Van Finance for Window Cleaners

Van finance for window cleaners is commercial vehicle funding arranged for window cleaning businesses, covering both the vehicle and the water fed pole system fitted into it. The defining constraint in this trade is payload rather than load space, because water weighs one kilogram per litre, so a 500 litre tank is half a tonne before any equipment or the driver is accounted for.

Almost every trade chooses a van by what will fit in the back. Window cleaning is the one where that question barely matters.

A water fed pole system takes up very little room. What it does is weigh a great deal, and the weight is what decides whether a vehicle is suitable, legal and reliable over an agreement of several years.

Looking for a different trade? See our van finance by trade guides.

Water weighs a kilo a litre

That is the whole problem in a sentence, and it is worth doing the arithmetic before choosing a vehicle rather than afterwards.

A 400 litre tank is 400kg. A 650 litre tank is 650kg. To that you add the tank itself, the pump, the filtration, the reels and hose, the poles, ladders where you still use them, and the driver. Manufacturers quote payload figures that include the driver and any passengers, so the usable figure is always lower than the brochure suggests.

The result is that a lot of small vans cannot legally carry a working tank once everything else is on board, and a fair number of window cleaning vans on the road are closer to their plated weight than their owners realise. Overloading is an issue for insurance, for tyres and brakes, and for how the vehicle stands up over the years you are financing it.

None of this is a finance question directly. It matters because the vehicle you pick determines what you are financing, and because a van that is wrong for the job is an expensive thing to be committed to for four years.

If you are weighing up two vehicles, tell us both and we will show you the monthly figure on each. The difference is usually smaller than expected, and it is a poor reason to buy a van that cannot carry the water.

The system is a conversion, not an accessory

A tank, pump, filtration unit and reel setup professionally installed is a substantial piece of equipment, often several thousand pounds, and it does not appear in any vehicle price guide.

That creates the same problem window cleaners share with tipper and Luton buyers. If you buy a van with a system already fitted, the invoice reflects the system while the lender's valuation may only reflect the van, which leaves a gap and usually a deposit request to cover it.

We deal with that by putting the case to the lender properly. Tell us who supplied and fitted the system and send the specification along with the invoice, and the finished vehicle is what we ask them to fund.

If instead you are buying a van and having a system fitted afterwards, we can often include the system on the same agreement rather than leaving you to pay for it out of working capital. Tell us the plan when you enquire rather than after the van is bought.

Where electric vans get interesting

Window cleaning is one of the few trades where an electric van has an advantage that is specific to the work rather than general.

The round is predictable, daily mileage is usually modest, the van returns to the same place every night, and urban rounds often sit inside clean air zones where charges apply every working day. All of that suits a battery vehicle.

The obvious objection is weight. Batteries are heavy and electric vans generally have less payload than the diesel equivalent, which is the last thing a trade carrying half a tonne of water wants to hear.

There is an exception worth knowing about. Electric vans up to 4,250kg can be driven on a standard category B car licence, where a diesel is limited to 3,500kg. That extra allowance can more than offset the weight of the battery, which means an electric van can sometimes carry more water than the diesel it replaces. It depends entirely on the specific model and specification, so it is worth checking the plated figures rather than assuming either way.

New electric vans also qualify for the government plug-in van grant, which reduces the amount you borrow. Our electric van finance page covers how that works.

Round income reads well to a lender

One genuine advantage this trade has over most others is the shape of the income.

A window cleaning round is recurring revenue. The same customers, on the same cycle, most of the year. On bank statements that shows up as a steady pattern of small regular receipts rather than the lumpy, contract-driven picture a builder or a scaffolder presents.

Underwriters like predictability, and a well established round is about as predictable as small business income gets. If you have commercial contracts alongside the domestic work, mention those too, because a signed contract with a managing agent or a facilities company adds further weight.

What window cleaning businesses finance with us

New or used, and where possible on one agreement.

What we can arrange that a dealer cannot

Dealer finance is convenient and sometimes the rate is genuinely competitive. What it rarely includes is any of the following.

The van and the system together

A van dealer finances vans. They will not fund the tank system going in afterwards, which usually means paying for it out of working capital.

Funding that reflects the fitted system

A dealer's finance desk works to the guide price of the vehicle. Where a system is already fitted, we put the specification to the lender so the finished vehicle is valued for what it actually is.

VAT deferral

On qualifying agreements the lender pays the supplier the full price including the VAT, then collects the VAT element from your business as a single payment after an agreed period, usually around three months. That gives you time to reclaim it from HMRC first, and there is no charge for the facility.

Little or no deposit

Dealers commonly ask for 10 to 20 per cent down. For a VAT-registered limited company with a reasonable credit profile buying at a sensible price, no deposit at all is a normal outcome with us.

Specialist business finance advice

A dealer's finance desk sells a finance product. Buying through the business changes the position considerably: a VAT-registered business reclaims the VAT, and under hire purchase the van is treated as plant and machinery, so the cost can be written off against taxable profits through capital allowances with the interest element deductible separately. We are a broker rather than accountants, so your accountant has the final word, but we will structure the agreement to suit how the business is set up.

Sole traders and the £25,000 threshold

This is worth being straight about, because it affects this trade more than most.

We arrange sole trader finance from £25,000, on unregulated credit agreements, because the lenders we work with offer commercial finance only. A window cleaner buying a modest van on its own may well fall below that figure.

Two things can change the position. Where the van and the system go on one agreement, the combined total is what counts, which brings a good number of applications above the threshold that the van alone would not. And a limited company can borrow from £10,000, so if you are already considering incorporating, it is worth a conversation with your accountant about the timing.

If you are a sole trader looking at a van below £25,000, tell us and we will give you a straight answer rather than putting you through an application that was never going to work.

Newly set up businesses

New limited companies and businesses under two years old can apply. Window cleaning is a common trade to start out in, and many operators begin as sole traders before incorporating.

Without a trading record, lenders lean on the director's personal credit history, and a deposit is usually required. Where you have sole trader accounts or an established round behind you, bring both to the conversation, because a round with a demonstrable income history is exactly the kind of evidence that strengthens an application.

For more on what lenders look for, see our new business van finance page.

Van finance with a difficult credit history

A poor credit history does not prevent a window cleaning business from financing a van. We work with specialist lenders who assess the whole picture rather than an automated score, and steady recent trading often counts for more than something that happened three years ago.

A deposit and a well chosen vehicle both widen the options. See our bad credit van finance page for more detail.

Who can apply

Limited companies can borrow from £10,000. Sole traders can borrow from £25,000, on unregulated credit agreements.

Established rounds, newly formed companies and operators buying their first proper van are all welcome to apply.