Exterior window cleaning in the UK typically costs £12 to £20 per visit for a terraced house, £15 to £28 for a semi-detached and £25 to £45 for a detached, on a regular four to eight week rota. Interiors are charged separately and usually add roughly half again on top of the exterior price. A large detached property runs to £40 to £70, and a flat with communal access sits at £10 to £20.
Those are the market bands. Where a particular house lands inside its band comes down to storey count, how easy the glass is to reach, how often you book, and whether anything beyond the glass is included.
Typical prices by property
| Property | Typical exterior clean | Interior, if added |
|---|---|---|
| Flat, communal access | £10 to £20 | £8 to £18 |
| Terraced house | £12 to £20 | £8 to £15 |
| Semi-detached | £15 to £28 | £10 to £20 |
| Detached | £25 to £45 | £15 to £30 |
| Large detached | £40 to £70 | £25 to £50 |
| Conservatory roof | £30 to £80 | Quoted after a look |
| Solar panels | £40 to £120 | Not applicable |
These are typical UK ranges rather than any one company's price list. London and the south east sit at the top of every band; the north and midlands cluster nearer the bottom. A quote outside the band is worth a question: unusually cheap often means glass only, and unusually high often means something has been included that you have not spotted.
What moves the price within a band
Pane count, not room count. A window cleaner is pricing panes and the time to reach them. Two houses of the same size can differ by a third if one has been extended with a wall of bifold doors and the other has small original openings. Georgian bars and leaded lights push the number up because every small pane has edges to detail.
Storeys. Ground floor only is the cheapest work there is, and first floor is standard with a water-fed pole. Third and fourth storey work is slower and needs more pole sections and more control, so it prices higher. Above four storeys you are into rope access or a powered platform, a different trade with a different cost base.
Access. Locked rear gardens, steep plots, gravel a trolley will not roll across and cars parked tight to a bay window all add minutes. A property reachable from the front in one setup is cheaper than one where the operator breaks down and repositions three times.
Frequency. Prices assume a rota, and a rota assumes the glass is only ever lightly soiled, which makes each visit quick and predictable.
Scope beyond the glass. Whether frames, sills and doors are included is the single most common difference between two quotes on the same house.
Setting. Coastal salt, a main road and overhanging trees soil glass faster. That rarely changes the price per visit, but it shortens the interval you need, which changes the annual cost.
Interiors, and why they are quoted separately
Interior work adds roughly half again to the exterior price, and sometimes more on a property with a lot of glass.
It is separate for practical reasons rather than commercial ones. Someone has to be in, the appointment has to be at a fixed time rather than at some point on the round, and furniture and blinds have to be worked around. That is slower per pane than the exterior, where the operator works from outside.
Most households book interiors two or three times a year against a much more frequent exterior rota, so the annual figure is smaller than the per visit comparison suggests.
The first clean surcharge
Almost every window cleaner prices the first visit on neglected glass higher than the ongoing rate, commonly at one and a half to two times the standard price, or as a one-off quoted after seeing the property.
Glass that has not been touched for a year holds mineral deposits, algae on the frames and organic film that will not shift in a single pass, and frames and sills that have never been done need individual attention. That visit can take twice as long as every one after it.
Ask whether the number you have been given is the first clean price or the ongoing one, because a quote that looks cheap against a competitor sometimes turns out to be the ongoing rate with a surcharge arriving later.
Frequency is the real lever on annual cost
Per visit prices look similar across intervals. Annual cost does not.
| Interval | Visits a year | Semi-detached at £20 |
|---|---|---|
| Every 4 weeks | 13 | £260 |
| Every 6 weeks | 9 | £180 |
| Every 8 weeks | 6 or 7 | £120 to £140 |
| Twice a year | 2 | £70 to £90 with surcharges |
The last row is the trap. Two visits a year sounds cheapest, but each one is effectively a first clean on soiled glass, so the per visit price rises and the glass spends most of the year looking poor.
One-off cleans are still a legitimate purchase for a specific reason: a house going on the market, a landlord's changeover, or a first assessment before committing to a rota. They are a different product from maintenance.
Gutters, fascias and soffits
Often quoted alongside window cleaning because the same pole and vacuum equipment reaches them, and often the reason two quotes differ.
Gutter clearing by vacuum is normally a separate visit priced by property size and roof line complexity, not a line on the window round. Fascia and soffit cleaning is usually quoted per elevation or as a whole property job. Neither is included in a window price by default, so ask for them itemised if you want them, and check they have not been assumed into a number that looked high if you do not.
Conservatory roofs and commercial frontage
Conservatory roofs are quoted after seeing the structure rather than from a description. Panel material, pitch, moss load, how much is reachable from the ground and whether the ground around it will take a ladder or platform all change the job. The £30 to £80 range is a starting point, not a quote.
Commercial frontage is quoted on frequency rather than from a per visit list price. A shopfront cleaned weekly and a unit cleaned monthly can have identical glass and very different prices per visit, because the weekly job is quick and predictable and the monthly one is not. Trading hours matter too: work that has to happen before opening or after closing prices differently from work that fits any point in a daytime round. Frontage usually sits on a fixed monthly figure rather than an invoice per visit, as office cleaning does.
Getting a comparable quote
Say how many storeys and roughly how many windows. A terraced house can be priced from the address. Anything larger needs the detail or a look.
State whether you want frames and sills. Otherwise you are comparing two different jobs.
Ask whether the quote is the first clean or the ongoing rate, and what the first clean will be if they differ.
Give the interval you actually want. Asking for a price and then asking for it twice a year produces a different number.
Flag access. A locked gate, a dog in the garden or no parking is better said before the quote than discovered on the day.
Check public liability insurance. Anyone working at height around your property should hold it, and a company that hesitates to show it is telling you something.
For the method rather than the price, our window cleaning guide covers technique, intervals and the safety case, and the window cleaning service page sets out what we cover.
Frequently asked questions
Why does the first clean cost more? Neglected glass, frames and sills take substantially longer than maintenance work. The surcharge covers a visit that can take twice as long as every one after it.
Are frames and sills included? Sometimes. It is the most common difference between two quotes on the same property, so ask rather than assume.
Is it cheaper to pay per visit or on a contract? For domestic work, a rota at a fixed per visit price is the norm and there is rarely a separate contract discount. For commercial frontage, a monthly contract figure is normally cheaper per visit than ad hoc bookings.
Do I need to be home? For exterior work, usually not, provided the operator can reach every elevation. Interiors need someone in.
Does a conservatory add to the price? Yes, in two ways. The conservatory glass is extra, and it can block access to the elevation behind it.
How much is a one-off clean? Expect one and a half to two times the rota price, because a one-off is priced as a first clean on soiled glass.
Is there a minimum charge? Most have one, typically around the terraced house rate, because a round only works if each stop covers the time to get there and set up.
