HOW TO HIRE · HOME REPAIRS & HANDYMAN

How to hire a handyman in the UK
The checks, the questions and the paperwork.

No register applies to handymen, but gas work and notifiable electrical work are off limits to them. Here is where the line sits and how to check the rest.

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TWO WAYS TO BUY THIS

Which do you need?

A handyman by the hour

One person booked for a set number of hours who works through your list: shelves, a sticking door, a curtain pole, sealant round the bath. You pay the rate per hour, you direct the work, and there is no written scope.

A company for the job

A property maintenance business that sends a team, supervises it and prices the job in writing. Right when the work has a defined result — refitting a room, a run of repairs after a tenancy, anything spanning several trades or days.

What changes between them

A rate per hour against a price for the job; one person against a team; your instructions against a written scope; and VAT — usually none from an individual under the threshold, 20% from a registered company.

THE 60-SECOND VERSION

Hiring a handyman in five steps

  1. Write the list, with photosEvery job on one list, with a photo each, so your handyman can tell you how many hours it is.
  2. Take the restricted jobs off itAnything on gas goes to a Gas Safe engineer; a new circuit or a consumer unit goes to a registered electrician.
  3. Agree the hourly termsThe rate, the minimum first hour, travel, and how materials are charged — in a message.
  4. Ask about insurancePublic liability, before any drilling. A slipped drill into a pipe is the classic claim.
  5. Get materials sorted firstBuy them yourself or agree who buys, so the hours go on the work, not the shop.

BEFORE YOU BOOK

Check before you book

No register applies

Handymen need no licence or registration in any of the four nations. What the law controls is certain kinds of work, so the check is whether each job on your list is one a handyman may legally do.

Read the list through with the handyman and agree which jobs are theirs and which are not.

Gas: the hard stop

Under the 1998 Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations, and Northern Ireland's 2004 Regulations, nobody may be paid to work on a gas appliance, fitting or pipework unless they are on the Gas Safe Register. Moving a freestanding bayonet-fitted cooker to clean behind it is the narrow exception.

Anything touching gas comes off the handyman's list; book a Gas Safe engineer and check the licence. legislation.gov.uk →

Electrical work and the Building Regulations

In England and Wales a new or replacement consumer unit, or new circuits around a bath or shower, is notifiable work under the Building Regulations: it must be done by an electrician on a competent person scheme, or notified to building control first. In Wales, kitchens and outdoors are notifiable as well.

Leave new circuits and fuse box work to a registered electrician; search the Registered Competent Person Electrical register. electricalcompetentperson.co.uk →

Public liability insurance

No law requires a handyman to carry insurance, but drilling, ladders and water mean damage happens. Your rights under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 — work done with reasonable care and skill — are only worth having against a trader who can pay.

Ask for the insurer's name and the cover level before work starts.

VAT

Handyman work is standard-rated at 20% by HMRC: a handyman booked by the hour who is not registered does not charge it, while a property maintenance company charges it on the whole job. Below £90,000 of taxable turnover an individual has no VAT to add and no VAT number to give; above it a business must register and show VAT separately.

Ask whether the handyman or the firm is VAT-registered; if so, take the VAT number and see VAT as its own line. gov.uk →

“Which jobs on my list are you happy to do, and which are not yours?”

A good answer: A handyman who hands back the gas and wiring jobs unprompted is the one to keep. 'I can do all of it' is a warning.

“What is your handyman rate, and is the first hour a minimum?”

A good answer: A stated rate and a stated minimum. Most handymen bill a full first hour, so a long list is better value than one small job.

“Do you charge for travel or for buying materials?”

A good answer: A plain answer. Time spent at a builders' merchant is usually charged; agree it before it happens.

“Are you insured if a handyman job goes wrong — a drill through a pipe or cable?”

A good answer: Public liability, with the insurer named, and a habit of checking walls before drilling.

“How will you fix this to the walls of my home?”

A good answer: A handyman who asks whether the wall is plasterboard, brick or old lath and plaster, and brings fixings to suit.

“Will you check for pipes and cables before drilling?”

A good answer: Yes, with a detector, and they avoid the zones directly above and below sockets and switches.

“Can you take the waste and old fittings away?”

A good answer: Only if they are a registered waste carrier. Otherwise they leave it bagged for you to take to the tip.

Getting the quote right

  • Booked by the hour: the rate per hour and the minimum booking, travel, how materials are charged, and the job list agreed before the first hour
  • Booked as a job: the written scope, each task priced, the materials named and the finish date
  • Who actually attends — the handyman you spoke to, or someone the company employs or subcontracts
  • The VAT number if the business is registered, with VAT at 20% on its own line; a handyman under the threshold adds none
  • Whether taking waste away is included, and the carrier who takes it

Walk away if

  • Offers to 'just move' a gas pipe, connect a gas hob or swap a boiler part
  • Offers to add a new circuit or change the consumer unit with no certificate
  • No idea what the wall is made of before drilling for a heavy item
  • Wants a full day paid in advance for a half-day list
  • Refuses to say whether they are insured
LOW
£30
TYPICAL
£33
HIGH
£65

What a handyman costs: £30–£65 per hour

Handymen charge by the hour with a minimum first hour; a longer list in one visit is the way to get value. Handyman price guide →

Guide prices compiled by the Locufy team from published Irish and UK provider price lists and 2026/27 cost guides. Updated 2026.

KNOW WHAT TO LOOK FOR? NOW FIND ONE

Handymen near you, with the badges that matter shown

ID checked, trader status and one score from every review — on the card, before you message anyone. Nearest first. No account needed to look.

Or post the job free and let them come to you, or book by the hour.

  1. Walk the listYour handyman goes through the list with you, flags anything restricted and agrees the order.
  2. Check walls and servicesBefore drilling, they find pipes and cables and decide fixings for each wall.
  3. Do the workJobs done in order, with dust sheets down where there is drilling or cutting.
  4. Test each jobEvery fixing loaded, every door swung, every tap run before moving on.
  5. Tidy and sign offDust cleared, offcuts bagged, and the list ticked off with you before payment.

Minimum charge
The smallest bill for a visit, usually the first hour.
Notifiable work
Building work that must be certified by a scheme member or notified to building control.
Consumer unit
The fuse box; replacing it is notifiable electrical work in England and Wales.
Cavity fixing
A wall plug made for hollow plasterboard walls.
Gas Safe Register
The legal register for anyone paid to do gas work.
Making good
Filling and painting over holes and marks left by the work.

AFTER

When the job is done

Get an itemised invoiceHours, jobs and materials listed. It is your record if something comes loose later.
Test what was fixedPull gently on shelves and rails, open and close doors, run taps and look under them for drips.
Ask what they guaranteeA good handyman comes back if a fixing fails; agree it on the invoice.
Review the visitA few lines on the work help the next household choose. If there is a problem, the make-it-right step sends it to the handyman before your review appears.

STEP 1Go back to the handymanMessage the handyman with the date, what went wrong and the fix you want. If the work fell below reasonable care and skill — the test in the Consumer Rights Act 2015 — sections 55 and 56 give you a free redo or a cut in the price.
STEP 2Use the make-it-right stepBelow four stars, Locufy offers to pass the problem with the work to the handyman before your review is published, and follows it up with both of you.
STEP 3Trading Standards, through the helplinesA handyman who will not engage can be reported through the consumer helplines, which pass cases to Trading Standards — Citizens Advice (0808 223 1133) in England and Wales, Advice Direct Scotland (0808 800 9060), Consumerline (0300 123 6262) in Northern Ireland.
STEP 4Small claims, if money is owedAn unpaid refund or repair bill from the work goes to small claims: £10,000 is the limit in England and Wales, £5,000 in Scotland using simple procedure, and £5,000 in Northern Ireland — all designed to be used without a solicitor.

Hiring a handyman: questions people ask

No. Handyman work carries no licence in England, Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland. The law restricts certain work instead — gas work to Gas Safe engineers, and notifiable electrical work in England and Wales to scheme electricians or building control.

Small like-for-like jobs, such as replacing a light fitting, are not notifiable. A new consumer unit or new circuits near a bath or shower are notifiable in England and Wales, and in Wales so is work in kitchens and outdoors.

No. Installing or reconnecting a gas appliance is gas work, and it is illegal for anyone not on the Gas Safe Register to do it for pay.

£30–£65 an hour, about £33 typical, with London and the South East at the top. Read the handyman price guide for the factors behind it; to see handymen near you, enter your town above.

It is not a legal requirement, but ask. Public liability insurance is what pays if a drill goes through a pipe or a fixing fails.

Shelves, curtain poles, flat-pack, doors that stick, loose handles, sealant and small repairs — anything that is not gas, notifiable wiring or structural.

MORE GUIDES

More hiring guides in home repairs & handyman

How to hire: Odd JobsHow to hire: Furniture AssemblyHow to hire: Shelving InstallationHow to hire: TV MountingHow to hire: Picture & Mirror HangingHow to hire: Curtain & Blind FittingHow to hire: Door Hanging & RepairHow to hire: Sealant & CaulkingAll 701 hiring guides →

Handymen near you

Handymen in LondonHandymen in ManchesterHandymen in BirminghamHandymen in GlasgowHandymen in BelfastAll handymen on Locufy →

Sources — checked October 2026

  1. Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998, regulation 3
  2. Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2004, regulation 3
  3. Registered Competent Person Electrical register
  4. gov.uk — Approved Document P: electrical safety in dwellings (England)
  5. gov.wales — building regulations: electrics
  6. gov.uk — building regulations approval (England)
  7. Consumer Rights Act 2015, section 49 — reasonable care and skill
  8. Citizens Advice — more help with a consumer issue (England)
  9. Buildings and construction (VAT Notice 708) — 2.1 Construction services: work to an existing building is normally standard-rated
  10. GOV.UK — VAT rates
  11. GOV.UK — Register for VAT: when to register