How much does an electrician cost in the UK?

Working out what an electrician "should" cost is genuinely difficult, because pricing in the trade depends on several things at once: how the job is charged (hourly, by the day, or as a fixed quote), whether it is booked in advance or needed urgently, and where in the country you are based. Having a rough sense of the going rates for each of these makes it much easier to judge whether a quote you have been given is reasonable.

Hourly rates are the most common way smaller jobs get charged, and in 2026 a typical UK electrician charges somewhere around £40 to £60 an hour. That rate climbs noticeably in London and the South East, where £75 to £100 or more per hour is common, reflecting higher living and business costs in the region. For a full day of work, the average day rate sits at around £312, though the realistic range runs from roughly £96 up to £600 depending on the electrician's experience, your location, and how complex the job actually is.

Call-out fees are a separate charge worth understanding before you book anyone, since they are often quoted alongside, rather than instead of, an hourly rate. A standard daytime call-out typically runs £60 to £120, and this usually covers the first 30 to 60 minutes of work rather than being an additional charge on top. Emergency call-outs work differently and cost more: flat emergency call-out charges commonly fall between £65 and £120, though some electricians advertise a lower minimum starting from around £24 before other charges are added. If you need someone outside normal hours — evenings, weekends or bank holidays — expect a materially higher rate, typically £90 to £150 an hour, with an initial call-out fee of £100 to £200 on top. It is always worth asking directly whether a quoted price is inclusive of the call-out or an addition to it.

For smaller, well-defined jobs, fixed prices are often more useful to compare than hourly rates. Adding a single socket to an existing ring main in a standard room commonly costs £80 to £180 including labour and materials, and the price per socket often drops when several are added in the same visit, sometimes to around £60 to £120 each once the call-out and setup cost is spread across more work. A socket needing a new cable run through a wall cavity, rather than tapping into an existing circuit nearby, typically costs more, often £120 to £250, since it involves more time and disruption.

Consumer unit (fuse box) replacement is a bigger job and is priced accordingly. In 2026, a full consumer unit replacement typically costs £780 to £1,000, with an average around £890 — a noticeable rise from an average closer to £625 the previous year, driven largely by higher material costs. This is one of the jobs almost always worth getting more than one quote for, since the price can vary meaningfully between electricians even for what is, on paper, the same job.

A full house rewire sits at the top end of typical domestic electrical costs, and the price scales fairly predictably with the size of the property. Overall, UK rewires in 2026 commonly range from around £2,500 to £11,000, with an average closer to £5,500. Broken down by property size, a two-bedroom home or flat commonly costs £3,500 to £5,500, a typical three-bedroom house £5,000 to £8,000, and a four-bedroom or larger detached property £8,500 to £12,000 or more. London and the South East again tend to sit toward the top of these ranges, often 20% to 30% above the national figures, while parts of the North of England and Scotland tend to sit toward the lower end. Most rewires take around five to seven working days for a typical home, though larger properties can take longer.

Whatever the job, it is worth getting at least two or three quotes before committing, particularly for larger jobs like a consumer unit replacement or a rewire, and being clear up front about whether a quote includes materials, making good after the work, and VAT. Prices vary by region, property access and the specific electrician, so treat the figures here as a general guide rather than a fixed price list. Our directory lists UK electricians by area if you are ready to start comparing quotes.

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