How to Hire a House Manager: What They Do, What They Cost and How to Find a Good One

A pattern we know well: a family has a good housekeeper, a gardener and a driver, and someone in the family has quietly become the one answering every supplier and chasing every repair. The day a capable house manager arrives, those questions stop reaching the family, and the house runs the same way whether the owners are home or not.

More households want to hire a house manager. Ahrefs data for the UK shows searches for "hire a house manager" grew roughly elevenfold in a year. This guide explains what a house manager does, what one costs and how to hire a house manager you can trust. We're HouseHoldTalent, a private network founded in Gibraltar that introduces household staff to private homes.

What does a house manager do?

A house manager runs the household's day-to-day operations and leads the staff, so the family doesn't have to. In practice the role covers:

• leading the team: housekeepers, chefs, drivers, gardeners and security
• budgets, invoices, suppliers and purchasing
• maintenance, repairs and contractors
• events, guests and the household calendar
• standards: how the house looks and runs, every day

The scale varies. One Marbella agency describes house managers there coordinating teams of 3 to 10 people across cleaning, kitchen, gardening and maintenance.

The role is often live-in, or the house manager lives nearby, because it needs flexibility. In Spain, most of the roles that agency lists are live-in, with private accommodation in the residence. Whatever the arrangement, a house manager is trusted with very sensitive information about the family, so discretion sits at the centre of the job.

House manager job description, by level

One London agency's published bands describe the job at four levels:

• Entry (0 to 2 years): basic coordination, maintenance scheduling and daily routines.
• Mid (2 to 5 years): managing staff, events, budgeting and maintenance.
• Senior (5 to 10 years): supervising staff, high-level budgeting and property maintenance.
• Executive (10+ years): several residences, training staff and estate-level management.

One international agency's 2025/26 salary report treats house manager and household manager as one role.

House manager, housekeeper, butler or estate manager?

These titles get mixed up, and the difference matters when you write the brief.

House manager compared with related household roles

The house manager vs housekeeper question isn't either/or. Many high net worth families employ both, because the roles complement each other. For what housekeepers earn, see our UK housekeeper salary guide, and for the family's side, what a housekeeper costs. In larger homes the staff report to a house manager; in smaller ones they often report straight to the principals. And house managers can grow into estate manager or chief of staff roles as the household grows.

Do you need a house manager?

One property firm's 2026 Marbella hiring guide recommends a house manager for villas worth €5 million or more, homes with several staff, or owners who are often away. That's a useful starting point, but the honest test is how the house feels day to day. A house manager makes sense when someone in the family is spending hours a week managing staff and suppliers, when the house runs well only when the owners are there, or when there's more than one home to keep ready.

If you have one home, one or two staff and you're there most of the year, a strong housekeeper is often enough. For a smaller estate with grounds to look after, a domestic couple can cover the house and the outside between them; our guide to a domestic couple explains how that works.

When a family asks us whether they need a house manager yet, we ask who currently makes the decisions when nobody from the family is there. If the answer is "nobody" and that is causing problems, it's time.

How much does a house manager cost?

The cost to hire a house manager depends heavily on where the home is and how much the role covers. These are published figures, each with its basis as the source gives it.

House manager pay: published figures by location (as stated by each source)

The spread comes down to the size of the household, how many staff the house manager leads, how many homes there are, languages, travel and whether the role is live-in. A house manager running one villa with two staff is a different job from one keeping three residences ready across two countries. For nannies, see our UK nanny salary guide. If you're a house manager, see what the role pays.

The salary isn't the whole cost. In the UK, employer National Insurance is 15% on earnings above £5,000 a year for 2026 to 2027. In Spain, the employer pays the Social Security contributions. On top of that come accommodation, a car, a phone and any recruitment fee. If the household also needs a chef, here's what a private chef costs. You can see how we charge households on our pricing page.

How to hire a house manager, step by step

1. Write the brief first.
2. Decide where to look.
3. Screen for the right experience.
4. Interview at the house.
5. Take references yourself, by phone.
6. Use a trial period.
7. Put it in writing.

The brief is where most searches go right or wrong. Set out the homes, the staff they'll lead, the hours, live-in or live-out, travel between homes, languages, who they report to and the budget. When it's clear, submit a role brief and we'll take it from there.

Then decide where to look: agencies, personal recommendations or a curated network like ours. Expect plenty of applicants and few right ones. One international agency's 2026 report counts about 80 applications per search for estate and house managers.

Screening is about depth of experience. That agency's network of estate and house managers averages about 17 years' experience. Look for long stays in private homes, and be careful with CVs that are hotel-only. Former yacht crew can be strong here; as one agency co-founder puts it, "When you've got a background in yachting, you know what top service is."

Interview at the house and walk them through it. We like practical questions: how would you set up the week before the family arrives for the summer, and how do you handle a supplier who keeps missing deadlines? A good house manager answers with a system, not a promise.

Take references yourself, by phone. Ask former employers what they'd hire the person for again, and what they wouldn't. In Spain, under the household employee rules, a trial period can't exceed two months, and notice during it can't exceed seven days. Finally, put it in writing: a contract, a confidentiality agreement and the employer registrations for your country.

The legal side in the UK, Spain and Gibraltar

In the UK, you register as an employer with HMRC before the first payday, and no more than two months before you start paying anyone. You must check the person's right to work before they start; the civil penalty is up to £60,000 for each illegal worker.

In Spain, the household employee rules in Real Decreto 1620/2011 cover staff employed directly by the head of the household. If a company employs them, ordinary employment law applies instead, and larger homes use both routes. The employer registers the worker with Social Security up to 60 days before the start date and no later than that day. Either side can ask for the contract in writing, and actual work is capped at 40 hours a week, plus any agreed presence time, which is itself capped and paid. For the full picture on employing staff in Spain, see our guide for foreign homeowners.

In Gibraltar, vacancies must be registered with the Department of Employment at least 10 days before the start date, with a Notice of Terms of Engagement for every worker, and failing to register can mean a £3,000 fine (see the Department of Employment's guidance). The minimum wage is £10 an hour from 1 August 2026. A work permit is only needed if the person isn't a British, EU, EEA or Swiss national; the employer applies before the job starts, and the fee is £70. Many people who work in Gibraltar live across the border, so our guide to living in Spain and working in Gibraltar is worth reading too.

This is a summary, not legal advice. Check with a payroll provider, gestor or adviser in your country.

Red flags when hiring a house manager

Short stays with no clear reason are the first thing we look at. So are references only from hotels when the role is a private home, and vague answers about budgets and suppliers.

The biggest warning sign is a candidate who tells you private details about former employers. If they talk about the last family, they'll talk about yours.

The most common mistake we see families make is hiring for charm in the interview and skipping the reference calls. The second is hiring a house manager without deciding what they are actually allowed to decide, which leaves a capable person waiting for permission and a family still answering every question.

How HouseHoldTalent helps

Every candidate application is reviewed individually, and candidate details are shared with a household only when the candidate agrees to the introduction; here's how introductions work. Most households we work with are in Gibraltar and on the Costa del Sol, so see household staff in Marbella and household staff in Gibraltar.

Hiring a nanny too? See our guide to how to hire a nanny in the UK.

Are you a house manager? Apply to join the network.

Quick answers

What does a house manager do?

Runs the household day to day and leads the staff: budgets, suppliers, maintenance, events and standards.

What is a household manager?

It's a title used for the same job as a house manager: one international agency's 2025/26 salary report treats the two as one role. A house manager runs the household's day-to-day operations and leads the staff.

How much does it cost to hire a house manager?

See the table above. In the UK, one agency's published bands run from £30,000 to £120,000+ gross a year depending on experience, with employer costs such as National Insurance or Social Security on top.

What's the difference between a house manager and an estate manager?

The house manager runs the home and its staff. An estate manager also covers capital projects, staff structure and HR, and finance on larger properties. See our guide to estate manager jobs.

Can I hire a part-time house manager?

It can work for a smaller home or a holiday home that's only open part of the year, as long as the brief is clear about the hours and who covers when they're not there.

Do I have to register a house manager as an employee?

See the legal section above for the rules in the UK, Spain and Gibraltar, and check your own situation with an adviser.

Last reviewed: 26 October 2026. This guide is for information only and isn't legal or tax advice.