House rewire cost: what you should expect to pay

What a rewire actually involves

A full rewire replaces every cable in the property. Floors come up, walls get chased, ceilings get opened where they have to be. The old accessories and the old consumer unit go, and the installation is rebuilt from the cut-out outwards.

• First fix — lifting floors, chasing walls, running all new cable to every socket, light, switch, cooker point and outbuilding, plus new earthing and bonding.
• Second fix — fitting the accessories, terminating everything, and installing the new consumer unit.
• Testing and certification — dead and live testing on every circuit, an Electrical Installation Certificate, a circuit chart, and Part P notification.
• Making good — plastering the chases, patching floors and ceilings, decorating. Usually not in the electrical price.

It is disruptive work. BestBuilders puts a rewire at three to eighteen days on site depending on size (page dated July 2026, updated 12 August 2026, checked 6 September 2026). WhatToCharge gives two to three days for a one-bed up to ten to fourteen days for a five-bed (2026 guide, checked 6 September 2026). Neither of those includes the plasterer and the decorator who come afterwards.

What drives the price up or down

• Occupied or empty. BestBuilders puts an empty property at 15 to 25 per cent cheaper, because nobody has to work around furniture, reinstate power every evening or protect finished floors. If you can move out or do it before you move in, do.
• Number of points, not number of rooms. Every socket, switch, light and outlet is cable and labour. A modern spec with double sockets everywhere, outside lights and a garage supply is a bigger job than a like-for-like replacement.
• Construction. Solid walls chase harder than stud. Concrete floors mean surface containment or a very different routing plan. Suspended timber floors with accessible voids are the electrician's friend.
• Listed or period property. BestBuilders puts a listed-building uplift at 25 to 60 per cent, because you cannot chase where you like and the making good is specialist.
• Region. BestBuilders adds 15 to 25 per cent for London and the South East.
• Spec. AFDDs, surge protection, a smart lighting system, extra circuits for an EV charger or a heat pump — all sensible, all extra.

What a fair quote looks like

A rewire is one of the biggest single jobs a homeowner buys from an electrician, and the quote should look like it. A one-line figure for rewire house is not a quote.

1. A schedule of points, room by room. How many sockets, switches, lights and outlets per room. This is the single most useful thing on the document, because it is what you are actually buying.
2. The consumer unit specified — make, ways, and whether it is dual RCD or full RCBO. BestBuilders puts the board at £400 to £700 and WhatToCharge at £400 to £700 as part of the job.
3. Testing and certification named — the Electrical Installation Certificate and Part P notification through a competent-person scheme. BestBuilders prices Part P certification at £180 to £300 within the job.
4. Making good stated explicitly, in or out. BestBuilders puts plastering and painting at £600 to £1,800 and excludes it; WhatToCharge puts replastering at £800 to £2,500. Assume it is out unless the quote says otherwise.
5. A programme. Days on site, when the power will be off, and whether you can live there during the work.
6. A payment schedule tied to stages — a deposit for materials, a payment at first fix complete, the balance on certification. Never pay the full amount up front.
7. A provisional sum or clear rate for the unknowns. Nobody knows what is under the floor until it comes up.

Red flags

• A price given without anyone visiting the property. A rewire cannot be quoted from a phone call.
• No schedule of points, so there is no agreed definition of what finished looks like.
• Large cash payments up front, or a deposit far larger than the material cost.
• No mention of Part P notification or which scheme the electrician belongs to.
• Silence on making good — this is where most rewire disputes end up.
• A price dramatically below every other quote. On a job this size that usually means a smaller spec, no making good, or corners on testing.
• No certificate at the end. Without the EIC and the Building Regulations Compliance Certificate you have an undocumented installation, and that becomes your problem when you sell.

Full rewire or partial?

A partial rewire replaces the circuits that need it and leaves the sound ones alone — commonly a new consumer unit, new lighting circuits and a new kitchen ring, with older but serviceable circuits retained. BestBuilders prices a partial rewire of a 3-bed semi at £2,800 to £4,500 against £5,500 to £8,500 for a full one when occupied (updated 12 August 2026, checked 6 September 2026).

It is a legitimate option, but only on the back of a proper inspection. If an EICR shows the lighting circuits are shot and the power circuits are sound, a partial rewire is sensible engineering. If the installation is rubber or lead-sheathed cable throughout, patching half of it is money spent twice. Get the report before you decide, not after.

The paperwork you must end up with

• An Electrical Installation Certificate covering the whole rewire, with the schedule of test results for every circuit.
• A Building Regulations Compliance Certificate for the Part P notification — a rewire creates new circuits and replaces the board, both of which are notifiable in England.
• A circuit chart on the consumer unit.
• The schedule of points as built, so you know what is where when you come to hang a picture.
• Manufacturer literature and any warranty on the board and accessories.

Keep every page. On a job of this size the certificate is worth real money at resale, and reproducing it later means paying for a fresh inspection.