Home Owners Don't Have Time

BRIT homeowners spend £7 million a year getting help in the house. From cleaners to odd job men and gardeners, 41 per cent of us prefer to pay someone else to do our dirty work. And our resistance to rolling up our own sleeves costs the average home at least £700 ($1400) a year. Top of the "You Do It' list is the window cleaner - with 61 per cent of UK homes employing the local firm's services. Gardeners, cleaners and odd-job men are employed by 17 per cent of people and five per cent of us have a dog walker on our books. According to Legal and General Insurance, many households who employ extra help do so so others can deal with jobs they hate. But what many people don't realise is the extra help may play havoc not only with their security but their home insurance as well. Ruth Wilkins, from Legal & General said: "While household budgets may be stretched, it seems Brits are moving away from DIY and are now keen on YDI - You Do It. They are getting in help for the more traditional jobs around the home.

If you polled family and friends, you'd probably find that the household task they'd most like to hand over to someone else would be cleaning. They might also tell you that doing so would be prohibitively expensive, an extravagance affordable only for the well-to-do. But they'd be remiss to consider only the financial angle, according to some local cleaning pros. ”It's not like it used to be,” says Pamela Maher who, with her son Chris Giacomazzo, owns Cinderella's Cleaning Contractors, Inc., in Gales Ferry. “Our clients are across all income brackets now, from young Navy personnel to people who live in million-dollar houses.” With so many families experiencing hectic schedules and more couples working, some families are feeling the pinch of too little time for housework, she says. ”Most of the people we speak to would much rather work a few extra hours and have someone clean the house,” says Maher.“They've learned what's important: their children or their spouse, or just sitting in the backyard reading a book, a little downtime, because we're all so chaotic during the week.” "It's almost to the point where having someone come in and clean your home is no longer a luxury - it's a necessity.”