A full rewire on an ordinary 2–3 bed semi or terrace typically costs £4,500–£8,000 in 2026, dropping to £2,500–£4,500 for a one-bed flat and rising to £7,000–£11,000 or more for a four-bed house. Five-bed and period properties with awkward access can run past £15,000. Those figures cover strip-out, new cable throughout, a new consumer unit, first and second fix, and testing and certification — they don't include the plastering, flooring and redecoration that follows once the electrician has gone, which is a cost of its own.
But the figure that decides most of this isn't on a price list at all. It's whether the house needs a full rewire in the first place, or just the consumer unit and earthing brought up to date while the cable underneath is left alone. I'm called into a lot of 1970s and 80s houses where someone's been told they need a full rewire off the back of an old-looking fuse box, when the cable behind the walls turns out to be perfectly serviceable PVC with decades of life left in it.
I assess the condition of a property for a living; I don't rewire it or issue the electrical certificate at the end of the job — a registered electrician does that. That split is useful here, because it means I've no reason to talk you into a bigger job than the wiring actually needs.
The short answer
Figures below were checked on 29 July 2026 against Checkatrade and MyBuilder's 2026 cost guides, cross-referenced against several independent electrical contractors' published price lists. As with most trades in this series, London and the South East trend 20–30% above the national figures quoted here.
| Property | Typical cost (2026) | What's included |
|---|---|---|
| 1-bed flat or small terrace | £2,500–£4,500 | Strip-out, new cable, consumer unit, first & second fix, testing |
| 2–3 bed semi or terrace | £4,500–£8,000 | As above; more circuits, kitchen and bathroom sub-circuits |
| 4-bed detached | £7,000–£11,000 | Additional circuits, en-suites, longer cable runs |
| 5-bed+ or period property | £9,500–£16,000+ | Complex layouts, restricted access, higher-spec consumer unit |
Two more figures worth having alongside that table. An Electrical Installation Condition Report (EICR) — the test that tells you what state the wiring is actually in, rather than guessing from the fuse box — typically costs £100–£300 depending on property size and circuit count, more in London. And if the cable turns out to be sound and it's really just the fuse box that's the problem, a standalone consumer unit replacement with a modern RCBO board runs £450–£800, a fraction of a full rewire.
What drives the price
Rooms, circuits and points. Pricing is often built up per socket, switch or light fitting — roughly £100–£150 per point — or per square metre of floor area, at £60–£95/m² for a full rewire. More rooms and more sockets per room both add up quickly.
Access and disruption. Lifting floorboards, chasing walls for new cable runs, and working around solid rather than stud walls all add labour time. Suspended timber floors are far quicker to work under than solid concrete ones.
What's actually behind the plaster. This is the one that swings quotes the most. A full strip-and-rewire is a different job from replacing a consumer unit and leaving sound cable in place — and you can't always tell which one you need from the fuse box alone.
Making good. Chased walls need replastering and redecorating once the cable's in, and floors need relaying. This is rarely included in the headline figure and typically adds £600–£1,800 on top.
Region. Kent, Sussex, Surrey and London trend well above the national figures quoted here, in line with most trades in this series.
Does a 1970s consumer unit mean you need a full rewire?
Not necessarily, and this is the question I get asked more than any other on this subject. PVC-insulated copper cable, the kind used throughout the 1960s, 70s and 80s, has a rule-of-thumb lifespan of 25–40 years, but can run well past that if it's never been disturbed and shows no sign of deterioration. What usually is due for replacement in a house of that era is the consumer unit itself: an old rewireable fuse box, with fuse wire strung across ceramic carriers, gives no RCD protection at all, and reacts far more slowly to a fault than a modern circuit breaker does. In a lot of 1970s houses, that fuse box is the real safety issue, not the cable behind the walls.
There are genuine tells that the cable itself has had it, not just the box. Round-pin sockets mean wiring from before the 1950s, decades past any safe life. Black rubber or fabric-braided cable is a pre-1960 giveaway and is almost always brittle by now. A sticky green residue seeping from a socket or switch — not damp, not mould — is plasticiser leaching out of degrading PVC insulation manufactured in the 1960s and early 70s, and it's a genuine defect, not cosmetic. Frequent tripping, blown fuses, warm switches, flickering lights, buzzing or a burning smell are all signs to stop guessing and get it tested. As a rough dating guide: black rubber or lead-sheathed cable is pre-1960, red-and-black PVC ran from the 1960s to 2004, and the brown-and-blue with grey sheath you'll see in anything newer dates from the 2004 change to the wiring regulations onward.
None of that is a substitute for a proper test. I'll note signs of dated wiring as part of a Level 3 building survey — an old fuse box, round-pin sockets, cable that looks its age — but the definitive answer comes from an EICR carried out by a registered electrician who opens sockets, tests circuits and issues a report with C1, C2, C3 or FI codes against each finding. C1 means danger present and gets made safe there and then; C2 means potentially dangerous and needs remedying, usually within weeks; C3 is a recommendation, not a defect. A report with any C1 or C2 findings comes back "unsatisfactory" — that's the trigger for further work, whether that's a full rewire or, more often in a 1970s house with otherwise sound cable, a new consumer unit and an earthing and bonding upgrade.
There's no grant funding for a rewire itself in 2026, whatever a sales pitch might imply — unlike insulation or heat pumps, this one comes out of your own pocket. It's also worth knowing that a consumer unit replacement is always notifiable work under Part P of the Building Regulations, regardless of whether any cable is touched, so it needs to be self-certified by a registered electrician or notified to building control.
What I'd watch for in a quote
- An EICR before a full rewire is agreed. A contractor recommending a full rewire off a five-minute look at the fuse box, without testing the circuits, is guessing at your expense.
- NICEIC, NAPIT or ELECSA registration. Competent person scheme membership means the electrician can self-certify notifiable work and it matters more than the cheapest headline price.
- An itemised written quote covering first fix, second fix, consumer unit specification, and testing and certification separately — not one lump figure you can't compare against another quote.
- Making good priced separately. Ask directly whether plastering, redecoration and flooring reinstatement are included, because they usually aren't.
- No pressure to sign on the day. A legitimate electrician doesn't need a same-visit signature; if that's the pitch, get a second opinion first.
Questions I get asked
How much does it cost to rewire a 3-bed house in 2026? A full rewire of a typical 2–3 bed semi or terrace costs roughly £4,500–£8,000, including strip-out, new cable, a new consumer unit, first and second fix, and testing and certification. That excludes the plastering and redecoration that follows, usually a further £600–£1,800. London and the South East trend 20–30% above these figures.
Does a 1970s house need rewiring, or just a new consumer unit? Often just the consumer unit and earthing, not a full rewire. Most 1970s houses were wired in PVC cable, which can stay sound for decades if undisturbed and undamaged. The real safety problem is usually the old rewireable fuse box, which gives no RCD protection, rather than the cable itself. An EICR is the only reliable way to tell the two apart.
How long does a house rewire take, and can I stay in the house? Most 2–3 bed rewires take 5–7 working days, longer for larger or period properties, and it's genuinely disruptive — floors up, walls chased, power off for stretches. You can usually stay in the house, but it's more comfortable elsewhere, or with the work phased room by room if your contractor can offer that.
Is a consumer unit replacement notifiable under Part P? Yes, always, whatever else is or isn't being done to the wiring. An electrician registered with a competent person scheme such as NICEIC or NAPIT can self-certify it; otherwise it has to be notified to building control directly.
If you're not sure whether ageing wiring in a house you're buying or living in is a live safety issue or just a cosmetic worry, a building survey flags what I can see — old fuse boxes, round-pin sockets, cable that looks its age — and tells you where a specialist EICR is worth commissioning before you spend on either a consumer unit swap or a full rewire. Call 07946 618203 or get in touch and I'll give you a straight read before you commit to either job.
Small print. This guide is general information, not advice on a specific property, and it doesn’t replace a proper survey, an EICR and a written quote for your own home. Prices were researched and correct to the best of my knowledge on 29 July 2026; costs move and vary by region and property. Always get at least three written quotes, and get the wiring tested before agreeing to any electrical work.