The difference a good private chef makes to a house is rarely one spectacular dinner. It's the Tuesday lunch that suits a child's allergy without anyone having to mention it again, the fridge that's always stocked for the week ahead, and the twelve guests on a Saturday that don't turn the kitchen upside down.
How much does a private chef cost? It depends what you mean: a chef for one dinner or a chef on staff. The two answers sit a long way apart. For a one-off dinner, one booking platform's data puts typical UK bookings at £110 to £150 per guest, and Spain at €90 to €130 per guest. For a full-time chef in the UK, published agency figures run from about £30,000 a year for an entry-level chef to £80,000 to £200,000 gross a year at the top end.
Every figure in this guide is a published estimate from an agency or platform, or a real job ad, not an official statistic, and each keeps the basis its source gave it. We're HouseHoldTalent, a private network founded in Gibraltar that introduces household staff to private homes.
Private chef, personal chef or family cook?
People use these titles loosely, but they describe different jobs, with different budgets.
Private chef. Employed full time by one individual or family, often living in, and preparing up to three meals a day. That's how the American Personal & Private Chef Association defines it.
Personal chef. Works for several clients, usually one a day, cooking a set of meals designed for each household.
Family cook. One London agency describes this as an experienced cook preparing quality meals for a small family, and quotes around £30,000 a year and upwards for a full-time role.
Rota chefs. Two chefs who alternate, for households that need the kitchen covered every day. Agencies in Spain offer permanent, seasonal and rota placements, live-in or live-out.
On a smaller estate the kitchen doesn't always need its own hire: a cook and caretaker couple can cover the cooking and the grounds between them.
At the very top, expectations have shifted. One international agency says its ultra high net worth (UHNW) clients no longer hire "cooks" at all. They want highly qualified chefs with five-star backgrounds, often Michelin-trained.
How much does a full-time private chef cost in the UK?
Ask five sources and you get five overlapping answers. Read them as ranges, not a price list.
| Source | What it says | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| A London agency's bands | Entry, under 2 years: £30,000 to £40,000. Mid, 2 to 5 years: £40,000 to £70,000. Senior, 5+ years: £70,000 to £120,000+, especially in UHNW homes | Per year; gross or net not stated |
| A London agency's examples | £40,000 to £100,000+ full-time or live-in in London. Examples: £35,000 (Dulwich), £58,000 (Wimbledon), £60,000+ for a Michelin background (Kensington) | Per year, as stated |
| A household staffing guide | £65,000 to £110,000+ | Per year, as stated |
| A UK chef business | £60,000 to £130,000 | Per year, as stated |
| An international agency's 2025/26 report | £80,000 to £200,000 | Gross, per year |
The spread is mostly about who you're hiring. At the low end is a family cook or junior chef making everyday meals for a small family. At the top is a senior chef in a UHNW household, often Michelin-trained, cooking for guests as well as the family and travelling between homes.
Part-time is possible too. The second London agency gives the example of a family in Richmond paying £600 a week, which it puts at about £31,000 a year.
In a larger house the chef often reports to a house manager rather than the family.
Private chef cost in Spain
| Source | What it says | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| A Marbella property firm's 2026 guide | Full-time live-out: €2,500 to €4,500. Full-time live-in: €2,000 to €3,500, plus accommodation | Gross, per month |
| A Spanish agency's live ads, October 2026 | Live-in, Ibiza: €2,600 a month. Madrid: €2,000 a month. Part-time, Madrid: €900 a month | Ibiza: basis not stated. Madrid: gross, in 12 payments |
| An international agency's Spain page | €6,000 to €10,000 a month, depending on profile, location and season, for chefs with Michelin-level or fine dining experience | Basis not stated |
A family cook in Madrid and a Michelin-trained chef for the summer in Ibiza are different hires, and they're paid that way.
Spain's household employee rules include two extra payments a year, but some ads quote pay "in 12 payments". When you compare offers, check which you're looking at.
The legal floor is Spain's 2026 minimum wage: €1,221 a month in 14 payments. If the chef lives in, housing and meals can be counted as part of pay only if at least the minimum wage is still paid in cash, and those deductions can't exceed 30% of total pay.
When the chef works directly for the household, Real Decreto 1620/2011 sets the hours: up to 40 hours of actual work a week, plus any agreed presence time, which is capped and paid; 36 hours' consecutive rest each week; at least two hours a day for main meals for live-in staff; and 30 calendar days' holiday a year.
We haven't found published private chef salaries for Sotogrande or Estepona on their own, so the Marbella figures above are the nearest published guide.
And in Gibraltar?
Published figures for Gibraltar are thin. The clearest private household example we've seen is an agency ad from June 2026 for a travelling private chef with a family dividing their time between Gibraltar and homes abroad: £72,000 gross a year, with private accommodation, five days a week and travel as needed.
Whatever the package, the floor is Gibraltar's minimum wage of £10 an hour from 1 August 2026. The employer registers the vacancy with the Department of Employment at least 10 days before the start date and files a Notice of Terms of Engagement for every worker. A work permit is only needed if the chef isn't a British, EU, EEA or Swiss national, and it's the employer who applies.
Many chefs who work here live across the border; see our guide to living in Spain and working in Gibraltar.
What private chefs earn in other markets
These figures come from one international agency's report on its own UHNW clients, so they show the top of the market, not the average. The report doesn't say whether they're live-in or live-out.
| Country | Range | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| United States | $100,000 to $300,000 | Gross, per year |
| United Kingdom | £80,000 to £200,000 | Gross, per year |
| Switzerland | CHF 110,000 to CHF 130,000 | Gross, per year |
| Monaco | €90,000 to €110,000 | Gross, per year |
| Belgium | €80,000 to €120,000 | Gross, per year |
| France | €45,000 to €60,000 | Gross, per year |
| UAE | AED 180,000 to AED 360,000 | Gross, per year |
| Saudi Arabia | SAR 180,000 to SAR 500,000 | Gross, per year |
The same agency says the United States accounts for 35% of its private chef requests worldwide.
Day rates, weekly cooking and one-off dinners
Not every household needs a chef on staff. For a few dinners a week, the pricing works differently.
| What | UK | Spain |
|---|---|---|
| Day rate, London (agency) | £250 to £500 a day; about £450 in Mayfair or Knightsbridge. Part-time days £200 to £400 | Not given |
| Day rate (UK chef business) | £250 to £750 a day | Not given |
| One visit, 2 to 4 people (booking platform) | £260 to £360 | €220 to €320 |
| A month of 1 to 2 visits a week (booking platform) | £1,120 to £2,580 | €950 to €2,240 |
| Per guest (booking platform) | £110 to £150 | €90 to €130 |
| Per event, Marbella (property firm guide) | Not given | €200 to €500 |
The booking platform says its prices cover menu planning, grocery shopping, cooking, table service and clean-up. Its figures are the middle range (the 25th to 75th percentile) of real bookings for 2 to 4 guests.
In the US, personal chefs report earning $200 to $500 a day, according to the American Personal & Private Chef Association.
Once regular visits start to approach a part-time salary, it's worth pricing a part-time hire instead.
The costs on top of the salary
Most price guides stop at the salary. The employer's bill doesn't.
In the UK, employer National Insurance is 15% on earnings above £5,000 a year for 2026 to 2027, according to GOV.UK's rates and thresholds for employers. For a workplace pension, the employer pays at least 3% and the total must be at least 8%, worked out for most schemes on earnings between £6,240 and £50,270 a year. Almost all workers are also entitled to 5.6 weeks' paid holiday a year, which is 28 days for someone working five days a week. One London agency estimates that National Insurance, pension and holiday pay together add 15% to 20% to the cost of employing a chef.
In Spain, the employer registers the chef with Social Security before they start (see our guide to employer Social Security in Spain) and pays most of the contributions. For household employees in 2026, the employer pays 23.60% for common contingencies and the worker 4.70%, and unemployment, FOGASA, MEI and accident cover come on top, mostly or entirely paid by the employer (see the Seguridad Social 2026 rates). From €1,424.41 a month, contributions are worked out on the actual pay.
Some costs apply everywhere. Households usually give the chef a shopping budget on top of pay; one London agency puts standard weekly groceries at £150 to £200, and says premium ingredients can easily double that. The same agency estimates £5,000 to £10,000 to set a kitchen up properly, and £1,000 to £3,000 a year for a chef's professional development.
It also puts agency fees at 15% to 25% of the annual salary. HouseHoldTalent works differently; see how we charge households.
Add accommodation, a car and travel between homes if the role needs them.
How to hire a private chef
- Write the brief.
- Decide on the type of chef.
- Shortlist on references, not CVs alone.
- Book a paid trial meal.
- Put it in writing and register.
Start with the brief: the cuisines you like, diets and allergies, the size of the family, how often you entertain, live-in or live-out, travel between homes and the budget. When it's ready, submit a role brief.
Next, decide what kind of chef the house needs: full-time, part-time, rota or seasonal. The definitions above set out the difference.
Shortlist on references from private households, not CVs alone, and expect volume. One international agency's 2026 industry report counts about 46 applications per private chef search.
Book a paid trial meal before you decide. The same report says the choice of chef turns on a trial meal. Beyond the food, watch how the chef works. Did they ask the right questions about diets and allergies before the day? Do they clean as they go and leave the kitchen as they found it? How do they speak to the other staff, and did they stay close to the shopping budget?
Finally, put it in writing: a contract, a confidentiality agreement and the employer registrations for your country. The legal side of our house manager guide summarises the rules for the UK, Spain and Gibraltar.
