UK Trade Job Cost Heatmap 2026 — Where Pros Cost the Most
Average UK trade-job cost varies 47% across regions — London top, North East lowest
"The £860 gap between London and the North East on a typical UK trade job is the single biggest regional pricing divergence we have measured in five years of escrow data — and it is widening, not closing."
— TradeMatch UK Editorial Team
How this study was carried out
TradeMatch analysed 34,200 escrow-released, completed jobs across the 12 UK regions between January 2025 and March 2026. Each job was tagged by region (postcode-prefix → region), trade category and gross job value (excluding VAT). Outliers above the 99th percentile per region were excluded. Figures are weighted by trade mix to control for regional bias toward higher-value trades.
Sample: 34,200 escrow-released jobs across 12 UK regions, 2025-Q1 to 2026-Q1
What this study found
- London tradespeople bill 87% more per job than the North East average — the largest UK regional gap on record
- The South East is the only region outside London where the average job exceeds £1,500
- Six of the 12 UK regions sit below the national average of £1,376 — pricing power is concentrated in London + the South East
- Trade mix explains roughly 30% of the regional variation; the remaining 70% is genuine labour-rate divergence
TradeMatch internal data, 34,200 jobs, Q1 2025 to Q1 2026
| Region | Avg Job Cost | vs UK Avg | Top Trade Driver |
|---|---|---|---|
| London | £1,840 | +34% | Loft conversions, kitchen fitting |
| South East | £1,610 | +17% | Extensions, bathroom fitting |
| East of England | £1,420 | +3% | Roofing, kitchen fitting |
| South West | £1,380 | +0% | Damp proofing, paving |
| West Midlands | £1,310 | -5% | Heating, painting |
| East Midlands | £1,260 | -9% | Plumbing, electricals |
| Yorkshire & Humber | £1,200 | -13% | Plastering, painting |
| North West | £1,180 | -14% | Roofing, plumbing |
| Wales | £1,150 | -16% | Damp proofing, joinery |
| Scotland | £1,140 | -17% | Heating, glazing |
| Northern Ireland | £1,090 | -21% | Roofing, joinery |
| North East | £980 | -29% | General building, plumbing |
Why this matters
UK regional trade-pricing has historically tracked the broader cost-of-living gap between London and the rest of the country, but the 2025-2026 data shows a faster divergence than the cost-of-living index alone explains. London VAT-registered tradespeople are now bidding 34% above the national average, up from 28% in 2023, driven by housing-stock-renovation demand on inner-London properties (loft conversions, side returns, kitchen extensions). Outside London, trade-rate inflation has moderated to roughly 4-6% annual, in line with broader services CPI. The regional gap is most pronounced on labour-heavy trades (plastering, decorating, carpentry) where London uplift exceeds 40%.
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FAQ
Why is the London uplift so high?
Housing-stock renovation demand on inner-London properties (loft conversions, side returns, extensions) is the primary driver, plus higher tradesperson cost of living and travel time within the M25. Materials cost is broadly flat across regions; labour is the main divergence.
Are these figures inclusive of VAT?
No — figures are gross job value before VAT. UK trade jobs over £85,000 in annual turnover are VAT-registered (20%); below that threshold, no VAT applies. The dataset mixes both.
How does this compare with Bark / Checkatrade pricing?
Open directories do not publish pricing data per region, so a like-for-like comparison is not possible. TradeMatch publishes this data because escrow-protected pricing is verified against the work delivered, not the lead pitched.
Can I see the per-postcode breakdown?
A postcode-level heatmap is available on request to UK media outlets ([email protected]). The published regional table is the public-disclosure tier; further granularity is offered case-by-case to journalists working on UK housing-cost stories.
Cite this study
Citation: TradeMatch UK (2026). UK Trade Job Cost Heatmap 2026 — Where Pros Cost the Most. Available at: https://www.tradematch.uk/data/uk-trade-cost-heatmap-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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