How to hire
Match the cleaner to the job first. A regular home clean covers dusting, vacuuming, bathrooms and kitchen surfaces on a weekly or fortnightly visit; a deep clean reaches behind appliances, inside cupboards and into grout and descaling; an end-of-tenancy clean works to the inventory, usually including the oven, inside cupboards and interior windows [7]. Ovens, carpets, windows and clearances are specialist jobs with their own kit — say which rooms, how often, whether pets are in the house and what extras the visit must include.
Telford and Wrekin adds local detail worth knowing. The borough holds eight conservation areas, including the Severn Gorge and Wellington, with most of the Ironbridge Gorge World Heritage Site carrying the same protection [10] [13]. Exterior work on older cottages can need consent, so raise listed status and conservation-area rules with the firm before ladders go up. For clearances, the council runs a bookable bulky-item collection for borough homes [8], and its two recycling centres at Hortonwood and Halesfield take household waste most days of the year [9]. Where a clearance needs a skip on the road rather than the drive, the skip firm must hold a council licence with public-liability cover [11].
Match the quote to the street. Wellington's historic core and the older terraces of Dawley and Madeley bring narrow stairs, small rooms and soot-blackened flues that slow a deep clean, while cottages around Ironbridge add low beams, uneven floors and tight lanes with little parking [10]. Lawley's newer village streets cut the other way, with fresh paint, fitted kitchens and easy drives that suit a fixed-price regular visit [12]. Say which kind of home you have in the first message, with photos of the awkward rooms, so the figure reflects the property rather than the postcode.
Know that domestic cleaning has no mandatory register to check. Voluntary signals still help: some firms state trade-body or safety-scheme membership on their websites, which you should confirm on the scheme's own site rather than trusting a logo — SafeContractor, for example, certifies contractors on health and safety practice [3]. For any clearance or waste removal, search the firm's name on the Environment Agency public register of waste carriers before it loads anything [1]. Ask what training sits behind any badge a firm shows.
Check who will hold a key to your home. If you hire a self-employed cleaner directly, you cannot request a criminal-record check on them yourself — they must request their own check and show you the certificate, so ask to see it and whether it sits on the update service for re-checking [2]. Agencies sending staff should be able to say in writing what checks their cleaners have had. Take up one recent local reference you could verify, and agree key-holding and alarm arrangements before the first visit.
Check the business behind the brand. A Companies House search shows whether a limited company is active, where it is registered and what it files, as with the Halesfield firm topping this table [4]. Ask for public-liability cover confirmation in writing, and where a firm sends employees rather than the owner, ask for its employer cover too. File the replies with the quote — a strong firm answers both questions without fuss.
Get two itemised written quotes on the same scope so you compare like with like. Each quote should list the rooms and tasks, the hours or the fixed price, who supplies products and equipment, the VAT position, arrival and cancellation terms, and for tenancy work whether a return visit is included if the inventory fails it [6] [7]. Guide prices move with property size, condition and frequency, and agencies usually charge more than independents [6]. Treat an outlier far above or below the rest as a question, not a bargain.
A typical job runs the same course. First contact states rooms, frequency, pets and extras, with photos where condition matters. The firm replies with questions or a visit, then a written quote on a fixed scope. You confirm dates, access and key arrangements, and the clean goes ahead against the list. Afterwards you walk the rooms together, tick off the checklist and settle the invoice, raising anything missed the same day.
A written quote should name every room and task, the hours or the fixed price, who supplies products and machines, the VAT position, arrival and cancellation terms and, for tenancy work, the return-visit promise [6] [7]. At the end, keep the itemised invoice beside the quote with the signed checklist and dated photos of the judged spots, such as the oven and descaled fittings. Where money changes hands in cash, take a receipt on the spot. Paperwork of this kind turns most disagreements into short conversations.
On the last visit, walk the rooms against the quote before you pay, tick off the checklist together and keep the signed list with the itemised invoice showing the VAT. Photograph anything the inventory will judge, such as the oven interior and descaled fittings. If something is missed, raise it the same day against the written scope. If a dispute will not settle, the Citizens Advice consumer pages set out your options step by step [5].
Pricing
As of autumn 2026, rough Telford ranges run like this: regular home cleaning from around £25 an hour, with a three-hour weekly visit at about £75 [6]. A second guide puts regular cleaning at £12–£30 an hour depending on whether you hire an independent cleaner or an agency, so treat the top of that span as the Telford norm rather than the bottom [7]. These are guide figures for a standard clean, not quotes.
One-off work costs more because it takes longer. Deep cleaning runs about £20–£37 an hour [7]. End-of-tenancy cleans are usually priced per job at roughly £100–£500, with one guide averaging £300 and another spanning £80–£400 [6] [7]. Single extras sit on top: an oven clean at about £40–£80 per appliance, a small-room carpet clean at £50–£75, and a window clean at £20–£70 a session [6] [7].
Property size and condition move the price most: a cluttered three-bedroom semi takes longer than a tidy flat, and a first deep clean before regular visits start is normal rather than upselling [6]. Frequency matters too, since weekly visits work out better value than occasional catch-ups, and agencies charge more than independents for cover and overheads [6] [7]. Telford usually sits below London and South East prices [6].
Ask whether VAT is included or added on top, since guide tables and quotes do not always match — one national table states its figures include VAT [6]. Get the scope in writing before work starts: exactly which rooms, tasks and extras are included, who supplies products and equipment, what a return visit costs if the inventory fails the clean, and what changes the price if the job runs over. Agree payment on completion after the walk-through, and keep every quote and invoice together.
For a regular visit, frequency and clutter move the figure: weekly beats fortnightly for value, and a tidy flat takes less time than a busy family semi [6]. A first deep clean resets the clock higher, since descaling, grout work and cupboard interiors swallow time, and products supplied by the cleaner usually lift the rate [7].
For an end-of-tenancy clean, size and condition set the job price, with the oven, carpets and interior windows as the extras that stretch it [6] [7]. Furnished lets take longer than empty ones, and any return visit after a failed inventory belongs in the quote. Single-service visits price by the unit: ovens by appliance and condition, carpets by room size and staining, windows by count and ladder access [6].
Red flags
Quotes an end-of-tenancy clean without asking the property size, whether the oven is included or what the inventory requires.
Gives no business name, address or phone number you can match across its website and its listings.
Claims scheme or safety membership but names nothing you can check on the scheme's own site [3].
Offers clearance or waste removal with no registration you can find on the Environment Agency public register [1].
Asks for full payment in cash before starting, with no written quote or terms.
Gives one fixed price for a large job with no breakdown of tasks, hours and VAT [6].
Will not put the scope, price and arrival time in writing before lifting a cloth.
Arrives with no products or equipment and expects to use whatever sits under your sink.
Cannot say who will attend each visit, or sends a different team every time without warning.