About How Much?

How Much? provides free, transparent cost guides for services across the UK. We give you indicative price ranges compiled from published cost information and adjusted using local ONS earnings data.

Whether you need a new boiler, a bathroom renovation, or an emergency plumber, our guides show you what to expect before you pick up the phone. No signup required, no paywalls, no hidden agenda.

Our national base-price estimates are compiled from published cost guides, including sources such as Checkatrade, Heatable, and Boiler Guide. We then adjust them using local earnings data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings.

Source coverage and publication dates vary by job. Where more than one usable source is available, we compare the figures before setting the guide range. The resulting numbers are modelled estimates, not a representative sample of completed UK quotes.

The earnings figures behind our city multipliers come from the ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE), the UK's most comprehensive source of data on the levels and distribution of earnings.

Every cost guide starts with a set of national base prices -- a low, average, and high estimate for each type of job. These represent the typical range you would expect to pay across the UK as a whole.

To calculate local prices, we apply a per-city cost multiplier derived from ONS earnings data. Cities where wages are higher than the national average (like London at around 24% above) have a multiplier above 1.0, meaning service costs are proportionally higher. Cities with below-average wages have a multiplier below 1.0.

Local earnings are used as a consistent proxy for regional labour-cost differences. Applying one city multiplier across trades is a simplifying assumption: it does not prove that every service moves in direct proportion to local wages, and individual quotes can differ materially from the model.

• Editorial independence. Service providers cannot pay to alter the price estimates or their position in our guides.
• Documented model. City multipliers come from ONS earnings data. Base-price source coverage varies by job and is being documented more fully.
• Dated revisions. We show a real model or source date where one is available rather than automatically labelling every guide as newly reviewed.
• Free forever. No signup, no paywall, no premium tier. Just straightforward pricing information.