The Wage Floor Moved: Repricing Cleaning Jobs After the April 2026 Uplift

April 2026 has been and gone, but the National Living Wage uplift is still working its way through quote books, spreadsheets and the occasional awkward phone call. If you run a cleaning business, you already know the squeeze: labour is the product, and when the legal pay floor rises, every hour you sell has to carry more cost. The trick is repricing without making loyal clients feel ambushed.

At Cleaning Business Guide, our view is simple: don't wait for the margin to vanish before you act. A calm, early conversation is cheaper than a rushed price hike or a contract you cannot afford to service.

Why this uprating bites cleaning firms harder

A lot of businesses can absorb a wage increase by trimming software subscriptions or renegotiating a supplier. Cleaning firms have less wiggle room. The wage bill is the business. Even if you are a solo cleaner, the market rate for your time is shaped by employed staff costs, and clients compare your quote with what they think a cleaner 'should' cost.

There is also the on-cost stack. The National Living Wage is not the whole story. You have employer National Insurance, pension contributions, holiday pay, sick pay, training, uniforms, travel between jobs, products, equipment, insurance and admin time. If you have only ever priced off the hourly pay rate, the April 2026 uplift is a good moment to build a proper cost model.

Run the numbers before you email anyone

Start with your pay rate, then add the costs that sit on top. Here is an illustrative calculation, not a recommended price:

• Pay rate: £13.00 an hour
• Employer on-costs at 18%: £2.34
• Travel between jobs: £2.50 an hour
• Products and equipment: £1.00 an hour
• Admin, insurance, software and bad-debt buffer: £2.00 an hour
• Break-even: £20.84 an hour
• Add a 15% margin: £20.84 ÷ 0.85 = £24.52 an hour

That is the number your quote needs to clear. If you were charging £20 an hour, the old rate might have felt fine. After the wage floor moved, it may be quietly losing you money. Check your own figures rather than copying mine; the point is the method. Use a multiplier of at least 1.18 to 1.25 on pay for employer costs, then add travel, materials and overheads, then add profit. If the final number makes you wince, that is useful information.

Where the margin squeeze hides

The most dangerous jobs are not the ones that look expensive. They are the ones that look fine on the invoice but leak time. Watch for:

• Fixed-price regular cleans with no review date written into the quote
• Commercial contracts with no uplift clause, or a clause capped below real wage growth
• Unpaid travel between domestic jobs that are further apart than you pretended
• Minimum-hour bookings that routinely run over because the client adds 'just one more room'
• Old quotes still live on your website or in your email templates
• Team members doing unpaid extra checks, key runs or supply pick-ups

If you spot two or three of these, you do not have a pricing problem. You have a pricing audit waiting to happen.

Repricing domestic clients without a revolt

Domestic clients are often more understanding than we fear, provided they hear it from you first. Give notice, explain the reason in plain English, and offer a clear date. Do not bury the change in an invoice.

Email script:

Subject: Your cleaning price from [date]

Hi [Name],

Hope you are well. I am writing to let you know that from [date], the price for your [weekly/fortnightly] clean will change from £[old] to £[new]. This is because the April 2026 National Living Wage uplift has increased our staff costs, along with insurance and materials. We are keeping the same team, products and checklist. If you would like to talk it through, give me a ring on [number]. Thanks for having us in your home.

[Your name]

Phone script:

'Hi [Name], it's [your name] from [business]. I am just giving you a heads-up before the next invoice. The April 2026 wage rise has pushed our costs up, so from [date] the price will be £[new] instead of £[old]. I wanted to tell you directly rather than let it appear on a bill. Is that okay with you?'

Then stop talking. Let them ask questions. If they push back, offer a lower-frequency option or a slightly reduced scope, not a discount on the same work.

Commercial clients: timing, clauses and the paper trail

Commercial clients need more lead time. Check your contract for notice periods, indexation clauses and service-review dates. If you are mid-contract, do not simply email a higher invoice. Ask for a review meeting and bring a one-page summary: old rate, new rate, reason, effective date and options.

Script for a commercial client:

'Hi [Name], I am reviewing our contract ahead of the next billing cycle. The April 2026 National Living Wage uprating has pushed our hourly cost up. I would like to agree a revised schedule from [date], or discuss adjusting frequency or scope to keep the same budget. Can we put 20 minutes in the diary this week?'

That framing is collaborative. It says: I am not springing this on you, and I am willing to solve it with you.

A simple repricing sequence

Audit every active job. Recalculate the break-even rate. Segment clients into domestic, commercial and legacy contracts. Give notice in writing. Follow up by phone for anyone who goes quiet. Track who accepts, who negotiates and who leaves. Losing a client who was never profitable is not a failure; it is a correction.

The April 2026 uplift is a reminder that your prices are not a personality trait. They are a calculation. Keep the calculation honest and the conversation human, and you will keep more good clients than you lose.