LodgicWhat do common rental repairs actually cost a landlord in 2026?
Nobody sets out to be surprised by a repair bill. What catches landlords out is not the cost of any single job, it is the shape of the year: a quiet spring, then a boiler that goes in November, a drain that backs up in the same fortnight, and a check out that turns into an argument about a carpet. Knowing roughly what each of those costs before the phone rings is the difference between a decision and a scramble.
The figures below are the ranges being quoted across the UK in 2026. They are a guide rather than a quote, because the same job in two properties can differ by half again, and London and the South East usually sit twenty to thirty per cent above the rest of the country.
What do the most common rental repairs cost in 2026?
| Job | Typical 2026 cost | What moves the number |
|---|---|---|
| Plumber call out, first visit | £70 to £160, then about £60 an hour | Time of day and how far they travel |
| Emergency plumber, out of hours | £135 to £255 for a straightforward fault | Weekends and nights carry a surcharge |
| Dripping tap or a worn washer | £50 to £150 | Whether the tap is repairable or needs replacing |
| Leaking pipe under a sink | £80 to £250 | Access, and whether anything has to come out to reach it |
| Blocked toilet | £75 to £150 | Usually one visit unless it is the soil pipe |
| Blocked drain | £80 to £250, or £100 to £350 in London | Jetting is cheap, excavation starts near £600 |
| Boiler repair | Around £300, ranging £120 to £750 | Parts: a fan £200 to £350, a circuit board £250 to £450 |
| Annual boiler service | £70 to £120, more like £100 to £150 in London | Boiler type and whether it is bundled with the gas check |
| Landlord gas safety record | £60 to £90, plus £10 to £20 an extra appliance | Book it with the service for £85 to £130 together |
| New combi boiler, fitted | £1,800 to £3,500, median around £2,300 | Moving the position of the boiler adds a day of labour |
| Electrician, hourly | £40 to £65, or £65 to £90 in London | Emergency call outs often carry a two hour minimum |
| Replace a socket or a switch | £55 to £75 | Worth batching several into one visit |
| New consumer unit | £780 to £1,000, around £890 typical | Four to eight hours, plus any remedial work it uncovers |
| Mould treatment, one room | £150 to £400 | Treating the mould is not the same as fixing the cause |
| Damp proof course, three bed semi | £650 to £950 injected, £1,500 to £3,500 with replastering | How many walls, and how long the plaster needs to dry |
| Replastering a room | £450 to £800 | Ceilings and salt resistant plaster push it up |
| Roof repair | Around £650 average | Scaffolding is often the biggest single line |
| Clearing gutters | £50 to £300 | Height, access and how many elevations |
| Misted double glazed unit | £60 to £120 a unit | The glass alone, not the whole window |
| Changing locks | About £100 a Yale lock, £125 a uPVC lock, £500 for a full set | How many doors, and whether it is out of hours |
| Decorating a room | £350 to £600, over £1,000 for a large room | Decorator day rates run £230 to £355, more in London |
| New carpet | £15 to £25 a square metre, fitters £150 to £250 a day | Underlay, gripper and moving furniture |
| Replacing an appliance | Washing machine £350 to £600, oven from £300 | Repair first if it is under about half the replacement cost |
Why does the same job cost so differently in two properties?
Four things do most of the damage to a quote. The first is time, because a fault reported at seven on a Friday evening costs half as much again as the same fault reported at nine on a Tuesday morning. The second is access, since a contractor who cannot get in loses the slot and charges for it anyway. The third is diagnosis, because a job booked as a leak that turns out to be a failed seal behind a bath is really two visits. The fourth is information, and it is the one you control. A contractor who arrives already knowing what the fault looks like, when it started and what the tenant has tried has a far better chance of fixing it in one visit, which is where the saving actually lives.
Who pays, you or the tenant?
Section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 puts the structure, the exterior and the installations for water, gas, electricity, heating and sanitation squarely on the landlord, and that obligation cannot be contracted away. The tenant carries the everyday upkeep and anything they break beyond fair wear and tear. In practice most arguments sit in a narrow band, and they are settled on two ideas. Fair wear and tear means you cannot charge for the gradual ageing that normal living causes, so a carpet worn thin over four years is yours. Betterment means you cannot end up better off than you started, so if a damaged item is replaced with a new one the tenant pays only a proportion, based on how much life the original had left.
That proportion is precisely where evidence decides the outcome. If you can show what the item looked like at check in, what it looked like at check out, when it was last replaced and what the replacement cost, the apportionment almost writes itself. Without that, an adjudicator has nothing to work from and the benefit of the doubt goes to the tenant.
How much should a landlord set aside each year?
Most landlords spend between £1,200 and £2,500 a property a year on maintenance and repairs, and research on the sector puts the real figure higher once compliance, voids and the bigger items are counted, closer to a quarter of rental income. Two simple planning rules get you most of the way there. Set aside ten to fifteen per cent of the annual rent, or one per cent of the property value, whichever gives you the bigger number on an older property. Then hold the large predictable items separately, because a boiler and a roof are not really repairs, they are replacements with a known life, and a landlord who knows the boiler is fourteen years old is planning rather than reacting.
What turns a cheap repair into an expensive one?
Almost always delay, and almost always for the same reason: the report sat somewhere before it reached a person who could act. A dripping overflow is a plumber and an hour. The same overflow left for two months is a ceiling, a decorator and a claim. Damp caught early is a fan and a tube of sealant, while damp left for a winter is replastering, new skirting and a tenant with a complaint that now carries timescales behind it. The cost of a repair is set far more by how quickly it reaches the right person than by the hourly rate of whoever eventually turns up.
Why does the paperwork matter as much as the price?
Because paying for the work is only half of it. The day it counts, you are asked to show what was wrong, what you did about it, when, and what it cost. That is the moment the invoice, the dated photographs and the message trail become the whole case, whether you are justifying a deposit deduction, answering an insurer, claiming the cost against rental profit or showing you acted within the timescales you were given. We have written about this at length in the evidence trail every landlord needs, and repairs are where it gets tested most often, because repairs are where money, time and condition all meet.
How do you keep the costs and the proof in one place?
The quiet trick is to stop treating the record as a separate task. When a tenant reports a fault on a number that recognises them, the report, the photographs and the time it arrived are captured before anyone has decided anything. A contractor opens the job when they arrive, notes the parts, adds before and after photographs and signs it off, so the invoice has the condition attached to it rather than sitting in an inbox on its own. Lodgic works this way on purpose, and it also offers the tenant a safe self fix where one genuinely applies, which is how a reset button stops being a call out fee. Nobody files anything, and a year later the spend and the proof are in the same place, per property.
A simple way to stay on top of repair costs
- Get a written price before the work, even for a small job, so the invoice has something to be checked against.
- Ask the tenant for photographs at the point of report, not after the contractor has been.
- Batch small electrical and plumbing jobs into one visit rather than paying a call out fee three times.
- Record the age of the boiler, the roof and the appliances, so replacements are planned and not emergencies.
- Keep the invoice, the dates and the photographs together against the property, ready to produce.
This is general information, not legal or tax advice. Costs move, vary by region and depend on the property, and the rules behind them change. Check the current position for your own property and take professional advice where it matters.
Frequently asked questions
How much do UK landlords spend on repairs each year?
Most landlords spend somewhere between £1,200 and £2,500 a property a year on maintenance and repairs, and some studies put the figure closer to a quarter of rental income once voids, compliance and bigger items are counted. A common planning approach is to set aside ten to fifteen per cent of annual rent, or one per cent of the property value.
Can a landlord charge a tenant for a repair?
Only where the tenant caused the damage, and only beyond fair wear and tear. Section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 puts the structure, the exterior and the installations for water, gas, electricity, heating and sanitation on the landlord. A tenant can be charged for damage they caused, but not for a worn carpet or faded paint, and never on a basis that leaves the landlord better off than before.
How much is a landlord gas safety certificate in 2026?
Around £60 to £90 for a property with a boiler and one other gas appliance, with each extra appliance adding roughly £10 to £20. Booking the annual boiler service at the same visit usually comes to £85 to £130 in total, which is cheaper than paying for two separate visits.
What is the most expensive repair a landlord is likely to face?
A boiler replacement or a damp job. A new combi boiler runs about £1,800 to £3,500 fitted, and a full damp proof course with replastering on a three bed house usually lands between £1,500 and £3,500. Roofs and rewires can go further. These are the items worth planning for rather than reacting to.
Are repair costs tax deductible for landlords?
Repairs that put something back to its previous condition are generally allowable against rental profit, and replacing a domestic item such as a washing machine or a carpet on a like for like basis usually qualifies for replacement of domestic items relief. Improvements are treated as capital rather than a repair. This is general information and not tax advice, so check your own position with an accountant.
Why should I keep repair invoices and photos?
Because the money is only half the story. The invoice proves what was spent, the dated photos prove the condition before and after, and together they decide whether a deposit deduction stands, whether an insurer pays, and whether you can show you acted in time. A repair with no record behind it is a cost you carry twice.
Know what you spent, and be able to show it
Lodgic is one WhatsApp number that runs repairs, inspections and compliance, and keeps the dated, photo backed record as it goes. So the spend and the proof sit together, per property.
See how it works