House rewiring in Glasgow

A full rewire in Glasgow typically costs somewhere in the region of £3,200 to £6,500 for most flats and smaller houses, going by MyJobQuote's Glasgow guide, and a tenement can take longer than its size suggests. Send us your postcode and we'll pass the job to one local electrician, who'll come back to you with a date to look at it and a price.

We don't do the rewiring ourselves. We're a matching service, and the firm you're matched with is independent and quotes you directly. For the general picture on when a rewire makes sense, see our house rewiring guide.

Glasgow's homes and what they mean for a rewire

Sandstone tenements

This is the job most people picture. Historic Environment Scotland describes the traditional tenement as having thick solid stone outer walls and internally plastered brick and timber partitions, and many still have their plaster cornices. All of that looks lovely and makes wiring slower. MyJobQuote's Glasgow guide says solid walls need chasing, which is slower than working with plasterboard. Ask the electrician how they plan to route cables to each room before you compare prices, because the route decides how much plaster gets disturbed.

Interwar semis and cottage-style homes

Mosspark and Knightswood were built by the old Glasgow Corporation after the First World War, with a lot of semi-detached and terraced cottages and gardens, along with Knightswood's four-in-a-block flats. Without a common stair or tall corniced ceilings to deal with, many of these should be a more straightforward job than a tenement. But a home that age may have been altered piecemeal over the decades, so don't assume the wiring is all one age. An EICR will tell you what's there.

Former council homes

If you've bought a home that was once council-owned, whether a cottage-style house or a four-in-a-block, ask to see any paperwork on past electrical work. Some will have had the wiring updated at some point and some won't. Rather than guess, get it tested before you plan the kitchen, because the rewire needs to come first.

Rewiring a tenement flat: the practical bits

• Access. MyJobQuote's Glasgow guide singles out narrow stairs, along with shared infrastructure in West End and Southside tenements. Tell the electrician which floor you're on and how they'll get in, and whether the close door has a working buzzer.
• The common stair. mygov.scot lists the stairs and close as common areas, usually shared by the owners. Keep tools, cable and rubbish out of the stair, and clean up after any dust. If the job touches something in the close, such as a meter cupboard, ask your factor or check your title deeds.
• Neighbours. Warn them, particularly those on either side and below. It's only polite, as there'll be drilling and floorboards coming up, and the neighbour below will want to know if work's happening above their ceiling.
• Separating walls. The building standards handbook says work that adversely affects a separating wall, such as installing recessed sockets, isn't covered by the rule that lets electrical work go ahead without a warrant. The wall you share with the flat next door is the obvious example, so plan sockets on those walls with this in mind.
• Building warrant. A 2019 Scottish Government report says rewiring a flat needs a building warrant, unlike a house of up to two storeys. Check with Glasgow City Council's building standards team before the work starts.
• Cornices and ceiling roses. Decide in advance what happens where a cable meets a decorative ceiling. Get it in the quote: how they'll avoid damage, and who repairs it if there is any.
• Parking. MyJobQuote notes a resident's visitor permit costs £5 for 6 hours, which electricians may need to factor in over several days. If you've got permits, it's worth offering them.

Glasgow rewire prices

Here's what MyJobQuote's Glasgow guide says. These are typical figures rather than quotes, and they're the same as its UK figures, so don't take them as a price worked out for the city. The real price depends on the size of the home, the number of circuits and how easy it is to work in.

A few other local figures from MyJobQuote's guide: a kitchen-only rewire is £500–£1,500, plasterers and decorators in Glasgow charge about £18–£25 an hour, and an EICR on an average-sized home is around £120. The guide says basic making good is usually included in a rewire quote, but redecorating isn't. It also passes on one plasterer's advice to use two coats when patching walls after a rewire, for a better finish. An empty home is usually cheaper to work in than one with people and furniture in it.

Areas we cover

We take rewiring enquiries from right across the city and beyond. That includes the tenement streets of Hyndland, Dowanhill and Partick (G11, G12), Woodlands and Garnethill (G3), Battlefield, Langside and Shawlands (G41, G42), and Dennistoun (G31). It also takes in Knightswood (G13), Mosspark and Cardonald (G52) and the rest of the city's suburbs. If you're further out, put the postcode in and we'll see who covers it.

Landlords in Glasgow

If an EICR has come back with C1 or C2 codes, those have to be put right to meet the Repairing Standard. Our page on repairs after a failed EICR sets out what each code asks of you, and the failed EICR guide looks at whether a rewire is really what's needed. A fully rewired house should come with an Electrical Installation Certificate. For registration, HMOs and the other checks in the city, see our Glasgow landlord page.