Plumbers in London cover burst pipes and leaks, blocked drains, taps, toilets, showers and hot water cylinders. Most charge a call-out fee plus an hourly or fixed job rate, and an emergency at night or on a weekend costs more than the same job booked for the morning. Each page below explains what the job involves, what moves the price in London and when it can wait.
Also on PROS AI: Electricians in London and Heating & Boiler Engineers in London.
A plumber in London charges £86 to £140 for the first weekday hour, £113 to £220 out of hours, then £55 to £95 an hour. Jobs run from £75 to £150 to fit a tap and £50 to £90 to clear a sink to £120 to £250 for drain jetting and £4,500 to £7,500 for a bathroom refit.
| Job | London low | London typical | London high | UK typical | What moves the price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Call-out, weekday daytime, first hour | £86 | £105 | £140 | £75 | Usually a one-hour minimum; one firm starts at £85.50 plus VAT; outer boroughs at the bottom of the range, the City, Westminster and Kensington and Chelsea at the top |
| Call-out, evening, weekend or night, first hour | £113 | £150 | £220 | From £112.50 plus VAT for evenings and weekends and £144 for nights at one firm; Sundays £150 to £220, bank holidays £180 to £280 | |
| Each hour after the first | £55 | £85 | £95 | £60 | Billed in half or quarter hours; parts marked up 10 to 15 per cent, at some firms 25 to 50 |
| Tap replacement, labour only, you supply the tap | £75 | £110 | £150 | £80 | About an hour with isolation valves in place; £100 to £200 if valves or new supply lines must be added; supplied and fitted £80 to £300 |
| Toilet repair, fill valve, flush valve or syphon | £80 | £110 | £150 | £95 | 30 to 90 minutes plus a £5 to £30 part; a blocked toilet is £100 to £200 |
| Leak repair on an exposed pipe or joint | £120 | £150 | £200 | £130 | Parts are £2 to £30, so it is the visit you pay for; behind a wall or under a floor £180 to £300 |
| Blocked drain, rodded from the manhole | £75 | £100 | £125 | £85 | The first thing to try; a sink, basin or toilet cleared from inside the home is £50 to £90 |
| High-pressure drain jetting, single domestic run | £120 | £175 | £250 | £185 | 30 to 60 minutes; for grease or a blockage rods cannot shift; jetting followed by a CCTV survey £250 to £450 |
| Shower installation, mixer or thermostatic, labour | £270 | £400 | £540 | Outside London £225 to £450; the unit is £100 to £600; an electric shower is £180 to £360 in labour | |
| Like-for-like bathroom refit | £4,500 | £6,000 | £7,500 | Bath, basin, toilet and shower replaced in the same positions; £8,000 to £13,000 with fittings moved; labour is 40 to 55 per cent of the total |
Plumbers in London cover the water side of a home: taps, toilets, showers and baths, leaks and burst pipes, blocked sinks and drains, new pipework when a kitchen or bathroom moves, hot water cylinders and the plumbing side of a bathroom refit. Most of it is charged by the hour, and a small job such as a dripping tap or a running toilet is usually done within the first hour. Bigger jobs, from a shower installation to a full bathroom, are quoted as a fixed price after a visit.
Unlike gas, there is no statutory register for plumbers in England, so anyone can use the title. Two signals do the work instead. WaterSafe is the national register of approved plumbing businesses, searchable by postcode, and its members can self-certify work that would otherwise have to be notified to Thames Water under the Water Fittings Regulations and issue a Certificate of Compliance. Membership of the Chartered Institute of Plumbing and Heating Engineering (CIPHE) shows a plumber has met a professional standard. If any part of the job touches gas, a boiler, a gas hob or a gas pipe, the person doing that part must be on the Gas Safe Register by law, and you can check the seven-digit number on their card by texting Gas and the number to 85080. Also ask whether they carry public liability insurance and whether the quote includes VAT.
The weekday first hour in London costs £86 to £140 and covers travel plus the first 60 minutes on site; the hours after that are cheaper at £55 to £95, billed in half or quarter hours, and parts are added with a mark-up of 10 to 15 per cent at most firms. Evenings, weekends and nights start at £113 and rise to £220 for the first hour, so a leak that the stopcock can hold is cheaper to book for the morning. For anything over a few hundred pounds, get two or three written quotes and check that each states the same scope: making good, removal of the old suite and whether the electrician for a shower circuit is included or separate.
London plumbers charge 20 to 40 per cent more than the rest of the UK: the UK call-out is about £75 and the hourly rate £40 to £60, against £86 to £140 and £55 to £95 here. The gap is larger in the City, Westminster and Kensington and Chelsea, where the call-out rarely includes the first hour, and smaller in the outer boroughs. London's hard water, at about 266 milligrams of calcium carbonate a litre, also means limescale, stiff taps and failing shower cartridges sooner than elsewhere.
For the job you have, read the guides on emergency leaks and burst pipes, blocked drains, toilets and sinks, drain cleaning and jetting, leak detection, pipe installation and relocation, shower, bath and wet room installation, kitchen sink and appliance plumbing, hot water cylinders and general plumbing work, each with its own London price table.
Prices last checked: September 2026. Based on the London and UK figures already published on the individual plumbing job pages, which draw on the 2026 rate cards and cost guides of London plumbing firms, UK cost guides and Thames Water and WaterSafe guidance. PROS AI does not yet have enough completed plumbing jobs in London to publish its own averages.
£55 to £95 an hour after the first hour, against £40 to £60 across the rest of the UK. The first hour is dearer at £86 to £140 on a weekday because it covers travel and the call-out, and most firms set a one-hour minimum. Outer boroughs sit at the bottom of the range and the City, Westminster and Kensington and Chelsea at the top. A day rate is £450 to £600.
£86 to £140 on a weekday, typically about £105, and it normally includes the first hour on site. Evenings and weekends start at about £113 for the first hour, nights run £90 to £220 depending on the borough, and Sundays and bank holidays reach £150 to £280. The UK call-out is about £75. Ask whether the fee covers the first hour or is charged on top of it.
No, there is no statutory register for plumbing in England, so check for two signals instead: WaterSafe approval, which is searchable by postcode and lets the plumber self-certify work under the Water Fittings Regulations, and CIPHE membership. Any gas work is different: the person touching a boiler or gas pipe must be on the Gas Safe Register, which you can check by texting Gas and their seven-digit number to 85080.
£120 to £200 for a pipe you can see and £180 to £300 or more for one behind a wall or under a floor, because opening up and making good is the cost, not the part. An emergency visit is £86 to £140 for the first hour in the day and £90 to £220 at night. Finding a hidden leak first is £150 to £300 for a basic acoustic survey.
£4,500 to £7,500 for a like-for-like refit with the bath, basin, toilet and shower replaced in the same positions, and £8,000 to £13,000 once fittings move: a toilet adds £800 to £1,500, a basin £400 to £800 and a shower £600 to £1,200. A wet room is £8,000 to £16,000. Labour is 40 to 55 per cent of the total and a London fitter charges £280 to £380 a day.
Written by PROS AI editorial team.
