June 17, 2025 · 4 min read
Hiring the cleaning: a firm, a self-employed cleaner or resident rotas
Cleaning is the number one recurring expense in buildings without a lift — and the service people complain about most.
The three options
- A cleaning company: invoice, insurance, cover for absences. For a small stairwell (two days a week), €150–300 a month depending on the city.
- A self-employed cleaner: usually cheaper and more personal. Insist on an invoice and proper registration — the "off the books" person who cleans cheaply is an ENORMOUS employment risk for the community if there is an accident.
- Resident rotas: free in theory. In practice: the eternal "I did it twice", the flat that never cleans, and a stairwell worse than before. It only works in very small, very close-knit buildings.
What to ask for in the quote
Frequency and specific tasks (sweeping and mopping the entrance and stairs, glass, the lift, touch-ups), whether products are included, holiday cover, and the price including VAT.
The contract
Month to month or with a short notice period: flexibility is worth more than a small loyalty discount. And changing supplier, when the time comes, is a simple majority at a meeting.
Keep reading
Turning a commercial unit into a home: can the community stop it?
You see it more and more. What the community can require, what it cannot, and why the answer is almost always in the by-laws.
Entering a neighbour's home to fix a shared part of the building
The soil pipe running through a bathroom, damp coming from upstairs: how to ask for access to fix something shared without it turning into a feud.
Nobody takes part in the community: how to change that
It is always the same four people talking. Three simple mechanisms to bring the others in without making meetings longer.
Stop reading about managing. Try it.
Step into a sample building with everything working and try it yourself.