UK Tradesperson Day Rate 2026 — What Each Trade Actually Bills
Day rates rose 6.4% nationally in 2025-2026; specialist heating + EV trades top the charts at £450-£600/day
"A UK heat pump installer now bills more per day than the average UK GP. The renewables-trades wage premium is the largest skill-pricing shift in UK construction since the 2008 cycle."
— TradeMatch UK Editorial Team
How this study was carried out
TradeMatch aggregated 24,800 day-rate billings declared on completed jobs across calendar 2025. Day rate = (gross labour) ÷ (days on site) for jobs where labour and timeline were separately invoiced. Smaller trades (n<200) use trade-association-published rate cards as a cross-check.
Sample: 24,800 day-rate billings declared on TradeMatch jobs, all 48 trade categories, calendar 2025
What this study found
- Renewables-trades day rates lead UK rankings — heat pump installers at £575/day, EV charger installers at £510/day
- Painter / decorator day rates remain the lowest at £235/day median, reflecting the most DIY-substitutable trade
- National day-rate inflation averaged 6.4% in 2025-2026, ahead of headline CPI but in line with services CPI
- Specialist gas-renewable trades (heat pump, EV charger, solar) saw faster wage inflation (+8-9%) than mainstream trades (+5-6%)
TradeMatch internal data, 24,800 day-rate billings, calendar 2025
| Trade | 2025 Median Day Rate | 2024 vs 2025 Change |
|---|---|---|
| Heat pump installer | £575 | +8.1% |
| EV charger installer | £510 | +9.4% |
| Solar PV installer | £480 | +5.7% |
| Gas engineer | £395 | +5.4% |
| Electrician | £365 | +6.2% |
| Plumber | £340 | +5.9% |
| Builder (general) | £330 | +6.1% |
| Carpenter | £305 | +6.6% |
| Plasterer | £295 | +5.4% |
| Roofer | £290 | +7.1% |
| Bricklayer | £275 | +6.4% |
| Painter / decorator | £235 | +4.8% |
Why this matters
UK trade day rates have outpaced general-services CPI in 2025-2026 because of two compounding pressures: an ageing workforce (see /data/uk-tradesperson-age-2026) and accelerating demand on renewable-energy trades. Heat pump installer rates are the strongest single signal — supply is constrained (MCS certification takes 6-12 months) while demand has accelerated 38% year-over-year on the BUS grant. EV charger installers, working under a similar OZEV-grant model, show the same pattern. Mainstream trades (plumbing, electrics, building) ride the broader services-CPI cycle. Decorating sits below average because the skill is the most DIY-substitutable.
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FAQ
Are these gross or net of overheads?
Gross — day rate as billed to the client. Tradespeople's take-home is materially lower after vehicle costs, materials margins, insurance, accountancy, and (above the £85,000 threshold) VAT.
Are London rates included in the median?
Yes — all UK regions are included. London-specific medians run 25-40% above the national median for most trades; this study reports the UK-wide median, not London-only.
Why is decorating so much cheaper?
It is the most DIY-substitutable trade — homeowners painting their own rooms reduces decorator demand on small jobs, suppressing day rates relative to less-DIY-able trades. Decorators compensate via higher throughput per day.
Where do these rates come from?
24,800 escrow-released day-rate billings across calendar 2025. The dataset is the largest published comparable in the UK and is available for press citation with attribution.
Cite this study
Citation: TradeMatch UK (2026). UK Tradesperson Day Rate 2026 — What Each Trade Actually Bills. Available at: https://www.tradematch.uk/data/tradesperson-day-rate-uk-2026
Granular data and per-postcode breakdowns are available to UK media outlets on request to [email protected]. Released under CC-BY 4.0 — re-use freely with attribution.
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