Families often book a place months before they need it, usually while one parent is on maternity or parental leave. Holding the space means turning other families away, which costs you real income, and a clearly worded retainer fee is the fair way to cover that.
What a retainer covers
A retainer is a regular payment that holds a place for a child who hasn't started yet. No care is being given, so you aren't charging for care. You're charging for keeping a space within your ratios free for that family.
How much to charge
Most childminders charge a percentage of the usual weekly fee for each week they hold the place, often around half. Charging the full fee can feel unfair to a family who isn't using the service yet, and charging nothing leaves you carrying all the risk, so a percentage shares it between you.
Give it a clear start and end. The retainer should begin on an agreed date, often the day the family books, and stop when the child starts and normal fees begin.
Put a limit on it
Retainers work best over a set period. Holding a place for six months on a retainer is reasonable, while holding one indefinitely isn't fair on either of you. Say in the contract how long you'll hold a place and what happens if the start date moves: either the retainer carries on, or the place is released with notice.
Funded places
Take care if the child will get funded hours. The DfE guidance says you must not charge non-refundable retainer fees for funded entitlement places, and nothing can be a condition of the child taking up their free hours. A retainer can apply to the private part of a place, never to the funded hours.
Explain the cost
Families on parental leave are often watching their money, so explain the retainer plainly: what it costs each week, why you charge it and what it secures for them. Most parents are relieved to have a guaranteed place and happy to pay for that certainty, as long as nothing about it comes as a surprise.
GoChildmind lets you set a retainer as a percentage of the weekly fee, and makes clear it never applies to a funded place.