There are few things more humbling than googling “end of tenancy clean near me” at 11 pm, surrounded by empty pizza boxes and a faint sense of dread.
For all the romance of living in London, few talk about the reality of keeping a flat here even vaguely presentable. Recommendations from friends are the gold standard, but unless you happen to know a domestic oracle with a spreadsheet of vetted names, finding a reliable cleaner through word of mouth can feel like chasing smoke.
This is where agencies step in. For those short on time, patience or both, a professional cleaning service can feel like an act of grace. You book online, someone shows up, and your floors sparkle. But it’s not always quite as straightforward as that. Prices vary wildly, not all services include the oven (they rarely do), and if you don’t check the small print, you may find yourself shelling out extra for things you assumed were part of the package.
Beyond the big one-off cleans – the dreaded post-tenancy scrub or the pre-Christmas panic blitz – there’s also the joyous magic of the regular domestic clean. A weekly or fortnightly visit that keeps the bathroom from going feral and the floors from gathering a visible layer of urban grit. These sorts of services are often more flexible, can be tailored to your space and schedule, and, if you’re lucky, offer continuity with the same cleaner each time. The difference it makes to your week is hard to quantify, but it’s one of those subtle shifts that add up over time.
Still, there are risks. Agencies can sometimes act as middlemen rather than actual employers, which means less control over who comes through the door. Flexibility is great until your usual cleaner is swapped last minute with no notice. Reviews can be misleading, and a gleaming website isn’t always a guarantee of service that matches.
Before booking, it’s worth being honest about what you need. A deep clean after a party? A light touch every Tuesday morning? The more specific you are, the more likely you’ll find a service that actually delivers.
Keep scrolling for our top choices for domestic cleaning services in London, and your home will be spick and span in no time at all.
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Housekeep
With a bustling network of vetted domestic housekeepers, Housekeep promises to take the hassle out of finding a cleaner who can adhere to all of your highly personal preferences. Simply pop in your postcode, fill in your desired schedule and cleaning instructions, then sit back and relax once your match-made cleaner arrives at your door. With the code NEW15, you can enjoy an up to three-hour clean for just £15.
To calculate the price of my first clean, I included optional extras like cleaning the inside of the fridge, the windows and the oven. Without the discount, a four-hour clean (the recommended timeframe given the extras that I opted for) came to a very reasonable £78. With the discount, it was an eye-wateringly impressive £34.50.
Cleaners are paid an average of between £12.50 to £13.50 per hour for a standard, non-discounted clean, which gives me peace of mind. Plus, if you choose “every week” or “every two weeks”, you’ll be matched with the same cleaner on a recurring basis. If they’re away, Housekeep will give you the option to choose a cover cleaner.
With a Trustpilot rating of 4.6 stars and almost 12,000 reviews on the platform, it’s a safe bet for the London-based lot.
Buy now, Housekeep
Fantastic Services
Not just a hub for vetted cleaners, but for gardening, removals and storage, electrical services, plumbing, locksmiths, mobile car services, pest control, and so much more – the name ‘Fantastic Services’ certainly seems fitting. Within the domestic cleaning section on their website, you can choose ultra-specific tasks like appliance cleaning, range cooker cleaning, dry cleaning, gutter cleaning and anything else you could possibly think of.
From experience, this company tends to employ cleaners who expect a tip, so do bear in mind that you’ll likely have to have a bit of cash on you when the job is complete. Regular cleaners employed through Fantastic Services are fully trained and insured with no minimum term or contract. You can also opt for eco-friendly or stronger detergents depending on your preference and the job at hand. 81 per cent of Trustpilot reviewers gave the domestic cleaning offered by Fantastic Services five stars.
Buy now, Fantastic Services
Wecasa
Featuring a rather surprising specialist line-up, Wecasa focuses on domestic cleaning as well as mobile hair, beauty and massage services at accessible price points – bringing new meaning to truly putting your feet up and relaxing. I’m a fan of the fact that there are just 30 cleaners to choose from in London. While it may make demand slightly higher, it assures me that the selection of experts available is experienced and vetted. The cleaners also all come with a myriad of personal, positive reviews each.
Buy now, Wecasa
Just Helpers
Offering brilliant cleaners who earn a fair wage thanks to their affiliation with the London Living Wage Organisation, Just Helpers was founded by Antoinette Daniel to help bring order and calm to the lives of urban city dwellers. Before starting Just Helpers, Antoinette worked with an anti-human trafficking organisation where she learned first-hand how vulnerable people are taken advantage of across UK neighbourhoods.
So, she took matters into her own hands and began a cleaning business full of vetted, fantastic cleaners to help support busy households. Though expensive, cleaners earn a fair wage, and a percentage of yearly profits is donated to charity. A signature clean starts from £24.42 per hour with a minimum of 2.5 hours per week. “Special jobs” like oven cleaning, window cleaning and carpet cleaning start at £58.
Buy now, Just Helpers
Maid2Clean
With services spread across the entirety of the UK, including all four sprawling corners of London, Maid2Clean is yet another fantastic choice for agency-led cleaning in the city. Each area has its own domestic cleaning office, featuring a selection of vetted and insured local cleaners. Regular services include all regular cleaning duties and ironing, but can be tailored to your needs, while a one-off spring clean can take up to six hours with a minimum of two permitted on a single day.
Buy now, Maid2Clean
