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 much does a house rewire cost?
Published UK averages put a three-bedroom house at around £6,225 and a four-bed at around £7,730. Here is where those numbers come from, and why the price on your house may sit well outside them.
Nobody can price a rewire from a phone call, and anyone who does is guessing. But you deserve a sense of the ballpark before you invite anyone round, so here are the published national figures, clearly labelled as such, followed by the things that actually decide what your job costs.
| Property | Published average | Typical range |
|---|---|---|
| 1-bed flat | £3,900 | £3,000 – £4,800 |
| 2-bed flat | £4,800 | £3,800 – £5,800 |
| 1-bed house | £4,200 | — |
| 2-bed house | £4,800 | — |
| 3-bed house | £6,225 | £4,450 – £8,000 |
| 4-bed house | £7,730 | £6,080 – £9,380 |
| 5-bed house | £10,000 | £7,500 – £12,500 |
Source: Checkatrade cost guide, retrieved September 2026. These are national averages including VAT, not Protec Elec Ltd prices. Our own quotes are fixed and given in writing after we have seen the property. View the source.
What changes the answer
The things that actually matter.
01
Whether anyone is living there
An empty house is the cheapest rewire you will ever buy. Working around a family, their furniture and their need for power and heating at the end of each day can add days to the programme, and days are what you are paying for.
02
Floor construction and access
Chipboard flooring, fitted carpets throughout, a boarded loft, solid concrete ground floors and tiled bathrooms all make cable routes harder. Suspended timber floors with liftable boards make them easy. This is one of the biggest single swings in the price.
03
How many circuits you actually want
A rewire priced to the same layout you have now is one number. A rewire that adds sockets where you have been running extension leads for a decade, splits the lighting properly, puts a supply in the garage and leaves you ready for a car charger is another. Both are legitimate; they are not the same job.
04
The consumer unit position
If the board stays where it is, fine. Moving it — because it is in a cupboard that is now a utility room, or because you want it out of the hallway — adds work, and moving it far enough to need the incoming mains cable altered brings the network operator into it, at which point the cost changes category entirely.
05
Making good
Ask every quote you receive whether making good is included, and what making good means. Chased walls filled and left ready for decoration is one standard. Plastered, sanded and painted is another. We tell you in writing which one you are getting.
06
Certification and notification
A rewire is notifiable work under Part P of the Building Regulations. As a NAPIT registered firm we self-certify our own installation and notify it, so there is no separate Building Control fee and no third-party inspector to book. If a quote is silent on certification, ask.
Questions
Questions we get asked about this.
Is a rewire ever cheaper than the published averages?
Yes. A small flat with accessible floors and a straightforward layout, empty at the time of work, can come in well under a national average that is pulled upward by larger and more awkward properties. The averages are a starting point, not a floor.
Can I have a partial rewire instead?
Often, yes. If the lighting circuits are sound and it is the socket circuits that are original, or vice versa, there is no rule that says everything has to come out. We will tell you honestly if a partial rewire is the sensible answer, because a partial job we can stand behind is better business than a full one you resent paying for.
Do I have to move out?
Not usually. Most rewires are done in stages so you keep power and light somewhere in the house each evening. It is disruptive and we will not pretend otherwise, but it is manageable.
Will you give me a fixed price?
Yes. We survey the property, write the price down, itemise what is included and what is not, and leave it with you. The number does not move unless you change the scope.
Related
Do I need a rewire?
How to tell whether your house needs rewiring or just a new consumer unit, what the age of your property tells you, and when to get it properly tested.
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.