TL;DR. The Real Living Wage rose to £14.10 an hour across the UK and £15.45 in London on 15 October 2026, which pushes up the cost of every labour heavy cleaning contract. At the same time new public cleaning work keeps coming to market, including a £4.6m three year schools contract in the north west, so demand for reliable cleaners stays strong.
October 2026 was a busy month for anyone in UK cleaning. Wages moved, big contracts opened, and the wider market held firm despite tight margins. Here is a plain English roundup of the real news, with sources, and what it means whether you are hiring a cleaner or looking for cleaning work.
Key facts
- The Real Living Wage is now £14.10 an hour UK wide and £15.45 an hour in London, announced on 15 October 2026 by the Living Wage Foundation. Accredited employers have until 1 May 2027 to pay it.
- The statutory National Living Wage has been £12.71 an hour for workers aged 21 and over since 1 April 2026.
- 39 public sector cleaning tenders were open in the UK on 27 October 2026, with 690 cleaning contracts awarded in the previous twelve months, according to Tender Radar.
- A three year schools cleaning contract worth about £4.6m excluding VAT opened on 22 October 2026 for The Dean Trust, covering 11 schools across Manchester, Trafford, Knowsley and Wigan.
- The UK cleaning services market is worth around £19.5bn in 2026, per IBISWorld.
Wages went up again
The Living Wage Foundation set its new voluntary rates on 15 October 2026. The Real Living Wage is now £14.10 an hour across the UK and £15.45 an hour in London. It is voluntary, so only accredited employers must meet it, and they have until 1 May 2027 to do so. The statutory floor, the National Living Wage, has been £12.71 an hour since April 2026 for workers aged 21 and over.
Why this matters for cleaning. Labour is roughly 90 percent of the cost of a cleaning contract, so when pay rates climb, prices follow within a year. Facilitate Magazine reported earlier in 2026 that National Living Wage increases of about 40 percent in recent years have squeezed contractor profitability, even as sales per employee rose around 10 percent. If you buy cleaning, expect wage driven price reviews at renewal. If you clean for a living, this is the backdrop to asking for a fair rate.
Public contracts keep opening
The public sector is still a steady buyer. Tender Radar listed 39 open UK cleaning tenders on 27 October 2026 and counted 690 awards over the previous year. The suppliers named on the most awards were Churchill Contract Services, CleanTEC Services and Crystal Facilities Management.
One headline opportunity stood out. On 22 October 2026, The Dean Trust, a multi academy trust, published a tender for regular and periodic cleaning across 11 of its schools in Manchester, Trafford, Knowsley and Wigan. The estimated value is about £4.6m excluding VAT over three years, starting September 2027, with a submission deadline of 4 December 2026. Contracts like this often pass between suppliers under TUPE, which is why incumbents and challengers watch renewal dates so closely.
The wider market held firm
IBISWorld put the UK cleaning services market at around £19.5bn in 2026. Growth has been slow, held back by competitive tendering and the shift to hybrid working, which concentrates office cleaning on busier attendance days. Specialist cleaning is one of the brighter spots, with industry forecasters expecting activity to grow over the next few years as buyers move toward higher value services.
The theme across all of it is the same. Demand for cleaning is not going away, but buyers want reliability, clear specifications and fair pricing, and cleaners want steady work at a rate that keeps up with the cost of living.
What this means if you want to hire a cleaner
Ask any contractor what it pays its staff and whether it is accredited to the Real Living Wage. A firm that pays well tends to keep its cleaners, and stable teams do better work. Get a written specification so you can compare like for like, and check how your contract handles wage driven price reviews so a renewal does not surprise you.
You do not need a big budget to find good help. On CQD New Gen you can post a cleaning job for free, describe exactly what you need, and hear from local cleaners directly. There is no commission and no agency markup.
What this means if you clean for a living
Rising wage benchmarks are on your side. Know the numbers, £14.10 UK and £15.45 in London for the Real Living Wage, and use them when you talk about rates. Public contracts and private clients are both active right now, so there is work for cleaners who show up reliably and communicate well.
Finding that work should be simple. CQD New Gen lets you create a free profile and apply to local cleaning jobs directly, with no fee to join and no cut taken from what you earn.
FAQ
What is the Real Living Wage in the UK in 2026?
From 15 October 2026 the Real Living Wage is £14.10 an hour across the UK and £15.45 an hour in London. It is a voluntary rate set by the Living Wage Foundation, and accredited employers have until 1 May 2027 to pay it.
How is that different from the National Living Wage?
The National Living Wage is the statutory legal minimum, £12.71 an hour for workers aged 21 and over since 1 April 2026. The Real Living Wage is higher and voluntary, based on the actual cost of living.
How many cleaning contracts are open in the UK right now?
Tender Radar listed 39 open public sector cleaning tenders on 27 October 2026, with 690 cleaning contracts awarded over the previous twelve months. New notices appear across the government portals every week.
How much does it cost to post a cleaning job on CQD New Gen?
It is free. You can post a cleaning job, describe what you need, and hear from local cleaners directly, with no commission and no agency markup.
I am a cleaner. How do I find work?
Create a free profile on CQD New Gen and apply to local cleaning jobs directly. There is no fee to join and no cut taken from what you earn.