Office cleaning in the UK is typically quoted between £15 and £28 per hour, with London at the upper end and regional contracts lower. For a small office, expect roughly £60 to £120 per week for a three-visit schedule. Larger contracts are often priced per square metre, commonly between £0.80 and £2.20 per square metre per month depending on frequency.
The wide ranges are not vagueness. Office cleaning prices depend far more on frequency and specification than on floor area, which is why two offices of identical size can receive quotes differing by a factor of three.
Typical costs by office size
Assuming a standard specification and cleaning outside working hours:
| Office | Visits per week | Typical weekly cost |
|---|---|---|
| Up to 10 desks | 2 to 3 | £60 to £120 |
| 10 to 25 desks | 3 to 5 | £120 to £280 |
| 25 to 50 desks | 5 | £280 to £520 |
| 50 to 100 desks | 5 | £520 to £950 |
| 100+ desks | 5, often 2 cleaners | £950+ |
Add washroom consumables, typically £15 to £60 a month for a small to medium office, unless included.
The three ways contracts get priced
Hourly. Most transparent, and the right model for small and medium offices. You buy a number of hours and know what you are getting. Rates of £15 to £28 per hour reflect wage costs, employer national insurance, holiday pay, insurance, equipment, management overhead and margin.
Per square metre. Used for larger sites. Commonly £0.80 to £2.20 per square metre per month, driven mostly by frequency. Useful for comparing across buildings, less useful for understanding what will actually happen.
Per desk. Sometimes used in serviced and flexible offices, roughly £8 to £20 per desk per month. Convenient, but it undercounts washrooms and kitchens, which are the areas that actually consume the hours.
What drives the price
Frequency, above everything. Five visits a week is not five times the cost of one, but it is roughly four times. This is the single biggest lever you control.
Washroom count. Washrooms are slow and non-negotiable. Two extra cubicles change a quote more than twenty extra desks.
Kitchen size and use. An office where everyone eats lunch at their desk is a different job from one with a canteen.
Occupancy. Hybrid working has genuinely reduced cleaning requirements in many offices. If your building runs at 50% occupancy three days a week, you may not need five visits. A contractor who does not ask about occupancy is not paying attention.
Timing. Early morning and evening are standard. Daytime attracts a premium. Weekend work attracts more.
Location and access. Central London carries higher wage costs, congestion and ULEZ charges, and parking. Sites with security clearance, sign-in procedures or difficult access cost more because the time is real.
Flooring. Carpet throughout is cheaper to maintain daily than hard floor, which needs mopping and periodic stripping and sealing.
Building type. Multi-floor buildings with lifts, or sites split across several units, take longer than a single open floor of the same area.
Periodic work, priced separately
These are almost never in the recurring price and are where budgets get caught out.
| Work | Typical cost |
|---|---|
| Carpet deep clean | £1.50 to £3.50 per m² |
| Hard floor strip and reseal | £3 to £7 per m² |
| Internal window cleaning | £1 to £2.50 per m² |
| External window cleaning | Varies with access equipment |
| High level dusting | £250 to £800 per visit |
| Upholstery, per chair | £8 to £18 |
| Entrance matting deep clean | £40 to £120 |
| Post-refurbishment clean | Quoted individually |
| Washroom deep clean and descale | £150 to £400 |
Ask for these to be scheduled and priced annually at contract stage, not requested ad hoc. Ad hoc pricing is always worse, and periodic work that is never scheduled simply never happens, which is how buildings degrade quietly over two or three years.
The hidden costs of a cheap quote
A quote significantly below the others is usually explained by one of five things.
Fewer hours. The most common. Two cleaners for one hour is not the same as one cleaner for two hours, and neither may be the ninety minutes actually needed. Always compare hours, not just price.
Consumables excluded. Soap, paper and bin liners arrive later as a separate invoice.
Subcontracted labour. The company you contracted with is not the company doing the work, which affects vetting, insurance and accountability.
Below-cost wage assumptions. If the hourly rate charged barely exceeds the National Living Wage, the arithmetic does not accommodate employer national insurance, holiday pay, insurance, equipment and any margin. Check the current National Living Wage rate on GOV.UK and work backwards. Something is being left out, and it is usually either hours or compliance.
No periodic schedule. The carpets and high level work never happen, and the building degrades over two years until you are paying for replacement rather than maintenance.
The genuine test of a quote is not the number. It is whether it comes with a written specification listing every task, its frequency, and the hours allocated.
TUPE, which affects price
If you are changing contractor and existing cleaners are assigned to your site, TUPE may require the incoming contractor to take them on at their existing terms. That constrains what a new contractor can price, and a bidder who has not asked about TUPE has probably not priced it.
Raise it at tender stage. Discovering it after award is disruptive and expensive, and it frequently results in a price increase you did not budget for.
Getting value
1. Match frequency to occupancy. If the office is empty on Fridays, do not pay for a Friday clean. Hybrid working has made this the single biggest saving available to most offices.
2. Prioritise washrooms and touch points. These are what staff and visitors judge, and what matters most for hygiene.
3. Buy periodic work as an annual package, scheduled in advance.
4. Agree a written specification and review it against reality quarterly.
5. Consider a clear desk policy, which makes desk cleaning possible and therefore worth paying for.
6. Do not tender purely on price. The cheapest contract is the one you replace in eighteen months, having paid twice and spent your own time managing the failure.
7. Review annually rather than only when unhappy. A contract reviewed regularly stays good.
Frequently asked questions
How much should I budget per employee? As a rough planning figure, £8 to £20 per desk per month for a standard specification, but check it against the hourly and area figures above, since desk count undercounts washrooms.
Is daytime cleaning more expensive? Yes, typically 10% to 25% more, because daytime hours attract higher rates and the work is slower around occupants.
Should I pay monthly or per visit? Monthly in arrears against an agreed schedule is standard and simplest for budgeting.
Do prices include VAT? Most commercial cleaning companies are VAT registered, so usually the quote will be plus VAT. Confirm it.
How often do prices rise? Annually is normal, typically tracking wage costs. A contractor who has not raised prices in three years is either absorbing increases or paying staff less in real terms.
What notice period is reasonable? One to three months for most contracts. Be cautious of long minimum terms combined with vague specifications.
