How much does a house rewire cost?
What a UK house rewire actually costs in 2026, published averages by property size, and the six things that move the number up or down on your house.
Do I need a rewire?
Most houses that people think need rewiring need a new consumer unit. Some that nobody worries about genuinely do need rewiring. Age alone will not tell you — but it narrows it down a long way.
There is no substitute for testing. But there are signs worth knowing about, and there are dates in the history of the wiring regulations that tell you a great deal about what is likely to be behind your plaster.
What changes the answer
The things that actually matter.
01
Rubber, fabric or lead-sheathed cable
Rubber insulation perishes, cracks and eventually falls off the conductor. Fabric-covered and lead-sheathed cable belongs to the same era. If you can see any of it at the board, in the loft or under the floor, the installation is at the end of its life and a board change will not save it.
02
Round pin sockets, or sockets on skirting with no earth
Round pin sockets predate the 13 amp plug becoming standard. If any survive in use, that part of the installation has not been touched in a very long time.
03
No earth at the lighting points
Lighting circuits were not required to have a circuit protective conductor until the 1966 regulations. In a house built before then and never rewired, there may be no earth at the ceiling roses at all, which rules out metal fittings and is a good reason to rewire rather than patch.
04
A fuse board with rewireable fuses
Fuse wire rather than breakers puts the installation firmly pre-1970s in character. On its own this is a board problem, not necessarily a cable problem — but it is a strong hint that nothing else has been updated either.
05
No RCD protection anywhere
RCDs were introduced as additional protection in 1981 and became a requirement on all socket outlets up to 20 amps in 2008. A house wired before those dates and never upgraded has no protection against the faults that cause most electric shocks.
06
Breakers that trip with no obvious cause
Intermittent tripping usually means moisture or damage somewhere in a circuit. It is a symptom, not a diagnosis, and it needs tracing properly rather than resetting repeatedly.
07
Sockets that are warm, discoloured or scorched
Heat at an accessory means a loose or failing connection. That one needs looking at quickly, whatever else is or is not true about the installation.
08
Extension leads doing permanent work
If half the house runs off trailing sockets, the installation no longer matches how you live. That is not always a safety problem, but it is usually a good moment to reconsider circuit design rather than keep adding.
09
You are about to renovate anyway
The cheapest rewire is the one done while floors are up and walls are open for other reasons. If you are extending, converting a loft or refitting a kitchen, this is the moment to decide — not two years later.
Questions
Questions we get asked about this.
How old does a house have to be to need rewiring?
There is no age at which a rewire becomes automatic. What matters is when it was last wired, not when it was built. A 1900 terrace rewired in 2005 is in better shape than a 1975 house on its original installation. The dates in the wiring regulations tell you what to expect, and testing tells you what is actually there.
What does an inspection involve?
Testing the installation circuit by circuit and reporting on its condition, rather than guessing from what is visible. It is the only way to answer this question properly, and it is worth doing before you commit money in either direction.
Could I just have the consumer unit done instead?
Very often, yes — and we will say so if that is what the testing shows. A board change on sound circuits is good value. A board change on failing circuits is money wasted, and we would rather tell you that before you spend it.
Is old wiring actually dangerous, or is that just sales talk?
Both things are true at once. Plenty of old installations are functioning safely. Perished rubber insulation, missing earths and no RCD protection are genuine risks, not invented ones. The difference between the two is testing, which is why we lead with it rather than with a price.
Related
Fuse board replacement: cost and when you need one
What replacing a consumer unit costs in the UK, published averages by property type, and how to tell whether your fuse board actually needs changing.
How long does a rewire take?
How long a house rewire actually takes by property size, what happens in each stage, and what makes a job run longer than the published averages suggest.
Want a real number for your house?
Published averages only get you so far. We survey the property, write the price down and leave it with you.