to supply your own gloves even if she provides everything else.

I really do reccomend that discussion on what happens if somethings gets broken/spilt though. I used to clean in the midlands for £9 ph but my customer expected me to use his ancient hoover but when a wheel fell off he blamed me for breaking it. He wanted me to buy him a new dyson!!!

LeedsBurlesque

I used to do office cleaning when I was student and got around 6.50 an hour, 3hrs work, 5 times a week. It was perfect, especially if you are a bit Monica from Friends like me!