Summary
- The median advertised cost of an annual boiler service is £92.50 in Marketit’s 2026 research.
- Seven firms also published a call-out fee, with a median of £89.
- These are website prices, not amounts paid by customers.
*Marketit research | October 2026*
The median advertised cost of an annual boiler service is £92.50 in Marketit’s 2026 research. Seven firms also published a call-out fee, with a median of £89. These are website prices, not amounts paid by customers.
The research looked at plumbing and heating companies across ten UK cities. It covers routine boiler servicing, new boiler installations, call-outs and first-hour charges, with clear limits on what the small set of published prices can tell us.
Plumber and heating prices at a glance
| Service | Median advertised price | Advertised range | Firms |
|---|---|---|---|
| First hour / hourly charge, weekday | £102 | £60–£145 | 6 |
| Call-out or attendance fee | £89 | £59–£168 | 7 |
| Annual boiler service | £92.50 | £55–£144 | 14 |
| New boiler installation | £1,775 | £1,200–£2,700 | 14 |
Where websites explicitly excluded VAT, 20% was added to the recorded price; amounts with no stated VAT basis were kept as published. When firms gave a range, the study used the lower amount. Many boiler installation prices were “from” prices, not final quotations.
How much does a plumber charge per hour?
Six firms advertised a weekday first-hour or hourly charge. After adjusting explicitly VAT-exclusive prices, the median was £102, with advertised amounts between £60 and £145. Some firms charged for the first hour rather than quoting a continuing hourly rate, so the £102 figure should not be treated as an estimate for every additional hour.
As originally published on the sites, before VAT adjustments, the median of those six figures was £90. Whito’s compilation of 2026 guides gives £45–£75 for a running plumber hourly rate. The two measures are not directly comparable.
How much is a plumber call-out fee?
Seven plumbing and heating firms listed a separate call-out or attendance fee. The median was £89 and the range was £59–£168. Three of the seven were starting prices. A call-out fee may cover attendance rather than the full cost of repairs, so check whether labour and parts are added on top.
Whito’s compilation placed common plumber call-out charges at £60–£120, broadly overlapping the advertised prices collected in the Marketit study.
How much does an annual boiler service cost?
Fourteen firms listed an annual boiler service. The median advertised price was £92.50, with a range of £55–£144. Four sites described their figure as a starting price. For comparison, Heatable’s 2026 guide quoted £90–£150 for an annual gas boiler service including VAT. Heatable sells boilers and did not state the source of that guide figure.
How much does a new boiler installation cost?
Fourteen firms published prices for installing a boiler. The median was £1,775, with advertised figures from £1,200 to £2,700. Twelve of the 14 were “from” prices. This is therefore a measure of advertised entry prices, not a typical total installation cost.
The original study excluded one implausibly low figure that appeared likely to cover labour only. MyJobQuote’s guide quoted £1,200–£4,000 for a gas combi boiler with installation, and £1,800–£2,800 for mid-range models. Whito’s 2026 compilation gave £1,800–£3,500 for boiler replacement. Package contents and boiler type affect whether those figures can be compared.
What does a landlord gas safety certificate cost?
Only four firms in the data published a price for a landlord gas safety check, between £75 and £120. That is too small a group to provide a dependable median. Heatable’s guide gave £100–£150 for testing and issuing a certificate. The guide and the advertised figures may cover different service arrangements.
How often do plumbers publish prices online?
Of the 120 plumbing and heating websites checked in the wider Marketit study, 39 (32.5%) showed at least one qualifying price. That was the highest share among the five trade groups sampled. The remaining 81 published no price of their own. This article draws individual advertised figures from 33 firms, with only six to 14 firms contributing to each main benchmark.
Among the 39 price-publishing firms, 23 advertised a fixed price for a defined job and 23 used a starting price. Twelve showed a call-out fee and six an hourly price; categories overlap. Across all trades, 70 of 117 businesses that displayed a price did not say whether it included VAT. The study did not verify which firms were VAT-registered.
What to check before booking a plumber
Ask whether a quoted amount is a fixed total, an hourly charge or simply the starting price. Check whether the price includes VAT, parts, labour, travel and diagnostic or call-out fees. For a boiler installation, confirm which appliance and installation work are included. Emergency, evening and weekend work may be priced separately.
About the data
Marketit checked 600 UK trade business websites in ten cities in October 2026, including 120 plumbing and heating firms. Businesses came from Google Maps search results and up to 21 pages per website were examined using an AI-assisted process and written rules. The sample was not random. Published prices came from a minority of businesses, and many were starting figures. The research did not collect customer invoices or full quotes.
Source: Marketit, UK Tradesperson Price Transparency Report 2026. External guide comparisons are retained from the original analysis. Research designed and funded by Marketit.