How much do builders charge per hour in London?

There is no standard hourly rate for builders in London, and we don't charge one. Hourly pricing exists for work that can't be scoped in advance: emergency call-outs, small repairs, opening up a wall to find out what's behind it. For that kind of job it's reasonable enough. In London the hourly figure runs high because everything a builder does here costs more. Wages, parking, ULEZ, the hour lost in traffic between two jobs. Anyone charging by the hour has to load all of that into the rate.

For anything bigger than a repair, hourly pricing is a bad deal for the customer. The person who decides how long the job takes is the person being paid by the hour. Most builders aren't dishonest, but the incentive is wrong, and you carry all the risk of the job overrunning. Three weeks becomes five and there's nothing in writing to stop it.

We work the other way round. We survey the property first, then give a fixed written quote, and the price we quote is the price you pay. A whole-house renovation starts from £1,200 per square metre. If you're comparing builders, ignore hourly numbers altogether. Ask each one for a fixed total against the same written scope, with an end date, and check what's included: materials, waste, scaffolding, making good. Two quotes are only comparable when the scope behind them is identical.