The cost of maintaining a home in cities across the UK revealed

last updated 1 April 2022

The cost of maintaining a home can quickly stack up, especially if you're not handy with a tool kit.

However, if you live in Birmingham you may want to start brushing up on your DIY and gardening skills. A recent survey has revealed the midlands city as the most expensive city in the UK for home maintenance.

Cost of maintaining a home

Drench analysed the average cost of a plumber, electrician, decorator, plaster, joiner, builder and gardener in 20 major cities to reveal the most expensive cities for trades.

Shockingly, Birmingham topped the list with an hours work from each trade costing £288. £6.50 more expensive than in London!

While the majority of trades in Birmingham are less pricey than in the capital, the cost of a gardener sent it over the edge. The average cost of a gardener with set you back £124 an hour in the midlands city.

If you're looking to keep your home in good nick on a budget in Birmingham, our advice would be to skip the gardener.

London came in second place as the most expensive place to maintain a home, racking up an average cost of £281.50. Across all the trades, other than gardening and decorating, the most expensive were all in the capital.

Reading slid into third place behind Birmingham and London, with the cost of home maintenance and repairs coming to £258.

It's good news for DIY-phobes living in Northern Ireland. The cost of maintaining a home in Belfast was the lowest out of the cities. An hours work with each trade will cost just £152.

Sheffield was found to be the seconded cheapest city. Those living in the northern city would pay £167 for house upkeep. Half of what those in Birmingham are paying.

After seeing the hourly cost of what maintaining a home can come to, are you tempted to rethink digging out that toolbox?

Rebecca Knight has been the Deputy Editor on the Ideal Home Website since 2022. She graduated with a Masters degree in magazine journalism from City, University of London in 2018, before starting her journalism career as a staff writer on women's weekly magazines. She fell into the world of homes and interiors after joining the Ideal Home website team in 2019 as a Digital Writer. In 2020 she moved into position of Homes News Editor working across Homes & Gardens, LivingEtc, Real Homes, Gardeningetc and Ideal Home covering everything from the latest viral cleaning hack to the next big interior trend.