How to start a cleaning business in the UK

A cleaning business is one of the cheapest trades to start: no qualifications are required and you can begin with one client. Getting it right from day one means registering properly, insuring yourself, pricing for profit and keeping your bookings organised. Here is the UK process, with figures checked on 12 October 2026.

What are the rules for starting a cleaning business?

There is no licence for general cleaning in the UK. These are the rules that do apply:

Tax registration

Register for Self Assessment as a sole trader if you earn more than £1,000 in a tax year (GOV.UK). Tell HMRC by 5 October after the end of the tax year you started.

VAT

Register once taxable turnover goes over £90,000 in any rolling 12 months.

Employers' liability insurance

Required by law as soon as you employ someone (unless only a close family member), at least £5 million of cover. The fine is £2,500 for every day without it.

Minimum wage

From April 2026, £12.71 an hour for staff aged 21 and over.

Health and safety

Assess the risks of your work (HSE's steps: identify hazards, assess the risks, control them, record your findings and review them). Cleaning chemicals fall under the COSHH Regulations 2002.

Making Tax Digital

MTD for Income Tax applies from 6 April 2026 if qualifying income is over £50,000, from 6 April 2027 over £30,000, and from 6 April 2028 over £20,000.

Who is this guide for?

• Domestic cleaners starting out alone with regular weekly or fortnightly clients.
• End of tenancy and deep cleaning businesses that work with landlords and letting agents.
• Commercial and office cleaners who will need staff and contracts.
• Window cleaners building a round. The process is the same, with extra attention to work at height.

Which type of cleaning should you start with?

Our view: start with regular domestic or a window round if you want steady cash flow, and add end of tenancy work once you have a reputation with local letting agents.

The rules apply across the UK, but the tax deadlines here are for HMRC Self Assessment. If you plan to set up a limited company instead, read our guide to becoming self-employed for the differences.

How do you start a cleaning business, step by step?

1. Choose your niche. Domestic, end of tenancy, office, Airbnb turnovers, carpets or windows. A niche makes marketing and pricing easier. Regular domestic work gives steady income. End of tenancy pays more per job but is less predictable.
2. Pick a business structure. Most start as a sole trader. Register for Self Assessment once you earn over £1,000 in a tax year. Keep a separate bank account from day one.
3. Get insured. Public liability covers damage to a client's property or injury to the public. Employers' liability is compulsory once you hire. Clients and agents often ask to see your certificate.
4. Do your health and safety basics. Write down your main hazards (chemicals, slips, lifting, ladders) and how you control them. Keep safety data sheets for your products. HSE's COSHH guidance explains how to control hazardous substances at work.
5. Buy your kit. Start with what your first jobs need. Some domestic clients prefer you to use their own products, which lowers your costs.
6. Set your prices. Work out your costs and target profit, then compare with local rates. Fantastic Services puts regular cleaning at £13 to £25 an hour outside London and £20 to £28 in London and the South East.
7. Win your first clients. Ask friends and neighbours, post in local Facebook groups, set up a free Google Business Profile, and approach letting agents for end of tenancy work. Ask every happy client for a review.
8. Write simple terms. Cover cancellation notice, key holding, what is and is not included, payment terms and breakages.
9. Set up booking and invoicing. A diary and spreadsheet works for five clients. By 15 or 20 regular clients, scheduling software saves hours each week.
10. Hire carefully. Before your first employee, get employers' liability insurance, register as an employer with HMRC, and pay at least the minimum wage.

What should your client terms cover?

A one-page set of terms prevents most disputes. Send it with your first quote and ask clients to accept it before the first visit.

• What is included: the rooms and tasks in a standard clean, and what costs extra (ovens, inside windows, laundry).
• Cancellations: how much notice you need, and the charge if you arrive and cannot get in.
• Keys and alarms: how keys are stored, labelled and returned.
• Payment: when payment is due and how (bank transfer, card link or direct debit).
• Breakages and complaints: how to report them and how quickly you will respond.
• Price reviews: that you review prices once a year, with notice.

Starting a window cleaning business: what is different?

Window cleaning is a round business. Your profit depends on how many customers you can clean in a day, so pick streets and estates where you can win neighbours and cut driving. Three things set it apart:

• Work at height. HSE says anyone who controls work at height must plan it, assess the risks first, use competent people and provide the right equipment. A water-fed pole lets you clean upper windows from the ground, which removes much of the ladder risk.
• Payment collection. Customers are often out when you call. Direct debit removes the doorstep chase. At GoCardless's 1% plus 20p per collection, a £20 clean costs you 40p to collect, so 150 customers a month is about £60 in fees.
• Round software. Tools such as Squeegee and CleanerPlanner plan repeat visits every few weeks and link to direct debit, which general job software does less well.

What does it cost, and what are the deadlines?

Should you price per hour or per job?

Regular domestic cleaning is usually sold by the hour, because clients understand it and the scope is similar each week. One-off work is better priced per job. For example, at £18 an hour, a regular 3-hour clean is £54. An end of tenancy clean on a 3-bed house might take two cleaners 6 hours each, so 12 hours x £18 = £216 in labour before products, travel and a margin for the extra detail agents expect. Quote that as a fixed price, so the client knows the cost and you are paid for the work, not the clock.

Worked example: a solo domestic cleaner's first year

Sam starts a domestic cleaning business outside London. Sam charges £18 an hour (inside the £13 to £25 range) and builds up to 25 paid hours a week. Sam plans for 46 working weeks after holidays.

Two things to note. First, Sam's income is above £20,000, so Sam should check whether MTD for Income Tax will apply from 6 April 2028 (it is based on qualifying income in the 2026 to 2027 tax year). Second, if Sam hires a cleaner aged 21 or over at the £12.71 minimum and charges clients £18, there is only £5.29 an hour left to cover holiday pay, employer costs, travel and profit. That is why most cleaning firms with staff charge more than solo cleaners, or move into higher-value work such as end of tenancy cleans.

What are the most common mistakes?

1. Pricing too low to win clients. Low prices are hard to raise later. Price for profit from day one.
2. Not counting travel time. Three hours of cleaning with an hour of driving between clients is really four hours of work.
3. Hiring before insuring. Employers' liability is required from your first employee, not your fifth.
4. No cancellation policy. Lockouts and last-minute cancellations cost you a paid slot. Put a notice period in your terms.
5. Mixing business and personal money. It makes your tax return harder and hides whether you are making a profit.
6. Missing the 5 October deadline to register for Self Assessment, which can bring a penalty.
7. Chasing payments by text. Use invoices with payment links or direct debit from the start.

What software helps a cleaning business?

Cleaning is recurring work: the same clients, the same slots, every week or fortnight. The right software books repeat visits automatically, sends reminders, lets cleaners see their day on a phone, and takes payment without chasing.

Jobber is not built around UK certificates, but cleaning does not need them, and its booking, quoting and recurring visit features are where it shines. Trustpilot rates it 4.2 from 231 reviews (checked 12 Oct 2026). Read our full Jobber review for the UK downsides, including US dollar pricing.

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For a full comparison of cleaning tools, see our guide to cleaning business software. Starting a round? Our window cleaning software guide compares Squeegee, CleanerPlanner and the rest, and our ServiceM8 review covers the free plan in detail.