Cost-of-living crisis - the latest challenge for domestic cleaning businesses

THE cost-of-living crisis which has impacted so many different parts of the UK economy is adding to a number of short-term and longterm challenges faced by parts of the domestic cleaning sector.

Research shows that domestic cleaning has been devalued in the UK over the long-term, with the average amount paid by a household for a house cleaner falling substantially.

In 2006, the average cost of hiring a domestic cleaner in and around London was up to £20/£25 per hour. By 2015, this had fallen to less than £15 per hour with some agencies offering cleaning services for as little as £10 per hour if booked online. It doesn’t help that people generally think the role is easy, as most people do some form of housework themselves. But it takes dedication and a keen eye to clean someone else’s home and domestic cleaners have to manage customer expectations.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, a number of domestic cleaning companies closed their doors when they could have carried on trading. They were misinformed by Government guidelines which never made this clear. Some DCA members are now back to relative normality but others have had to rethink their business and how it works for them. Some small businesses have had to completely remodel how they employ and recruit staff or use self-employed workers and subcontractors. The general feeling within the industry is that Brexit is causing problems in finding and employing staff and self-employed workers.

According to British Cleaning Council (BCC) research, before Brexit over 40% of cleaning operatives were migrants, many of whom were EU nationals. The domestic cleaning industry, like other parts of the sector, has seen many cleaning staff originally from overseas return home, leaving it struggling to fill a large number of job vacancies. Some small domestic cleaning companies are turning to family and friends to help keep these businesses running but for a few, the lack of staff has forced them to fail or close their doors.

Now the cost-of-living has risen to a 40-year high, causing disposable incomes to fall. It would seem, however, that the more affluent areas around the country are not feeling the squeeze on their pockets as much as working class parts of the UK. In some better off parts of the country, demand for domestic cleaning has returned to pre-pandemic levels but that isn’t the case everywhere.

For some households, it is not financially possible to return to the kind of lifestyle they had before the pandemic. They cannot afford the standard of living they may be accustomed to. Not everyone can get a higher paid role or take on another job as one Government minister advised people to do.

Some of the most vulnerable in the local community who, due to ill health or old age, desperately need household help for tasks like changing bed linen or cleaning the toilet, are having to give it up. Others who enjoyed a couple more hours per week free time to spend with family, friends or for themselves, are now having to spend more of their time doing household cleaning. This fall in demand for our services is putting a further squeeze on some domestic cleaning businesses.

However, the BCC is working tirelessly to win recognition and respect for cleaning and hygiene staff in the UK and to help build a robust workforce. And despite the issues and concerns our sector faces, we only need to think of the suffering caused by the conflict in Ukraine to put everything into perspective.

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The DCA is a member of the British Cleaning Council. The views of Council members are their own.