How much does cleaning actually cost in Ireland in 2026?
Every cleaning company answers this with “it depends”. It does — but not infinitely. Here are the real 2026 ranges, the legal cost floor underneath them, and the four variables that move your price.
The cost floor nobody mentions
Before any range makes sense, there is a legal floor underneath it. From 1 January 2026, the Employment Regulation Order for contract cleaning sets a minimum of €14.80 per hour for operatives in the sector — €1.30 above the €13.50 national minimum wage — with a €1.00 per hour premium for work between midnight and 6 a.m.
That is the wage alone. On top of it sit employer PRSI (roughly 11.15%), holiday accrual (8%), public holidays, equipment, consumables, insurance, travel between sites, supervision, admin and margin. By the time a compliant business quotes you an hourly figure, it is meaningfully above €14.80 — not because of greed, but because of arithmetic.
2026 price ranges by service
Ranges below reflect typical private-market pricing in Dublin and the surrounding counties in 2026. Your quote may sit outside them — condition and access are the usual reasons.
| Service | Typical basis | Typical 2026 range |
|---|---|---|
| Office / commercial | Per hour, recurring | €20–€30 per hour |
| Home cleaning | Per hour | €22–€32 per hour |
| End of tenancy | Fixed per property | €180–€420 (1–3 bed) |
| Deep clean | Fixed per property | €200–€500+ |
| Post-construction | Per m², two passes | €3–€6 per m² |
| Airbnb turnover | Per changeover | €55–€110 |
Minimum call-out charges usually apply — most providers will not send a team for less than about €60–€70 of work, because travel and setup cost the same whether the job is one hour or three.
The four things that actually move your price
A second bathroom adds more time than a second bedroom. Kitchens and bathrooms are where the hours go; bedrooms are fast.
The gap between "maintained" and "neglected" is the single biggest multiplier. A neglected oven alone can add 60–90 minutes.
Recurring work is cheaper per visit because the property never falls far from standard. Weekly and fortnightly schedules are normally priced 10–25% below one-off rates.
Third-floor walk-ups, no parking, restricted hours and night work all cost more — the last one now carries a statutory premium.
When a quote is too cheap
A cleaning quote can be low for good reasons: an efficient team, dense routing, low overheads. It can also be low for bad ones. The bad ones are worth recognising before you sign, not after.
- The hours don't exist. A "full 3-bed end of tenancy for €120" is roughly four person-hours of labour at the ERO floor. There is no room in that number for the oven, the materials, or the second operative.
- The scope is undefined. A cheap quote with no written scope will be delivered against the cheapest reading of it.
- Nothing is documented. No checklist, no photos, no record — so the shortfall never surfaces in writing.
- No insurance detail. If something is damaged in your property, that becomes your problem rather than theirs.
Getting a number you can rely on
Ask for the price and the person-hours it buys. Ask what is in scope in writing. Ask what you receive as evidence when the job is done. Any provider running a real operation can supply all three quickly — and the answer to the third question is usually the one that separates them.
Our own quote tool gives you a range in about sixty seconds from the service, property size and frequency, before you enter any contact details. The fixed price follows once the details are confirmed.