Tradesman rates climb – homeowners urged to act for winter

The latest Trade Costs Index by HaMuch, the best place to find the country’s best tradespeople, reveals that the average hourly cost of hiring a tradesperson has increased by 2% in the past three months alone, but surprisingly, boiler engineers are now briefly available at a great discount.

The Trade Costs Index from HaMuch tracks the changing cost of hiring eight different types of tradespeople – from electricians and roofers to carpenters and plumbers – on a quarterly basis to see how their hourly rates are changing every three months. This time, the Index looks at the changes between Q2 2024 and Q3 2024.

The most recent Index reveals that, on average, the hourly cost of a tradesperson in Q3 2024 stands at £32. This is an increase of 2% compared to Q2’s average rate of £31 per hour.

However, some trades have implemented a much more significant bump to their hourly rate over the past three months.

The profession to increase their rate the most is electricians. In Q2, the average hourly cost of an electrician was £32, but in Q3, that cost rose to £35, a quarterly increase of +9.1%.

Following a +7% increase over the past three months, locksmiths now command the highest rate of all trades people at an average of £45 per hour.

Meanwhile, roofers now charge an average of £29 per hour after an increase of +4.9%, while painter-decorators (+4.2%), builders (+2.9%), and plasterers (+1.5%) have also implemented rate increases since Q2.

However, there are two areas of the trades to have actually reduced their average rate over the past three months.

Carpenters/joiners now charge an average hourly rate of £27 which is -2.3% below the average Q2 charge of £28 per hour.

But perhaps most surprisingly of all, the biggest price drop has come from plumbers and heating engineers.

In Q2, an average rate of £45 per hour made plumbers and heating engineers the highest paid of all tradespeople, but following a quarterly decrease of -8.1%, they now charge an average of £41 per hour, which means a boiler engineer is now more affordable than a locksmith.

Founder and CEO of HaMuch.com, Tarquin Purdie, commented: “It’s no surprise that people are tempted to take a DIY approach to home maintenance tasks in order to reduce their outgoings as much as possible, particularly at a time when the cost of living and running a home are so high.

However, there are some jobs that you simply cannot afford to mess around with, whether that’s for legal or safety reasons – such as gas and electrics. In such cases, it’s always best to hire a trained and skilled professional as going it alone can not only be costly, it can be deadly.

Unfortunately, tradespeople are facing the same economic challenges as the rest of us and, as such, have had to increase their rates. Thankfully, those increases are only minor and shouldn’t make a dramatic difference to your final bill.

The good news, however, is that plumbers and heating engineers, who have long been regarded as the most pricey tradespeople, have actually cut their costs over recent months. But as we head into winter, demand for their services is going to increase which will inevitably push prices up.

This means that now is the very best time to get your boiler and central heating checked. Not only will you be able to head into the depths of winter safe in the knowledge that your heating is shipshape, but you’ll also make a saving by getting in ahead of the rush.”