Gutter Replacement Cost UK: Per-Metre Prices and Whole-House Totals

Gutters are easy to ignore until they fail, and then they fail loudly: water pouring over the edge in heavy rain, damp patches on the brickwork, paint peeling off the fascia, and green staining creeping down the wall. When a roofer tells you the system needs replacing rather than patching, the first question is always the same. How much will it actually cost?

The honest answer is that it depends mainly on three things: how many metres of gutter your house needs, what material you choose, and how the roofer gets to the roofline. This guide puts typical UK figures on all three, so you can tell a fair quote from an inflated one, and so you know when a repair is the smarter spend.

Average Costs Per Metre by Material

Per-metre prices are the fairest way to compare quotes, because they strip out the size of your house. The figures below are supply-and-fit prices from Checkatrade’s gutter replacement guide, last updated in October 2026, and they include the gutter, brackets and fixings.

Why is the cast iron range so wide? Because a short, ground-accessible run on a bungalow and a full three-storey elevation on a Victorian terrace are different jobs that happen to share a material. The same applies to aluminium, where a standard sectional run sits at the low end and a seamless, powder-coated system sits at the high end. If a quote lands well outside these ranges, ask the roofer to break it down by material, labour and access, and the reason usually becomes clear.

Downpipes are priced separately in most quotes, and they matter, because a typical house has two to four of them. Checkatrade puts replacement downpipes, supply and fit, at £35 to £45 per metre for uPVC, £75 to £90 per metre for aluminium, and £120 to £190 per metre for cast iron. A quote that looks cheap on guttering but says nothing about downpipes may be leaving the most awkward part of the job out.

For a single headline figure, Checkatrade puts a 15 to 20 metre gutter run with three downpipes at around £1,000 on average, supply and fit, within a range of £650 to £1,700. That is a useful sanity check, but it is not your quote: your house may have more or less than 15 to 20 metres of roofline, and access changes everything, as the next sections explain.

Whole-House Totals by Property Type

If per-metre maths feels abstract, whole-house totals are easier to budget from. The figures below come from MyJobQuote’s guide to full uPVC replacement, including guttering, brackets, downpipes, fixings and waste removal. Note that MyJobQuote counts more metres per property type than Checkatrade’s 15 to 20 metre example, which is why its totals look higher: the two guides measure the job differently, so use each guide consistently rather than mixing a per-metre figure from one with a total from the other.

A detached house costs more not because the material is dearer, but because there is simply more of it, on more elevations, with more corners, stop ends and downpipes. A terrace, by contrast, often needs only the front and back runs, and the party walls do some of the access work for free, since a ladder or tower can sometimes be used from a neighbour’s side with permission.

Two warnings on totals. First, a total that covers only the front of the house is not a whole-house total, so check whether the quote says front only, front and back, or all elevations. Second, London and the South East sit above these ranges, while the North and Midlands often sit below them, so treat every figure here as a typical range for budgeting, not a price anyone is obliged to charge you.

What Pushes the Price Up

Three factors move a gutter quote more than anything else, and all three are worth understanding before you accept a price, because they are also where vague quotes hide their padding.

Scaffolding is the big one. A two-storey house usually needs proper scaffold access, not just a ladder, and Checkatrade’s fascia and soffit guide puts access scaffolding at £300 to £600 per elevation per week. A firm that owns its own scaffold, or that can work safely from a scaffold tower on a bungalow, will be cheaper than one hiring full scaffolding in for a week. If scaffolding is charged, the quote should say how many elevations it covers and for how long. A single line reading “scaffold: £900” with no detail deserves a question.

Access and height come next. A three-storey townhouse, a house set back behind a conservatory the scaffold cannot cross, or a roofline over a single-storey extension all add time and equipment. So does a house with no side access, where every length of gutter has to be carried through the house or over a wall. None of this is the roofer inventing charges: it is genuinely slower work, but it should be itemised, not buried.

The third factor is the condition of what the gutter hangs from. Gutters are fixed to the fascia board, and if that board is rotten, the new gutter cannot simply be screwed to it. Some roofers will tell you on the survey; others discover it once the old gutter is off and the price moves. Ask before work starts: what happens to the price if the fascia or rafter ends need repair, and will you be shown the damage before the extra work is agreed? A firm that answers that question plainly is usually a firm you can trust with the job.

Other smaller extras include replacing cracked downpipe shoes at ground level, fitting leaf guards (Checkatrade puts leaf guards on existing guttering at £20 to £30 per metre), and disposing of old cast iron, which has scrap value and should not be charged for as if it were landfill waste.

Fascia and Soffit Combined Jobs

This is the section most gutter cost guides skip, and it is where homeowners get caught out, because gutters, fascias and soffits are one system even though they are priced as three jobs.

The fascia is the vertical board along the roof edge that the gutter brackets screw into. The soffit is the horizontal board underneath it, closing the gap between the roof edge and the wall and letting air into the roof space. If the fascia is rotten, a new gutter fixed to it will sag within a year. If the soffit vents are blocked, the loft cannot breathe properly. Replacing all three together costs more in one invoice, but it costs less than paying for scaffolding twice, once for the gutter and once for the fascia a year later.

Checkatrade’s fascia and soffit guide, last updated in September 2026, puts fascia and soffit replacement at £115 to £185 per linear metre, with a small semi-detached house in uPVC averaging around £2,750 excluding scaffolding. Capping old boards with a uPVC cover, rather than replacing them, averages around £85 per linear metre in the same guide, but capping over rot only hides it: the board underneath keeps deteriorating, and the fixings have nothing sound to hold. If a roofer suggests capping, ask them to show you that the boards underneath are sound first.

The practical rule is simple. If the fascia is sound and only the gutter has failed, replace the gutter alone. If the fascia is soft, split or visibly rotting in more than one place, price the combined job, because the scaffolding is already paid for and the marginal cost of the boards is much smaller than a second visit. If you are unsure which case you are in, a survey that includes lifting a section of gutter and probing the fascia will settle it in ten minutes.

Repair or Replace?

Replacement is not always the answer, and a roofer who recommends it for every problem is selling, not advising. Use this decision guide before you agree to a full replacement.

Repair it when the problem is local. A single leaking joint can often be resealed or have its rubber gasket replaced. One cracked section can be cut out and a new length jointed in. A sagging run can sometimes be fixed by replacing a few brackets and re-establishing the fall, which is the slight slope, roughly 1 in 350, that carries water towards the downpipe. A bracket costs £18 to £20 to replace according to Checkatrade, and gutter realignment runs £15 to £30 per metre, so a local repair is usually a few hundred pounds at most.

Replace it when the problem is general. If leaks appear at several joints, the gutter is sagging along its whole length, sections are cracked or split, rust or corrosion shows in multiple places, or the system overflows in ordinary rain even when it is clean, the material has reached the end of its life. Patching one joint on a system like that is money spent twice, because the next joint fails within months. Age is a guide here too: uPVC gutters typically last 20 to 25 years, and a system older than that which is already failing in several places will not be rescued by a sealant tube.

There is one more test worth applying. Add up what you have spent, or been quoted, on gutter repairs in the last two years. If that total is approaching half the cost of replacement, replacement is the better value, because it resets the clock on the whole system rather than buying a few more months for one section. If the repair bill is small and the rest of the system is sound, repair and move on.

Overflowing is a special case. A gutter that overflows only in a downpour may be blocked rather than broken, so check the cleaning question first: our guide to the common reasons drains block and how to prevent them covers the debris build-ups that cause most repeat overflows. If it overflows in light rain and is clean, the fall is probably wrong or the downpipe is undersized, and that is a replacement or reconfiguration question, not a cleaning one.

DIY Replacement: Realistic?

For a single-storey garage, a porch or a bungalow with safe ladder access, a competent DIYer can replace a uPVC gutter run. The materials are light, the joints are push-fit or clipped, and the tools are a saw, a drill, a spirit level and a string line to set the fall. A short run might cost only the materials, a few hundred pounds, plus brackets and a downpipe.

For a two-storey house, the honest answer is usually no, and the reason is access, not skill. Working from a ladder at gutter height while handling a 4 metre length of guttering, keeping it level, and drilling fixings into the fascia is awkward and dangerous, and a fall from that height is a hospital visit, not a bruise. You also need to set the fall correctly: too flat and water stands and breeds algae, too steep and it looks wrong and rushes past the downpipe. Add the disposal of the old system, the need for a second pair of hands, and the fact that a professional job usually comes with a guarantee, and the saving shrinks fast.

A sensible middle ground exists. Do the ground-level work yourself: clear the gutters, check the downpipe shoes, and keep the system clean so it lasts longer. Leave the roofline work to a roofer with proper access equipment. And if the house is listed, or in a conservation area, check whether the material matters: replacing cast iron with uPVC on a listed building can breach planning conditions, and that is a cost no saving is worth.

If a leak inside the house turns out to be more than a gutter problem, it is worth knowing when a different trade is the right call, and the signs that you need to contact a plumber versus a roofer or drainage firm will help you book the right person first time.

Quotes Checklist

Get three itemised quotes, and make sure each one answers the same questions, so you are comparing like with like.

• How many metres of guttering, and how many downpipes, does the quote cover, and on which elevations?
• What material and profile is specified, half-round, square-line or ogee, and is it sectional or seamless?
• Are downpipes, brackets, stop ends, outlets and fixings all included, or priced separately?
• Is scaffolding or access equipment included, and if so, for how many elevations and how long?
• What happens to the price if the fascia, soffit or rafter ends need repair once the old gutter is off?
• Is old guttering removed and disposed of, and is any scrap value for cast iron credited?
• What guarantee comes with the work, and does it cover both materials and workmanship?
• Is the firm insured, and can it show references or examples of similar local work?

A quote that answers all eight is a quote you can trust. A quote that answers two of them and asks for a deposit up front is a quote to set aside. And if one quote is dramatically cheaper than the other two, check what it leaves out before celebrating: the missing item is usually scaffolding, downpipes or waste removal, and it reappears as an extra once work has started.

For the wider roofline, it is also worth reading our guide to dealing with roof problems before the roofer arrives, because a gutter survey is a good moment to spot slipped tiles or failed flashing while access is already paid for.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much does it cost to replace gutters on a 3-bed semi-detached house?

For a full uPVC replacement, MyJobQuote puts a 3-bed semi-detached house at £1,300 to £1,600, based on around 32 metres of roofline. Add scaffolding, fascia work or a premium material and the total rises, so treat that figure as the uPVC-only starting point, not the finished invoice.

Is uPVC or cast iron guttering better?

It depends on the house. uPVC is cheaper, lighter, maintenance-free and right for most modern homes. Cast iron is heavier, far more expensive and the correct choice for period, listed and conservation-area properties, where it also lasts much longer if painted regularly. On an ordinary modern house, cast iron is an aesthetic choice you pay a premium for, not a practical necessity.

Do I need scaffolding to replace gutters?

On a single-storey building, often not: a scaffold tower or safe ladder access may be enough. On a two-storey house, a professional roofer will usually need scaffolding, and you should expect it to be itemised in the quote rather than assumed. Never let anyone work on your roofline from a ladder alone at two-storey height just to save the scaffold charge.

Can I replace just one side of guttering?

Yes, and it is often the sensible choice when only the front or only the back has failed. The other side can be replaced later, although doing both sides at once saves a second scaffold charge, so if both sides are the same age and both are showing wear, price the pair before deciding.

How long does gutter replacement take?

A straightforward uPVC replacement on a typical house usually takes one to two days, including scaffolding time. Cast iron takes longer because of the weight and jointing, and a combined fascia, soffit and gutter job on a larger house can take three to four days. Bad weather pauses roofline work, so a roofer who promises a fixed day regardless of forecast is overpromising.

Will new gutters stop damp on the wall?

They will stop the damp caused by overflowing or leaking gutters, which is penetrating damp from water running down the brickwork. They will not fix damp from other causes, such as condensation inside the house or a failed damp-proof course, so if damp patches remain after the gutters are fixed, the cause lies elsewhere and needs its own diagnosis.