What a Housekeeper payslip looks like
A typical UK housekeeper payslip is paid weekly and shows a basic pay line at the top. A housekeeper cleans and services rooms in hotels, care settings or private households, sometimes leading a team. The line items below depend on grade, shift pattern and contractual additions, but the structure usually mirrors HMRC's recommended payslip layout: a payments block, a deductions block, a year-to-date column, and a net pay summary.
Common employers in this occupation include hotel groups, care homes, serviced apartments. Each employer runs payroll slightly differently, but the underlying PAYE computation against tax code 1257L and Class 1 National Insurance is identical across the UK (excluding Scotland for income tax). The biggest variability between two housekeeper payslips at the same gross will be in the additions block: Usually PAYE at or near the National Living Wage. Per-room piece rates must average up to the minimum wage across hours worked, and uniform or equipment deductions cannot take pay below the legal floor.
Year-to-date columns are critical to verify on this role because the additions and salary sacrifice items change month to month. If your YTD gross divided by months elapsed in the tax year does not match your expected annual run-rate, that is the single best signal that something is mis-coded.
Applies to some of this work
Tips, gratuities, service charges and troncs and housekeeper pay
Cash left on the pillow and a card tip added at check-out are taxed by two different routes, and you will see only one of them on a payslip. The cash is yours, carries no PAYE and no National Insurance, and you report it yourself through your personal tax account or a Self Assessment return, after which HMRC usually collects the tax by changing your code rather than sending a bill. The card tip went to the hotel, so it is a qualifying tip that has to be allocated and paid through payroll by the end of the following month.
- Tipping Act main duties in force
- 1 October 2024
- Statutory Code of Practice in force
- 1 October 2024
Educational only. Whether this reaches your own pay turns on your contract and how you are engaged, and tribunal and claim time limits are short. Check the limit that applies to you before relying on a date.
Tips, gratuities, service charges and troncs: the rates, the payslip lines, what goes wrong and the 16 primary sources. Employment (Allocation of Tips) Act 2023, Part 2B of the Employment Rights Act 1996, in force 1 October 2024.
Applies to some of this work
Agricultural wages orders and the accommodation offset and housekeeper pay
The exemption that used to keep live-in housekeepers outside the minimum wage has gone. Regulation 57(3) of the National Minimum Wage Regulations 2015 excluded work done in a private household by someone who was not family, lived in the employer's home, was treated as one of the family for living accommodation and meals, and paid nothing for them. It was omitted on 1 April 2024 by S.I. 2024/75, and that work counts as work now. Board and lodging does not fill the gap: accommodation counts at £11.10 a day and the meals count for nothing, because accommodation is the only benefit in kind the minimum wage recognises.
- National Minimum Wage accommodation offset
- £11.10 a day, £77.70 a week
- When the offset counts for a day
- Only a whole day
Educational only. Whether this reaches your own pay turns on your contract and how you are engaged, and tribunal and claim time limits are short. Check the limit that applies to you before relying on a date.
Agricultural wages orders and the accommodation offset: the rates, the payslip lines, what goes wrong and the 32 primary sources. National Minimum Wage Regulations 2015 and the devolved agricultural wages orders, in force 1 April 2026 for the rates and offset.
Housekeeper salary bands (UK 2024)
ONS ASHE 2024 full-time gross pay. Net figures use 2026/27 PAYE bands and assume 5% of qualifying earnings (£6,240–£50,270) under a net-pay arrangement — before income tax, but not before National Insurance.
| Band | Gross / year | Net / year | Net / month |
|---|---|---|---|
| 25th percentile | £21,500 | £18,389 | £1,532 |
| Median | £23,000 | £19,409 | £1,617 |
| 75th percentile | £25,500 | £21,109 | £1,759 |
Common deductions for a Housekeeper
- PAYE income tax.Calculated against tax code 1257L. Cumulative coding means refunds can appear if you start mid-year.
- National Insurance (Class 1).8% between £12,570 and £50,270 of annual earnings, then 2% above. Period-by-period method is standard.
- Pension.Auto-enrolment minimum 5% employee on qualifying earnings (£6,240 - £50,270), unless your employer runs a more generous scheme such as the NHS, Teachers Pension or Civil Service alpha.
- Salary sacrifice patterns.Common in this occupation: cycle-to-work, electric-car salary sacrifice, additional pension contributions, and where applicable workplace nursery vouchers (still tax-efficient via pre-existing schemes).
- Union or professional body.Tax-deductible for HMRC-listed bodies. Housekeepers commonly hold subscriptions covered by section 344 ITEPA 2003 (List 3).
Housekeeper payslip FAQ
What is the average Housekeeper salary in the UK in 2024?
According to ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE) 2024 for SOC code 6231, the median full-time gross annual salary for a Housekeeper in the UK is approximately £23,000. The 25th percentile sits at £21,500 and the 75th at £25,500.
What is take-home pay on a median Housekeeper salary?
On £23,000 gross with the standard 1257L tax code and 5% of qualifying earnings into a net-pay pension, monthly take-home is approximately £1,617 after PAYE income tax, Class 1 employee National Insurance and auto-enrolment pension. Actual figures vary if you have student loan, salary sacrifice or a non-cumulative tax code.
What is unusual about a Housekeeper payslip?
Usually PAYE at or near the National Living Wage. Per-room piece rates must average up to the minimum wage across hours worked, and uniform or equipment deductions cannot take pay below the legal floor.
Which tax code should a Housekeeper typically be on?
Most people in this role on standard PAYE will see 1257L. Check the prefix and suffix carefully: a K-prefix means deductions exceed your allowance (often after a bonus or P11D benefit), 0T means you have no allowance left at this employer, and BR means basic rate on the whole job (common in second jobs).
Salary estimates: ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE) 2024, full-time gross annual pay by SOC 2020 occupation. Figures rounded to nearest £100.