The latest Trade Costs Index by listings service HaMuch shows already-high labour costs rising 2% in the past three months alone. 

The most recent Index reveals that: –

• On average, the hourly cost of a tradesperson in Q3 2024 stands at £32. This is an increase of 2% compared to Q2’s average rate of £31 per hour;

• The profession to increase their rate the most is electricians. In Q2, the average hourly cost of an electrician was £32, but in Q3, that cost rose to £35, a quarterly increase of +9.1%;

• Following a +7% increase over the past three months, locksmiths now command the highest rate of all trades people at an average of £45 per hour;

• Meanwhile, roofers now charge an average of £29 per hour after an increase of +4.9%, while painter-decorators (+4.2%), builders (+2.9%), and plasterers (+1.5%) have also implemented rate increases since Q2;

• But carpenters/joiners now charge an average hourly rate of £27 which is -2.3% below the average Q2 charge of £28 per hour.

• And perhaps surprisingly, in Q2, an average rate of £45 per hour made plumbers and heating engineers the highest paid of all tradespeople, but following a quarterly decrease of -8.1%, they now charge an average of £41 per hour, which means a boiler engineer is now more affordable than a locksmith.