How much should I pay a caretaker per booking?

For topics that are specific to the UK and Ireland, please go here
Harbour Cottage
Posts: 2
Joined: Tue Oct 02, 2007 2:47 pm

How much should I pay a caretaker per booking?

Post by Harbour Cottage »

We are new to holiday letting and are on a steep learning curve - the latest challenge being how much to pay for caretaking.

We have a 3 bedroom cottage in Kent, with 2 receptions and 2 bathrooms although none of the rooms are large, and have found a local lady who is willing to act as caretaker.

She will be required to meet and greet the guests having given the place a quick spruce up before their arrival including making the beds, putting out clean towels and setting up the log fire. She would also be contactable throughout their stay should they have any problems. On the departure day she would thoroughly clean throughout, top up consumables such as dishwasher tablets or toilet roll, check that all dishes, pans etc are clean, check appliances are clean and empty, strip the beds and take away linen and towels which she will wash at home. We have provided spare sets so she will have a week in which to wash them.

Can anyone offer us some advice on what we ought to pay?
User avatar
J&J
Posts: 922
Joined: Sat Apr 14, 2007 7:54 pm
Location: Bretagne, France

Post by J&J »

Mostly, it will come down to being based upon an hourly rate. Something like £8 per hour is probably reasonable (you'll be lucky to find someone for less and may have to pay more). So . .

Pre-check house / make up beds / make-up fire etc. = 1hr
Meet & greet, allowing for a bit of hanging around = 30 mins
through clean of house on departure = 4 hours
washing and ironing = 2 hours
shopping for bits and pieces = 30 mins
retainer for emergencies = 1 hour

Total 9 hours @ £8 = £72
plus allow for electricity to wash dry and iron bedding, say £8
plus petrol to get to/from house, say £5

That's £85 in TOTAL.

Obviously for a fortnight stay the add on cost will be less
Visit to exchange laundry = 30 mins
washing and ironing = 2 hours
retainer for emergencies = 1 hour
hours = £28
plus allow for electricity to wash dry and iron bedding, say £8
plus petrol to get to/from house, say £5
Extra week TOTAL = £41


On the other hand, if you can find someone who is a bit thick and doesn't realise how much work is involved in doing the job properly then they might jump at an offer of fifty quid ! But then, someone like that might not do the job properly.
Christine Kenyon
Posts: 623
Joined: Sun Sep 19, 2004 10:58 am
Location: Glenridding, Ullswater Valley, Lake District, UK
Contact:

Post by Christine Kenyon »

Hello Harbour Cottage and welcome to the wonderful world of holiday cottages. Hope you enjoy it!

We're based in the Lake District where prices for cleaners on a Saturday start at £10.00 per hour. Defining a price for a caretaker is more difficult. It might be worth discretely talking to some of the holiday cottage letting agencies in your area and seeing what they charge. A friend of ours is letting her cottage throught one of the Lake District agencies (who do all the bookings, arrange the cleaning, etc) and I think they charge 2% of the letting fee for care taker services. This is on top of the charges for cleaning.

Hope this helps.

Christine
Harbour Cottage
Posts: 2
Joined: Tue Oct 02, 2007 2:47 pm

Post by Harbour Cottage »

Thank you J & J in Brittany and Christine Kenyon for your replies which have been very helpful.

If you would like to see our website the address is www.ramsgatecottage.co.uk.

Having just had the website designed, additional marketing arranged through cottageguide, paid the tourist board a couple of hundred pounds for a "star rating" which we are still waiting for, and finally having found a caretaker, our wonderful government decides to change the tax rules by abolishing taper relief from next April, so we are now wondering whether holiday letting is worth the hassle or whether we should let the cottage on AST which involves far less effort!

Perhaps I should start a separate post regarding UK tax changes. It's quite addictive, this forum lark...
Christine Kenyon
Posts: 623
Joined: Sun Sep 19, 2004 10:58 am
Location: Glenridding, Ullswater Valley, Lake District, UK
Contact:

Post by Christine Kenyon »

Hello Harbour Cottage. Your cottage looks beautiful. I hope your first season goes well ... whoever your tenants are. If you start a thread on UK tax law, I'll start one on the cost of Tourist Board ratings (are they really worth it?!). That's just my personal bee in my personal bonnet :P .

However, beware of the forum addiction. I've been in rehab for the last few months and thought I was cured, but here I am again. You're only ever one click away .....

Enjoy the forum!
Post Reply