What does a handyman cost per hour in the UK?
The UK handyman hourly rate sits at £35–£60 for most of the country, rising to £50–£80 in London and the South East. Almost nobody sells a bare hour, though: what you are usually buying is a minimum charge covering the first hour plus travel, or a half day that turns out cheaper the moment you have more than two jobs on the list.
from £59
Minimum charge — first hour on site
£119
Half day, up to 4 hours of work
£229
Full day, up to 8 hours of work
£5m
Public liability cover on every job
The practical rule is simple: one job, take the fixed price; three or more jobs, take the half day. A half day at £119 across four small tasks works out at roughly £30 a job — well under what four separate minimum charges would cost. That is how Hello Services handyman visits are priced, and the numbers below are the ones we quote against.
Send your job list — you'll get a fixed price or the right day rate, whichever is cheaper.
Hourly, half day or full day?
Day rates exist because travel, parking and setup are fixed costs that do not shrink when the job does. Once a van is outside your door, every extra task is close to pure labour, so the effective hourly rate falls sharply the longer the booking runs.
- Minimum charge (1st hour)£45–£75Effective rate £45–£75/hr
- 2 hours£80–£130Effective rate £40–£65/hr
- Half day (up to 4 hrs)£110–£180Effective rate £28–£45/hr
- Full day (up to 8 hrs)£220–£320Effective rate £28–£40/hr
- London full day£280–£420Includes congestion and parking exposure
Fixed prices for the most-booked jobs
These are the jobs UK households book most, with the fixed-price ranges you should expect. Ranges reflect wall type, access and size — masonry and tile take longer than plasterboard, and anything above head height needs two people.
Mounting, hanging and fixing
| Job | Typical price | Time on site |
|---|---|---|
| TV wall mount, up to 55" | £70–£120 | 1–1.5 hrs |
| TV wall mount, 65"+ or cable chased | £140–£250 | 2–3 hrs |
| Floating shelf (per shelf) | £35–£60 | 30–45 mins |
| Alcove shelving run | £140–£280 | Half day |
| Mirror or heavy artwork hanging | £40–£75 | 30–45 mins |
| Curtain pole or blind fitting (per window) | £40–£70 | 30–60 mins |
| Cat flap in a wooden door | £60–£95 | 1 hr |
| Cat flap in double glazing | £140–£240 | Glazier panel usually required |
Assembly
| Item | Typical price | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Bedside table, chair or small unit | £30–£50 | Cheapest booked in batches |
| Chest of drawers or desk | £55–£95 | Drawer alignment is the slow part |
| Bed frame (double / king) | £60–£110 | Add £20–£40 for ottoman gas lifts |
| Two-door wardrobe | £90–£140 | Anti-tip wall fixing included |
| Sliding-door or mirrored wardrobe | £130–£220 | Two people for mirrored doors |
| Gym equipment / multi-gym | £90–£200 | Priced by part count, not weight |
| Garden furniture set or BBQ | £60–£140 | Weather-dependent scheduling |
Assembly is booked through flat-pack assembly and IKEA assembly; screens and shelving through TV mounting and shelf installation.
Repairs and finishing
| Job | Typical price | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Fill and make good picture holes (per room) | £40–£80 | Common before a check-out inspection |
| Door adjustment or new handle | £40–£75 | Sticking doors are usually hinge alignment |
| Silicone reseal, bath or shower | £70–£130 | Old sealant removal is most of the labour |
| Toilet seat or tap washer replacement | £45–£80 | Not a like-for-like tap swap |
| Replace a light fitting (like-for-like) | £45–£90 | New circuits need a Part P electrician |
| Wallpaper hanging (per roll) | £25–£45 | Feature walls priced per wall |
| Carpet fitting (per room) | £70–£150 | Underlay and gripper extra |
Handyman rates by UK region
Regional differences are driven by vehicle running costs, parking and demand density rather than skill. Central London carries congestion and ULEZ exposure plus paid parking; rural jobs carry travel time.
| Region | Hourly | Half day | Full day |
|---|---|---|---|
| Central London | £55–£80 | £160–£230 | £300–£420 |
| Greater London & South East | £45–£65 | £140–£190 | £260–£340 |
| South West & East of England | £38–£55 | £120–£170 | £230–£300 |
| Midlands | £35–£50 | £110–£160 | £220–£290 |
| North West & Yorkshire | £32–£48 | £105–£150 | £210–£280 |
| North East, Wales & NI | £30–£45 | £100–£140 | £200–£270 |
| Scotland (Central Belt) | £35–£52 | £115–£165 | £220–£300 |
Local availability matters more than the headline rate: a trades person already working two streets away can price a job that would be uneconomic for someone crossing a city. Check the areas we cover or start from the Greater Manchester handyman hub.
Callout fees, minimum charges and materials
Three things quietly change a handyman invoice: the minimum charge, what happens when the job overruns, and who buys the fixings. Settle all three before work starts and the final number will match the quote.
- Minimum charge: usually the first hour. Ask whether it is consumed by the job or charged on top.
- Overrun billing: confirm whether extra time is billed in 15-minute, 30-minute or whole-hour blocks.
- Materials: cheapest bought by you in advance; otherwise expect cost plus a small handling margin.
- Fixings: plasterboard, dot-and-dab and masonry all need different anchors — say which you have.
- Parking and zones: congestion charge, ULEZ and paid bays are normally passed through at cost.
- Waste: old furniture, packaging and offcuts are usually not included unless you ask.
- Out of hours: evening and Sunday work typically carries a 20–35% uplift.
When you need a registered trade instead
A good handyman will tell you when a job is not theirs. UK law is specific about which work requires registration, and hiring the wrong person can invalidate insurance, block a property sale, or be genuinely dangerous.
| Work | Handyman | Registered trade required |
|---|---|---|
| Swap a light fitting or socket faceplate, like-for-like | Yes | — |
| New circuit, consumer unit, bathroom or kitchen wiring | No | Part P registered electrician |
| Anything connected to gas — hob, boiler, fire | No | Gas Safe registered engineer |
| Replace a tap washer or toilet seat | Yes | — |
| Move soil pipes, fit a new bathroom, unvented cylinder | No | Qualified plumber / G3 for cylinders |
| Fill, patch and redecorate | Yes | — |
| Remove a wall, alter a lintel, structural work | No | Structural engineer + building control |
| Roof repair above single-storey height | Usually no | Roofer with the right access equipment |
The same logic applies to heavy lifting. If a job is really "move a fully assembled wardrobe upstairs", a handyman is the wrong booking — see the man with a van price guide for how that is priced.
Insurance, damage and your rights
Under the Consumer Rights Act 2015, work must be carried out with reasonable care and skill, within a reasonable time, and for a reasonable price where none was agreed. If it is not, you are entitled to have it put right or to a price reduction.
- Ask for public liability cover — it pays for damage to your property, not for redoing poor work.
- Ask separately about a workmanship guarantee and how long it runs.
- Get the quote in writing, itemised, with materials shown separately from labour.
- Photograph the wall or item before work starts, especially in a rented property.
- Pay on completion, not upfront; a deposit for materials on a large job is reasonable.
- Keep the invoice — for a rented home it is your evidence that repairs were done properly.
Hello Services handymen are DBS-checked, carry £5m public liability cover, and every job is quoted at a fixed price before anyone starts.
Batch your jobs — the cheapest thing you can do
Households under-use handymen because they think one small job is not worth booking. It usually is not. Four small jobs on one visit almost always is.
- Write the listWalk the house once and note everything: the wobbly handle, the shelf, the blind, the flat-pack in the hallway.
- Photograph each onePhotos let the job be priced accurately in advance, so nothing is re-quoted on the doorstep.
- Buy materials firstConfirm the fixings for your wall type and buy them yourself — shopping time on an hourly rate is the most avoidable cost.
- Book a half dayClear access to every job before the crew arrives. Four tasks in one half day is roughly £30 each.
If the list exists because you have just moved in, sequence it after the boxes land but before you unpack — and if you are moving out, the make-good work should happen before the end of tenancy clean, never after.
How to hire a handyman well
- Describe the wall: plasterboard, dot-and-dab, brick or tile changes both time and fixings.
- Send photos and measurements with the enquiry; vague jobs get padded quotes.
- Ask what the minimum charge covers and how overruns are billed.
- Confirm who supplies materials and whether waste removal is included.
- Check public liability cover and DBS status before anyone is in your home.
- Book mid-week where you can; Saturdays are the busiest and priciest slot.
- Group jobs by room so the crew is not carrying tools up and down stairs all day.
Got a list rather than a single job? Send it over and we'll tell you whether a fixed price or a half day is cheaper.
Frequently asked questions
Related services
- Handyman servicesFixed prices from £59, half day £119, full day £229 — DBS-checked and insured.
- TV mountingLevelled, cable-tidied and fixed into the right anchors for your wall type.
- Flat-pack assemblyWardrobes, beds and desks built, levelled and anti-tip fixed.
- Shelf installationFloating shelves and alcove runs, load-rated to what you'll actually put on them.
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Send your job list with a couple of photos and you'll get one upfront number — labour, fixings and tidy-up included, with no callout surprises.