Live-in is not 24 hours
A live-in housekeeper has agreed working hours, her own room and her days off — usually two consecutive days a week. She is entitled to daily and weekly rest and to 5.6 weeks of paid holiday a year. If you need cover at night or every weekend, one person cannot do it; we help you organise it, for example with a second, part-time candidate.
What it costs
The National Living Wage (£12.71 an hour from April 2026) applies to live-in staff too, for every hour she works. In London a live-in housekeeper is usually paid between £600 and £850 a week gross, depending on hours, duties and experience. Salaries are agreed and paid gross, through PAYE.
Providing her room and meals does not replace salary: we publish salaries in money. The law allows only a small daily accommodation offset towards the minimum wage, and most families do not use it.
You are the employer
You employ her directly, as families in the UK do with domestic staff: a written statement of her terms from her first day, PAYE with HMRC (income tax and National Insurance), paid holiday of 5.6 weeks a year, a workplace pension if she qualifies, and the right insurance cover (many nanny payroll packages include employer's liability insurance). A nanny payroll service can run all of it for a small monthly fee; we introduce you to one if you wish.
Right to work
We check every candidate's right to work in the UK before we introduce her: a British or Irish passport, or a Home Office share code for settled or pre-settled status, indefinite leave to remain or a visa that allows this work. As her employer you must also check it yourself before she starts — that check is what protects you, and employing someone without the right to work can mean a civil penalty of up to £60,000 per worker.
Our fee
Meeting candidates is free. If you hire someone we introduced, our fee is one month of her gross salary, paid once, seven days after she starts. For 12 months, if it does not work out for any reason, we find you another candidate at no extra cost, as many times as needed. There are no monthly fees, and candidates never pay us anything.