Know what it really takes before you start

Summary

• What it is: A self-employed round of local homes. You clean exterior windows every 4 to 8 weeks, using a traditional squeegee and bucket for lower windows and a water-fed pole for upstairs ones.
• Startup cost (estimate): Roughly £300 to £1,120 based on the supplier prices below. The low end is a traditional kit, a basic ladder and insurance. The high end adds a pure-water pole system and a trade ladder.
• Earning potential (estimate): At about £20 per house on a 4-weekly cycle, 40 regular customers bring in roughly £800 a month. 80 customers bring in roughly £1,600. Income depends on how dense your round is, and weather will cost you some days.
• Main requirement: Safe working at height and public liability insurance. Scotland also requires a council licence. England and Wales have no national licence, but check with your own council.
• Verdict: This suits someone fit, reliable and comfortable knocking on doors, who can wait a few months for a round to build. It is a poor fit if you need steady income from week one or dislike working outdoors in poor weather.

Market snapshot

Official data (Companies House, 1 November 2026): 4,923 active UK companies are registered under SIC 81221 "Window cleaning services". 1,833 of them (37%) were incorporated in the last two years. This covers limited companies only, not sole traders, and the code may include related businesses.

What this means for a newcomer:

• Most domestic window cleaners trade as sole traders, so these figures understate the real number of competitors. Official counts of sole traders are not available here.
• A 37% share of new registrations suggests people are still entering the trade. Expect competition in popular areas, and expect some of those newcomers to be larger, more organised operators.
• The service itself is low-cost and repeat-based. One quote-comparison site describes ideal cleaning frequency as every 4 to 8 weeks for homes, which is what a round relies on.
• The practical test is local. Walk your target streets and see how many vans, "window cleaner" stickers and leaflets you spot.

Startup costs

Prices below are from UK suppliers. Some are inc VAT and some ex VAT, as stated. Treat them as a guide.

Item	Typical cost	Notes
Traditional kit (bucket, squeegees, T-bar, cloth)	£30 to £125	Screwfix sells a 7-piece kit with a 15L bucket, squeegees and T-bars for £29.99 inc VAT. Unger's Ninja 6-in-1 kit is £99.00. A Magiccote kit with a 2.5m pole is £125.70.
Telescopic pole for squeegee work	£35 to £90	Unger 3.75m pole £34.99; 3-section 1.7–4.5m pole £89.99.
Water-fed pole (basic, no filtration)	£55 to £165	HydroPole 4.6m or 7m kit at £65.99 inc VAT. IGADPole kits run roughly £90 to £140.
Pure-water system (optional upgrade)	About £260	One complete kit with a 4.6m pole and purified water system is £259.99. Water-fed systems often cost several hundred pounds once you include poles, pumps and filtration.
Trade ladder (EN131 Professional)	£100 to £265	A single-section EN131-2 ladder is £99.99 and a 2-section is £194.90 at B&Q. Ladders UK Direct lists a double extension from £139.99 inc VAT. HSE recommends only BS EN131 trade and industrial ladders at work.
Public liability insurance	£80 to £250 a year	Simply Business quotes from £6.64 a month for up to £2m cover; 10% of window cleaners paid £79.65 or less a year. Suited quotes from £102 a year for £1m. One broker guide puts domestic cleaners at £100–£120 a year and those working at height at £250–£400+.
Leaflets (1,000 A5)	£37 to £81	One printer offers 1,000 A5 flyers for £37.07. Another charges £70 on 130gsm silk and £81 on 170gsm.
Sundries (cloths, scraper, belt, hip bucket)	£20 to £50 (estimate)	A hip bucket and pouch set is £22.50 ex VAT.

Total, priced items: about £300 (low) to £1,120 (high) (estimate).

• The low figure assumes a traditional kit, a basic ladder and basic insurance, with no water-fed pole.
• The high figure assumes a trade ladder, an extension pole, a pure-water system and higher-risk insurance.
• One equipment retailer says a sensible starter kit costs £600 to £1,200. That is a seller's view, but it fits the upper range.
• Not priced here: a vehicle (many start with a car, cart or bike), accounting software, and optional training.

Licences, registration and rules

• Register as self-employed with HMRC. The responsible body is HMRC, via gov.uk/register-for-self-assessment. There is a £1,000 tax-free trading allowance, and income below that usually needs no registration. You must register by 5 October after the end of the tax year in which you started. Registration is free.
• Keep records. Track income, mileage and equipment purchases. Making Tax Digital for Income Tax applies above £50,000 from April 2026, above £30,000 from April 2027 and above £20,000 from April 2028. A modest round is unlikely to hit the first threshold, but a busy one could reach the later ones.
• VAT. Most window cleaners fall below the £90,000 registration threshold. Check gov.uk/vat-registration if you grow.
• Council licence: Scotland. Most Scottish councils require window cleaners to have a licence. You may be police-checked. Working without one can mean a fine of up to £2,500. Apply through the council covering the area you will work in (gov.uk/find-licences/window-cleaners-licence-scotland). Fees vary. East Dunbartonshire charges £307 for three years. Perth & Kinross says a licence is required whether you are an employee or self-employed.
• Council licence: England, Wales, Northern Ireland. One guide says licences are required in Scotland, while England and Wales have not implemented them. Another source says some councils in Wales require permits for door-to-door work. These sources differ, so confirm with your local council before you start, especially if you plan to knock on doors. I did not find a source for Northern Ireland, so check with your council there too.
• Insurance. Most business insurance is not a legal requirement for window cleaners, but if you employ people you must have employers' liability cover of at least £5m. Public liability is still essential in practice. Ask the insurer in writing whether it covers ladders, water-fed poles and working at height.
• Work at height. Use HSE guidance (hse.gov.uk/work-at-height). Ladders can be used where a risk assessment shows that safer alternatives are not justified because of low risk and short duration. The HSE 1-in-4 rule applies to ladder angle. Do a daily pre-use check.
• Overhead power lines. Check for lines before raising any pole. Use the Federation of Window Cleaners safety guidance and HSE's GS6. The industry message is that if overhead cables cannot be avoided or controlled safely, the job must not go ahead.
• Customer data. You will hold names, addresses and payment records. UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018 apply if you process personal data. Check the ICO site to see whether you need to register or pay a fee.

Pricing

Published averages vary a lot. Quote-site figures tend to sit above established round prices, so check your own area.

• Bark (2,702 quotes, 2026): an average of £33 per visit, with terraced houses at £31, semis at about £33 and detached homes at £44.
• Housekeep (October 2026): outside London a 2-bed house averages £25 inc VAT, a 3-bed £30 and a 4+ bed £35, with London prices higher.
• Costwise (2026): £10 to £40 per visit, most homes around £20, and most cleaners set a minimum charge of about £10 to £15.
• HowMuchShouldItCost: £15 to £40 for a 3-bed exterior clean, averaging £25.
• Per window: some cleaners quote about £1 to £3 per window.
• First cleans: these can cost 30–60% more than maintenance cleans, because of built-up dirt.
• Add-ons: conservatory and skylight windows are typically quoted separately, with a typical range of £10 to £40.

Suggested approach (estimate): set a minimum charge of about £12 to £15. Price a typical 3-bed semi at about £20 to £25 to begin with. Charge more for the first clean, and quote add-ons separately.

Break-even

This is an illustrative estimate, not a forecast.

Assumptions:

• Average price of £20 per house, which is cautious against the sources above.
• A 4-weekly cycle, so each customer is roughly one visit a month.
• About 25 minutes per house including travel between neighbouring homes.

Monthly costs (estimate):

Cost	£ per month
Insurance	10
Fuel/transport	40
Consumables (resin, cloths, blades)	15
Phone and bookkeeping	25
Marketing	10
Equipment replacement	15
Total	about 115

Results:

• To cover costs: £115 ÷ £20 is about 6 customers a month, or about 1 to 2 houses a week.
• For a modest income of about £1,500 a month before tax: (£1,500 + £115) ÷ £20 is about 81 customers, or about 20 houses a week on a 4-weekly cycle. That is roughly 8 to 10 hours of cleaning plus travel, calls and admin.
• Cutting the income target to £800: about 46 customers, or about 11 houses a week.
• 6-weekly rounds: you need more customers for the same income, because each pays less often.
• Weather and holidays: these will reduce actual earnings. Keep spare days in your week for catch-ups.

Finding your first customers

1. Leaflet two or three streets. 1,000 A5 leaflets cost about £37 to £81 (see above). Pick streets where homes have upstairs windows and tidy frontages. Include a first-clean offer, your price band and a phone number.
2. Door-knock after leafleting. Follow up a few days later. Check your council's rules first, particularly in Scotland and Wales.
3. Work street by street. When you clean one house, leave a card at neighbouring homes saying "I'm cleaning on your street this week". Density is what makes a round profitable.
4. Ask for referrals. Offer existing customers a small discount on their next clean for each neighbour they introduce.
5. Use local Facebook and Nextdoor groups. Post a short, honest introduction with your area, price range and insurance status. Reply to requests for recommendations.
6. Approach landlords and letting agents. Offer reliable repeat cleans for rental properties.
7. Add a basic web presence. A Google Business Profile with photos and early reviews helps people find you.
8. Consider lead sites later. Bark and similar sites sell leads, but they add competition and costs. Start with direct tactics.

30-day launch plan

Week 1: Set up.

• Research local prices by checking five nearby cleaners' adverts.
• Decide your price list and minimum charge.
• Get insurance quotes and confirm in writing what they cover.
• Check licence rules with your council.
• Register with HMRC and open a separate bank account (optional but useful).

Week 2: Equipment and safety.

• Buy your kit, ladder and optionally a water-fed pole.
• Practise on your own and family windows.
• Write a simple risk assessment covering ladders, poles and overhead lines. The Federation of Window Cleaners offers a template.
• Design and order leaflets.

Week 3: Launch.

• Deliver 300 to 500 leaflets across two or three streets.
• Post in local groups.
• Set up a spreadsheet or app for customers, prices, dates and payment status.

Week 4: Convert and refine.

• Door-knock the streets you leafleted.
• Book and complete first cleans.
• Photograph before and after (with permission).
• Ask each customer for a review and a neighbour referral.
• Review your time per house and adjust prices.

A realistic target is a handful to a few dozen customers by the end of month one. Treat that as a hope rather than a promise.

Risks and how to reduce them

• Falls from height. This is the biggest risk. HSE records for the last five years include eight incidents involving falls from height in which window cleaning was the main activity, five of them fatal. Use a water-fed pole where you can, since HSE's view is that poles used from ground level are safer than ladders. Only use ladders where a risk assessment justifies them, and consider training.
• Overhead power lines. In one reported incident, 33,000 V jumped about 2 metres to a telescopic water-fed pole. Check for lines before extending any pole, and decline jobs where you cannot work safely.
• Insurance gaps. Premiums vary with height and equipment. Ask whether your cover includes water-fed poles, ladders and tool theft, and check excesses.
• Slow build-up. Rounds take months to establish. Keep other income or savings, and start part-time alongside another job if possible.
• Weather. Heavy rain, ice and wind cancel days. Keep flexible slots and tell customers upfront that you reschedule.
• Customer loss and non-payment. Agree payment method and frequency at the start. Bank transfer is easier to record than cash.
• Competition and price-cutting. Compete on reliability and neat, dense routes rather than the lowest price.
• Tax and records. Keep receipts and mileage logs from day one. Missing the 5 October registration deadline can lead to penalties.
• Physical strain. Long poles and repetitive reaching cause back and shoulder strain. Carbon fibre poles weigh less than aluminium ones but cost more, so consider upgrading once income allows.

All earnings and break-even figures are estimates based on published price ranges, not guarantees. Rules and prices change, so confirm them with the sources linked before you commit.