How Much to Charge for a Guttering Job in 2026

What a guttering quote needs to include

"Replace guttering — £1,400" tells a customer nothing about the fall, the bracket spacing, or where the old gutter is going. Cover these ten things and the quote reads as a proper specification with a price attached, not a round number guessed at:

1. 1Gutter profile and material — half-round, ogee or deep-flow; uPVC, cast iron, aluminium, zinc or copper — and why it suits this property (period cast-iron match vs a straightforward uPVC swap).
2. 2The fall calculated across each run, stated as a gradient — not just "fitted level" or left unsaid.
3. 3Bracket spacing to the gutter manufacturer's own technical data for that profile, with extra support noted near outlets, angles, stop ends and joints.
4. 4Outlet and downpipe count, sizing, and the route water actually takes from roof to ground.
5. 5Where the rainwater ends up — soakaway, watercourse, surface-water sewer, or combined sewer as a last resort — relevant on an extension or new downpipe run more than a like-for-like swap.
6. 6Access costs — tower scaffold, cherry picker, or a second labourer for a two-storey property — as their own line, not folded into the per-metre rate.
7. 7Removal and disposal of the old guttering, and whether scrap value (cast iron especially) is credited back.
8. 8Whether fascias and soffits need replacing alongside the guttering, and any ventilation implications if a soffit changes from vented to solid.
9. 9Gutter guards or leaf protection, if quoted, priced as a separate line.
10. 10Guarantee length on workmanship, payment terms, and a valid-until date.

Not every guttering job needs the same treatment

The headline figure people search for is "cost per metre." The part that actually protects you from a comeback — and the part most quick quotes skip — is the calculation behind it.

The fall calculation most quotes skip

The widely used minimum design gradient for a gutter run is 1:600 — a 1mm drop for every 600mm of horizontal run. In practice, most installers work to a more generous 2–3mm of fall per metre, because it's far easier to set out accurately on site with a spirit level and string line while still giving the water a clear route to the outlet. Bracket spacing follows the gutter manufacturer's own technical data for that specific profile — half-round, ogee or deep-flow brackets aren't interchangeable — and extra brackets go in near outlets, angles, stop ends and joints, where the load and movement are greatest. Skip the fall calculation and fit a run dead level, and the consequences show up fast: water left standing in the run brings staining down the fascia, overflowing joints in heavy rain, debris build-up, and unnecessary long-term load on the brackets as silt and leaves collect in the low spots. None of that is visible on the day the gutter goes up — it's exactly the kind of corner-cutting a customer only discovers a year or two later, by which point they've forgotten who fitted it.

Do you need planning permission or Building Control sign-off?

For most domestic jobs, no. Replacing fascias, soffits and guttering like-for-like is routine repair and maintenance under Permitted Development — it doesn't need planning permission or a Building Control notification. The exceptions are worth stating clearly on the quote rather than assuming the customer already knows them: a listed building needs listed building consent for any external alteration, a conservation area can require permission if the change affects the property's character, and swapping a ventilated soffit for a solid one — without adding an equivalent alternative such as circular vents — brings the job under Building Regulations Approved Document F, because it changes roof-void ventilation. A genuinely new drainage run (a new extension, for instance) is a different case again: Part H requires it to follow a set hierarchy for where the water goes — a soakaway first if ground conditions allow, then a watercourse, then a surface-water sewer, and only a combined sewer as a last resort — and that kind of work can need Building Control inspection before it's covered up. A straightforward existing-house gutter swap almost never falls into that category, but the quote should say so plainly rather than leaving the customer to wonder.

How to price the work

UK guttering prices vary by material, access and region, but these are a fair starting point for 2026:

• uPVC: £40–£50 per metre supply & fit — the standard choice for most domestic jobs.
• Steel: £40–£60 per metre.
• Zinc: £50–£72 per metre.
• Cast iron: £50–£75 per metre — usually specified like-for-like on period or listed properties.
• Aluminium (often seamless, fully recyclable): £55–£78 per metre.
• Copper: £65–£95 per metre, the premium option.
• Downpipes: uPVC £35–£45 per metre; cast iron £120–£190 per metre.
• Full uPVC gutter replacement by property size (gutter only): 2-bed terrace (26m) £1,050–£1,300; bungalow (28m) £1,100–£1,400; 3-bed semi (32m) £1,300–£1,600; 4-bed detached (46m) £1,850–£2,300.
• A straightforward job usually takes 3–6 hours for an experienced two-person team.

A worked example

A 3-bed semi with failing cast iron guttering — fitted dead level decades ago, now overflowing onto the fascia in heavy rain — replaced with uPVC ogee, priced as separate lines rather than one round "new guttering" number:

£2,104 for a job that's properly specified — noticeably more than the bare "£42-a-metre" figure a customer might have in their head, because that figure is the gutter run alone, not the downpipes, the new outlets, the tower hire for a two-storey access, or disposing of the old cast iron. Breaking it out like this is what lets a customer see exactly where the extra cost sits, rather than wondering why your number is higher than a quick phone quote from someone who hasn't accounted for any of it.

Five details that get guttering quotes accepted faster

• State the fall calculation, not just "new guttering fitted." "32m uPVC ogee gutter, fall calculated at 2mm per metre to two new outlets" reads as a professional install, not a quick clip-on job — and it's the detail that explains why a proper fit costs more than a same-day bodge.
• Put access on its own line. Tower hire or a second pair of hands for a two-storey property is a real cost that has nothing to do with the gutter itself. Hiding it inside the per-metre rate makes your number look inflated next to a quote that's quietly skipped it — and it'll surface as an "extra" on the day if you don't.
• Name what happens to the old gutter. "Old cast iron stripped and sent for scrap recycling" is a genuinely useful line on a period property — cast iron has real scrap value, and some installers pass a credit back. Saying nothing just reads as work left undone.
• Flag a solid-soffit swap before you fit it. Changing from a ventilated to a solid soffit without adding equivalent roof-void ventilation falls under Approved Document F. A one-line note — "circular vents added to maintain roof-void ventilation" — shows you've thought about it, rather than leaving the customer to find out later from a surveyor.
• Separate the gutter price from the downpipe price. A customer comparing your £1,350 against a £950 quote elsewhere isn't always comparing like for like if theirs is gutter-only and yours includes two new downpipes and outlets. Show the breakdown and the gap explains itself.

The fastest way to do all of this

A single downpipe swap is easy enough to scribble on a pad. A full job that mixes gutter profile, a calculated fall, bracket spacing, outlet positions, access costs and old-gutter disposal — and needs to show its working clearly enough that a customer trusts the number above a same-day cash quote — is exactly where a vague verbal estimate costs this trade jobs.

This is what QuoteRocket is for. Describe the job in plain English — "32m uPVC ogee gutter replacement, fall calculated at 2mm per metre, two new outlets, two 6m downpipes, tower hire, dispose of old cast iron" — and it turns that into a branded, itemised PDF quote in under a minute, with the gutter run, downpipes, access and disposal kept as their own clearly labelled lines. Your customer accepts it with one tap on their phone, and an accepted quote becomes an invoice in one click.

Whichever way you produce the quote, the principle holds: calculate the fall rather than eyeballing it, price access and disposal as their own lines, and say plainly whether planning permission even applies — on a standard like-for-like swap, it usually doesn't, and telling the customer that up front is worth more than any discount.

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