Hous's terms for cleaners

• You're self-employed. You run your own work, and Hous is your agent, not your employer.
• Hous offers you work near you. You choose what to take, and you agree your times with your customers.
• You earn £14 an hour for every clean you complete, or £15 an hour on a £25 one-off. Stripe, the payments company Hous works with, pays you every Friday.
• Your customers pay you through Stripe, and Hous's fee is taken at the moment they pay. Hous never charges you anything else.
• You can stop taking new customers whenever you like. To stop working with a customer, or to leave Hous, please give 4 weeks' notice, unless you don't feel safe, someone is abusive, or you're ill or injured.

This is a summary. The full terms below are what you agree to.

Hous is a trading name of Daisy Maid South East Ltd, a company registered in England and Wales (company number 08561914), registered office Station Garage, Hop Pocket Lane, Paddock Wood, Tonbridge, England, TN12 6DQ. You can reach us at work@hous.london or on 020 3983 2455.

Hous is an employment agency. We find customers for you and act as your agent. You're still self-employed: Hous is your agent, not your employer. For you, we:

• tell you about cleans near you that you might want;
• introduce you to customers once you've said you want their cleans;
• accept bookings and agree each clean with your customer on your behalf, on the standard terms in Part 2 of Hous's customer terms (hous.london/terms), and only for cleans you've said yes to;
• arrange your customers' payments to you, through Stripe (section 5);
• find cover when you're away, and help when something goes wrong.

You offer every customer the standard terms in Part 2 of the customer terms. Please read them: they're what your customers can expect of you.

What Hous says about cleans on its website and in the app becomes part of your agreement with your customer. We'll describe your work accurately.

You're self-employed and run your own work. Hous isn't your employer, and neither is any customer.

• Your choice of work. Hous offers you work. You decide whether to take any of it, and nothing is given to you unless you say yes. There's no penalty for saying no, and no minimum amount of work on either side.
• Your times. You and your customer agree when you clean. Hous never sets your times.
• How you clean. You decide how to do each clean. A customer can tell you what matters most to them, which is guidance, not an instruction. Nobody at Hous supervises or directs how you clean.
• Working elsewhere. You're free to work for anyone else, including other platforms and your own customers, while you're on Hous and after. You don't need to tell us who you work for.
• Your costs. You pay for your own travel and costs. Your customers provide the cleaning products and equipment.
• Your cleans are yours. You do each clean yourself, and don't send or bring anyone else into your customer's home, because everyone who goes in has been checked by Hous. If you can't do a clean, Hous may introduce your customer to another Hous cleaner for it. The cover cleaner has their own agreement with the customer. They don't work for you, and you aren't paid for that clean.
• Customers who leave Hous. Hous's customer terms ask customers to keep booking their cleaner through Hous, but that's a request, never a rule, and it never binds you. If a customer stops booking through Hous and asks you to clean for them privately, that's between you and them. Hous won't charge you or hold anything against you for it. Any clean booked through Hous is paid through Hous.

The checks. Before you take any work, Hous checks:

• your experience (at least 6 months);
• two references;
• your right to work in the UK;
• your ID, matched to a photo of you;
• your proof of address;
• your National Insurance number.

You also have an interview with us.

Criminal convictions. When you apply, we ask whether you have any unspent criminal convictions or cautions, apart from driving offences. We never ask about spent ones. If, while you're on Hous, you're convicted of an offence or given a conditional caution, apart from a driving offence, please tell us straight away at work@hous.london. You won't be offered new work while it's unspent, and Hous may end the arrangement. Once it's spent, we won't hold it against you.

Your right to work. Hous checks your right to work before your first clean: with GOV.UK if you have a share code, with Vouchsafe, a certified identity checking service, if you have a British or Irish passport, or, if you can't or would rather not use Vouchsafe, by checking your original documents with you on a video call after you post them to us. We post them back at our cost. If your permission to work is for a limited time, we check it again before it ends. You can't be offered or take work without a current right to work on record. Please tell us straight away if your immigration status or permission to work changes, and help us with any check the Home Office asks about.

Individuals only. You join Hous as yourself, in your own name, not through a company. You need to be 18 or over.

Keeping your details up to date. Please tell us in My Hous or at work@hous.london if your name, address, phone, bank details or anything about your checks changes.

How work comes to you. You choose how far you'll travel by public transport: 30, 45, 60 or 90 minutes. We tell you about cleans within your time, and offer each one to the closest cleaners first. If a clean suits you, press I want this job. If the customer is matched with you, we introduce you.

Your first contact. Once you're introduced, please contact your customer within 48 hours to agree your first clean's day and time. Either of you can then record it in My Hous, and we'll let the other know. If it isn't recorded within 48 hours, and we haven't agreed more time with you, the introduction ends and Hous offers the customer to other cleaners.

Safety. Each home has a health and safety answer from the customer. You'll see the current answer before you say yes to a clean there. Please read it before your first clean. Before a cleaner new to a home is offered its cleans, the customer is normally asked to confirm their answer is still right. You don't have to work anywhere you don't feel safe: if a home isn't safe, leave and tell us. In an emergency, call 999.

What a clean covers. A clean doesn't include using ladders or steps higher than two steps, cleaning outside windows above the ground floor, moving heavy furniture or appliances, dealing with bodily fluids, pests, mould or anything hazardous, or cleaning an unsafe or hoarded home. You can turn down anything you reasonably think isn't safe. Your customer provides the products and equipment. Customers are asked not to leave bleach for you.

Guidance. Your customer can tell you what matters most to them. It's guidance to help you plan your time, not a list.

Marking a clean complete. When you finish, mark the clean complete in My Hous with the hours you cleaned. That's what tells us it happened, and it's how your customer is charged and you're paid. If you need more time than booked, ask your customer in My Hous before you carry on. If you haven't marked a clean by 12:00 the next day, we ask your customer. If they tell us it happened, it's recorded for the hours booked, plus any extra time they'd agreed, your customer is charged and you're paid. If you worked fewer hours, tell us and we'll put it right.

Time away. Put the dates in My Hous. Hous tells your customers and offers them cover or a skip. You don't need to give notice.

If you can't make a clean. Tell us in My Hous as soon as you can. Your customer isn't charged and you aren't paid for it.

Stopping with a customer. You can stop working with a customer in My Hous. Please give them 4 weeks' notice: choose your last clean with them at least 4 weeks ahead, and your cleans with them carry on until then. Your customers give you the same notice when they end their plan. You can stop sooner, or straight away, if you don't feel safe in the home, if the customer or someone there is abusive, or if you're ill or injured and can't carry on. We'll tell your customer and find them another cleaner.

Keys. If a customer gives you a key, keep it safe, never label it with their name or address, use it only for their cleans, and give it back when you stop working together. Hous never holds keys.

Your customers' details. You'll have your customers' names, addresses and phone numbers, and what they tell you about their homes. Keep them private, use them only for their cleans, and never use them for your own marketing. Don't photograph a customer's home unless they ask you to, and never post about them or their home online. The same goes for what you see about a clean you're offered, including its postcode, whether or not you take it.

If something breaks. If something in a customer's home is broken or damaged while you're there, tell your customer and Hous (work@hous.london) the same day, even if it wasn't your fault.

Putting things right. If a customer isn't happy with a clean, the office will call you. If it's agreed the clean needs doing again, you'll go back and do it again at no charge, and you aren't paid for the second visit.

What you add to Hous. Only add what's needed for your cleans, and nothing unlawful or abusive. Tell us at work@hous.london if you see anything on Hous that shouldn't be there.

What you earn. For every clean you complete, you earn £14 an hour for the hours you mark, or £15 an hour on a one-off your customer pays £25 an hour for.

Hous's fee. Your customer pays the price for each clean: £20 an hour, or £25 an hour for a one-off booked by a customer without a regular plan. The price is set when the clean is booked, and it doesn't change if the clean goes to a different cleaner. Hous's fee is the difference between that price and what you earn: £6 an hour on a £20 clean, or £10 an hour on a £25 one-off. Stripe takes the fee at the moment your customer pays, and the rest is paid to you through Stripe. A clean's statement and your earnings screens show what you earn. Hous's fee is shown in your tax year summary in Money (section 6).

Nothing else is charged. Hous never charges you for anything else. Money only comes back out of your earnings if your customer is refunded for a clean the office records as not done, or for another reason we write down for you, or if your customer's bank takes a payment back after a card dispute. We email you the reason each time, and it shows on that clean's statement.

Getting paid. Payment is handled by Stripe, the payments company Hous works with. When you join, you set up your payments with Stripe in My Hous. Stripe pays what you've earned into your bank account every Friday. Your first payout can take a little longer while Stripe checks your details: it's paid on the first Friday at least 7 days after your customer pays for your first clean. Hous can't see or change your bank account once it's set up.

Stripe's terms. Payment processing for cleaners on Hous is provided by Stripe and is subject to the Stripe Connected Account Agreement (stripe.com/connect-account/legal/full), which includes the Stripe Services Agreement (stripe.com/legal/ssa). By accepting these terms or continuing to work through Hous, you agree to be bound by Stripe's agreement, as Stripe may change it from time to time. You agree to give Hous accurate and complete information about you and your business, and you allow Hous to share it, and information about your payments, with Stripe. Stripe uses your data under the Stripe Privacy Policy (stripe.com/privacy). Your agreement with Stripe is between you and Stripe, and these terms don't change it. Stripe can pause or restrict your account, and if it does, we'll tell you.

When you're paid in full without cleaning. If your customer cancels after 12:00 the day before, you're paid for the clean in full. If you can't get in for a reason within your customer's control (nobody home, no key left, a wrong code), wait 15 minutes and try to call them. If you still can't get in, you're paid in full. If the reason wasn't within your customer's control, the customer isn't charged and you aren't paid. While a customer's notice to end their plan runs, you're also paid in full for a clean they skip. If a clean in their notice is called off because their card didn't work, you're paid once they pay it.

When you aren't paid. You aren't paid for a clean you couldn't make, for a clean the office confirms you didn't turn up to, or for a re-clean.

Card disputes. If a customer disputes a payment with their bank, Stripe may hold or take back that payment. We'll tell you and explain what happens.

Tips. Customers can tip you in My Hous after a clean. Tips are optional and all of it goes to you.

You're responsible for your own tax and National Insurance on what you earn through Hous, including tips. Hous reports your earnings, the tips paid through Hous and any referral bonuses to HMRC under the reporting rules for digital platforms, and sends you a copy of what it reports each year. Each year Hous also sends you a summary of what you earned through Hous in the tax year, and it's in Money whenever you need it. Hous doesn't give tax advice.

Four things can count against you: not turning up to a clean, a clean that wasn't right, not agreeing a new customer's first clean within 48 hours, and arriving late or leaving early. Each one is looked at by the office first, and it only counts if the office confirms it.

If the office confirms three of these, Hous stops offering you new customers. You keep the customers you already have. If Hous later decides to end the arrangement because of them, it gives you 30 days' notice (section 10). When either happens, the office will call you, and you'll get a short written reason with a way to reply. We'll look at what you say.

Day to day, Hous doesn't show you a score or rating.

Hous doesn't insure you. You may want your own public liability insurance.

Once you're active on Hous, you get a personal link you can give to people you think would be good at the work. Hous runs the scheme and pays the bonus from its own money.

The bonus. If someone joins Hous through your link and completes their 10th clean, you earn £50.

• A clean counts once your friend has completed it and their customer's payment has gone through. It still counts if Hous later refunds the customer. It doesn't count if the customer's bank takes the payment back after a dispute Hous loses. Re-cleans, cleans that didn't happen, and cleans for you as a customer don't count.
• The £50 is paid once, in your Friday payout after your friend's 10th clean. We'll email you once when it's on its way.
• There's no time limit and no cap on how many people you refer.

Who you can refer. Someone new to Hous: a person who has never applied to Hous, never cleaned with Hous and didn't move over from Daisy Maid. You can't refer yourself, or anyone using your email address or phone number.

Only through your link. A referral counts only if your friend applies from your link. If they used more than one Hous cleaner's link, the first one counts. Nobody, including Hous, can add a referral later.

You need to still be on Hous. The bonus is paid only if you're still on Hous when it's due to be paid. If you leave before then, or your friend leaves before their 10th clean, the bonus isn't earned. When you leave Hous, your link stops working.

Sharing your link. Share it yourself, with people you know. Don't sell or buy links, or post yours on job boards, coupon or voucher sites or in paid adverts, or send it in bulk messages. Hous never contacts anyone from details you give it. When you share your link you're acting for yourself, not for Hous, and you can't promise anything on Hous's behalf.

What each of you sees. Your first name is shown to people who open your link. When your friend applies, we ask whether we can tell you when they join Hous and when your £50 is paid. You'll see their first name, when they join and when your £50 is on its way and paid. You won't see anything else about their application or their work. If your friend asks us to stop telling you, you'll see only that you referred a friend, and your £50 still pays.

When Hous can stop a bonus. Before a bonus is paid, Hous can stop it if the referral isn't genuine or breaks these terms, for example if you refer yourself or cleans are arranged just to reach 10. A stopped bonus isn't paid. A bonus that has been paid is never taken back, and never taken out of your earnings.

Tax. The bonus is part of your self-employed income, and Hous includes it in what it reports to HMRC (section 6).

If the scheme changes. Changes to the scheme are made like any other change to these terms (section 12). A friend who has already applied through your link keeps the terms that applied when they did. If Hous ends the scheme, a referral already made still pays under these terms.

Leaving. You can leave Hous at any time. Choose your last working date in My Hous. If you have customers, please choose a date at least 4 weeks ahead, so they have time to find a new cleaner, unless one of the reasons in "Stopping with a customer" applies. You won't be offered new work from the day you choose it, your cleans up to your last working date carry on, and you keep access to your earnings afterwards. Leaving costs you nothing, and nothing restricts what you do afterwards.

Stopping new customers. You can stop taking new customers at any time. Your current customers carry on as normal.

When Hous ends the arrangement. Hous may end the arrangement by giving you 30 days' notice, with the reason. Your cleans carry on until then. Hous may end it at once if:

• you no longer have the right to work in the UK;
• Stripe stops handling payments for you;
• there's a serious allegation about you;
• you have an unspent criminal conviction or caution, apart from driving offences, or you told us you didn't when you did;
• you've behaved abusively, dishonestly or unsafely towards a customer or our team;
• you've sent someone else to do a clean.

While we look into a serious allegation, we may hold your cleans with the customer involved.

If Hous ends the arrangement, your customers are introduced to other cleaners, and you're paid for every clean you completed.

How Hous uses your personal data is in the privacy notice at hous.london/cleaners/privacy.

You agree that Hous may share information about you, when it's needed, with: the customers you're introduced to; Stripe; your referees; Vouchsafe, Cifas, GOV.UK and the Home Office for your ID, address and right to work; HMRC for platform reporting; and the police or a court where the law requires it.

How we contact you. We send notices to the email address you gave us and in My Hous. If you turn them on, we also send work messages, such as new jobs and reminders, to your mobile on WhatsApp. You can turn them on or off in You. A WhatsApp message is never a notice under these terms, and turning them off doesn't change the work we offer you.

Changes to these terms. We'll tell you about any change at least 15 days before it applies, with a summary of what's changing, and ask you to accept it in My Hous. Until you accept, the version you accepted still applies and you keep getting work, and we'll ask you each time you sign in. You can leave instead, at no cost. Every version stays online, unchanged, at hous.london/cleaners/terms.

Complaints. If you're unhappy with Hous, email work@hous.london or see hous.london/legal/complaints. We'll reply as soon as we can.

The law. These terms are governed by the law of England and Wales, and the courts of England and Wales deal with any dispute. This doesn't affect any right you have to bring a claim in an employment tribunal.

If part of these terms can't be relied on, the rest still applies.

Language. These terms are in English. If they're translated, the English version is the agreement.