Household staff for families in the United Kingdom, selected in Spain
London, Surrey and the Cotswolds
Spanish-speaking live-in housekeepers, nannies and couples for families in Kensington, Chelsea and Mayfair and for country houses in Surrey and the Cotswolds. Since Brexit the passport decides: we only present candidates who already hold the right to work in the UK, and we explain what the visas really allow.
- Placement agency licensed by the SNE, no. 1300000318
- 4.8 · 79 Google reviews
- One-off fee · 6-month guarantee
Why London families come to a Spanish agency for household staff
London is the city that asks us for staff more than any other outside Spain, and almost always for the same reason: the family divides its life between London and Spain. A house in Chelsea and a villa in Sotogrande, children at a London school and summers in Mallorca, a Spanish spouse who wants the children to keep the language. They want a housekeeper or nanny who is at home in both worlds, and they trust an agency that has been selecting that kind of staff in Madrid since 2009.
The second reason is the London market itself: agencies there are excellent but expensive, and the pool of Spanish-speaking live-in staff with verified references is thin. Our pool is different. We interview in Spain, we call previous employers ourselves and we know which candidates have already lived in London, hold British or Irish nationality, settled or pre-settled status, or another visa that lets them work.
We are honest about the limit: an EU passport no longer opens the UK, and a housekeeper cannot be sponsored on a Skilled Worker visa. So our UK work is a matching service among candidates who can legally take the job, plus clear advice for the family that wants to bring, for a few months, the housekeeper it already employs in Spain.
Kensington, Chelsea, Mayfair, Surrey and the Cotswolds
Central London terraces and mansion flats, the Surrey stockbroker belt and the honey-stone villages of the Cotswolds: three kinds of home, three kinds of staff.
Kensington
Holland Park, Phillimore Gardens and the streets around the Spanish and Latin American diplomatic community. Family houses over four or five floors where a live-in housekeeper with her own room and bathroom runs the day, and a nanny takes the children to schools nearby. Spanish is often the language the family wants heard at home.
Chelsea
Cadogan Square, the Boltons and the river side of the King's Road. Homes here often run with two or three staff and a house manager who coordinates them; families ask for a housekeeper-cook who can also receive guests, and for a nanny who travels with them to Spain in summer.
Mayfair
Apartments and townhouses used part of the year by families based abroad, where a couple or a housekeeper keeps the home ready and the principals arrive with little notice. Discretion and formal service matter more than anywhere else in London.
Surrey
Cobham, Esher, Weybridge and the St George's Hill and Wentworth estates: large houses with grounds, staff cottages and a garage full of cars. The request is usually a domestic couple, housekeeper and driver-handyman, or a housekeeper plus a live-in nanny for families with three or four children.
Cotswolds
Country houses around Chipping Norton, Burford and Tetbury, used at weekends or all year by families with a London base. A caretaker or domestic couple living on the estate, keeping the house, gardens and dogs and opening up for guests, is the profile Cotswolds owners ask us for.
The profiles London families ask us for
Housekeepers and nannies are nearly all of our UK work; couples appear for Surrey and the Cotswolds.
Live-in housekeeper
Spanish- or Portuguese-speaking, with London experience, formal references and the right to work in the UK; often a housekeeper-cook.
Spanish-speaking nanny
Bilingual live-in nannies for families who want the children to keep Spanish; paediatric first aid and school-run experience.
Domestic couple
Housekeeper and driver-handyman for Surrey estates and Cotswolds houses, living in a staff cottage.
House manager
For Chelsea and Mayfair homes with several staff or several properties: suppliers, staff rotas, travel and the principals' calendar.
Visas and rules for household staff in the UK after Brexit
The UK left free movement on 1 January 2021. An EU candidate now needs the right to work in the UK like any other foreign national. These are the routes that matter for a private household, as they stand on gov.uk.
Candidates who already have the right to work
British and Irish citizens, EU nationals with settled or pre-settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme, and holders of another visa that allows employment (a spouse or family visa, for instance) can be hired directly by a family with no sponsorship. This is the group we present for the UK: Spanish-speaking candidates who already live and work there or hold one of these statuses.
Overseas Domestic Worker visa: six months with an existing employer
Designed for a family visiting the UK with staff it already employs abroad. The employee must have worked for the family for at least one year, travels with the employer, may stay up to six months and the visa cannot be extended; she may change to another private household but not beyond the six months. The fee is £726. It lets a family based in Spain bring its housekeeper for a London season; it is not a route to hire someone new for London.
Skilled Worker visa: not available for household staff
The route needs a licensed sponsor and a job on the eligible occupations list, paid at least £41,700 a year or the going rate. Housekeepers (6231), cleaners and domestics (9231) and chauffeurs (8214) are listed as ineligible, and nannies and caretakers only qualify for extensions in the same occupation. In practice a private household does not sponsor, so a candidate without the right to work cannot be brought in through this route.
Employment, pay and data
The family is the employer under UK law: written statement of terms, PAYE payroll with HMRC, National Insurance and a workplace pension where due. The National Living Wage is £12.71 an hour from 1 April 2026 for workers aged 21 and over. Sending a candidate's profile to a UK family is an international transfer under the GDPR, covered by the EU adequacy decision for the UK, renewed in December 2025.
Who employs, and under which law
The employer is the family, in the country where the home is. We are a placement agency: we select and present, we are neither the employer nor a temp agency, so the Posting of Workers Directive (written for companies) does not apply. The contract is governed by the law of the place where the work is habitually done, even if the parties choose another (Rome I Regulation, art. 8).
Data protection when sending profiles
Profiles travel with the candidate's informed consent. Within the EEA there is no international transfer; to Switzerland, the UK and Andorra there is, covered by a European Commission adequacy decision (GDPR arts. 44-45). Monaco has no adequacy decision: we rely on appropriate safeguards or the explicit consent of art. 49.
Checked on 12 September 2026 against gov.uk (Overseas Domestic Worker visa, Skilled Worker visa and its eligible occupations list), the National Minimum Wage (Amendment) Regulations 2026 on legislation.gov.uk and the European Commission adequacy list.
What you need to know before starting, not legal advice: each case is confirmed by the family with its adviser or the country's authorities. We keep these notes reviewed and tell you what we have checked and where.
Languages, currency and cost of living
English; Spanish and Portuguese at home in many of the families we serve
We present candidates with working English; the family often wants Spanish spoken to the children.
Pound sterling (GBP)
Salaries are agreed and paid in pounds through PAYE; our fee can be invoiced in pounds or euros.
London is among the most expensive cities in Europe
Live-in accommodation in central London is a significant part of the package and is stated in the contract.
Checked before any interview
Passport, share code or visa is verified by us and again by the family, as the law requires of every UK employer.
From £12.71 gross per hour (National Living Wage, April 2026)
Legal floor. Live-in housekeepers and nannies in central London are paid well above it; the weekly range the market pays for these roles is agreed case by case and we give it to you with the quote.
Figure pending confirmation from an official sourceNational Living Wage for workers aged 21 and over, in force since 1 April 2026 (National Minimum Wage (Amendment) Regulations 2026).
A London placement, step by step
The UK is the destination where the first question is not the profile but the passport. We ask it before anything else, so no family and no candidate wastes a week.
Right-to-work first
We confirm the status of every candidate we consider for the UK: British or Irish citizenship, settled or pre-settled status, or another visa that allows employment. Without it, we say no.
Selection in Spain or in London
Many of our UK candidates already live in London; we interview them by video and check references with previous employers in Spain and the UK.
Interviews and trial
Video calls from your client portal, then an in-person meeting in London arranged by the family; a paid trial of a few days is common before a live-in start.
Contract and payroll
The family issues UK terms of employment and sets up PAYE; we provide the candidate's documents and references, and stay in touch through the six-month guarantee.
One-off fee and a 6-month guarantee, outside Spain too
You pay nothing during the search. Only once you take the person on and you're happy do you pay a single fee: the equivalent of one month of the agreed salary, plus VAT where applicable depending on where the job is. No subscriptions or lock-in.
One-off fee: one month's salary (+ VAT where applicable)
A single payment, only once you take the person on. We confirm the exact amount upfront, in euros or in your country's currency.
6-month guarantee
Replacement at no cost if the person isn't the right fit, and a 50% refund of the fee if you're not satisfied during the first month.
Relocation and trial
The family covers the relocation trip; before that you can interview by video and, if you travel to Spain or the candidate to your city, run a two-day trial.
Hiring household staff in the UK from Spain
Only if she has the right to work in the UK: British or Irish nationality, settled or pre-settled status, or another visa that allows employment. An EU passport alone is no longer enough. We check this before presenting anyone.
For up to six months, on the Overseas Domestic Worker visa, if she has worked for you for at least a year and travels with you. It costs £726, cannot be extended and does not lead to settlement. For a permanent move you need a candidate who already has the right to work.
No. Housekeepers, cleaners and chauffeurs are listed as ineligible occupations, nannies and caretakers only qualify for extensions in the same job, and the route requires a licensed sponsor, which a private household is not.
At least the National Living Wage, £12.71 an hour from April 2026 for workers aged 21 and over, through PAYE with National Insurance. Experienced live-in staff in central London earn well above the minimum; we agree the figure with you before the search.
Yes. It is our most frequent UK request: families who want their children to keep Spanish, often with summers in Spain. We present bilingual nannies with the right to work in the UK, first aid and references we have called.
NanniesYes. For houses with grounds in Surrey and the Cotswolds the usual request is a domestic or caretaker couple living in a cottage on the estate. The same right-to-work rule applies.
Domestic couplesPages families in the UK also read
Looking for Spanish-speaking staff for a home in the UK?
Tell us the area, the role and the date. We answer with who can legally take the job, what it pays and the first profiles.