Summary
- Ten of the 60 trade business websites reviewed in Belfast published a price for work they carry out.
- the other 50 did not show a qualifying price.
*Marketit research | October 2026*
Ten of the 60 trade business websites reviewed in Belfast published a price for work they carry out. That is 16.7%; the other 50 did not show a qualifying price.
How many Belfast tradespeople show prices online?
Marketit checked 60 trade business websites in Belfast in October 2026, covering five trades. 10 displayed at least one concrete price for their own work (16.7%); 50 displayed none. A site counted if it showed a price for a job, hourly work, a day’s work or a call-out. General cost guides and “free quote” prompts did not count.
Which trades publish prices in Belfast?
| Type of business | Sites checked | Sites showing a price |
|---|---|---|
| Plumbers and heating engineers | 12 | 5 |
| Electricians | 12 | 2 |
| Removal companies | 12 | 1 |
| Carpenters and joiners | 12 | 2 |
| Roofers | 12 | 0 |
| Total | 60 | 10 |
Half of Belfast’s price-publishing websites came from plumbing and heating businesses: five of the 12 sampled sites in that trade showed a price. Two electricians, two carpenters and one removal company did so. None of the roofing sites showed a price.
How does Belfast compare with other UK cities?
Across all ten cities, 117 of 600 websites displayed a price (19.5%). Belfast’s share was 16.7%, much like the combined 16.9% from the nine cities outside London. London was markedly higher at 43.3%.
Belfast was the only Northern Ireland city in the study. Its findings apply to the local websites reviewed and should not be treated as a figure for Northern Ireland as a whole.
What do plumbers, electricians and removal firms charge in Belfast?
The Belfast sample contains too few like-for-like prices to establish what these services typically cost locally. The wider UK study did, however, find the following advertised examples for relevant services. These are UK-wide reference figures, not Belfast price estimates or actual amounts paid by customers.
| Service | Median advertised price | Based on |
|---|---|---|
| Annual boiler service | £92.50 | 14 firms |
| New boiler installation | £1,775 | 14 firms; mostly starting prices |
| Electrician: first hour or hourly charge | £90 | 14 firms |
Some businesses advertise starting prices rather than the final cost of a job. A first-hour charge is also not necessarily the same as an ongoing hourly rate. Prices may depend on the scope of the work, and websites do not always make the VAT position clear.
What to check before requesting a quote
When a website gives no price, ask the firm to explain what the quote covers. Check whether it includes VAT, travel, call-out charges, materials and any extra cost for evening or emergency work. For hourly services, ask whether a minimum booking period applies. These points can make two published prices difficult to compare even when both firms display a figure.
About the research
These figures come from Marketit’s UK Tradesperson Price Transparency Report 2026. For Belfast, 12 businesses in each of five trades were selected from Google Maps listings with their own websites. Up to 21 pages per site were reviewed using an AI-assisted process and a written set of rules. The 600-site study covered ten cities in October 2026. This was not a random sample, prices may have been missed, and the results describe the sampled websites rather than every local business.