What a replacement boiler usually costs in the UK

Most “new boiler” calls are a failed combi, a noisy heat exchanger, or a landlord replacing a unit before a tenancy. The useful first split is like-for-like on the same flue and pipework, versus a change of system. The second split is gas work versus a heat-pump grant. Those are different pages.

This is the pounds briefing for a replacement boiler. For the legal register, read when gas work must be Gas Safe. For the heat-pump discount in England and Wales, stay on the Boiler Upgrade Scheme notes. If the house is cold tonight and you only need a check, use the boiler will not fire guide or low pressure.

Published UK bands

Heatable’s January–June 2026 quote sample put a standard combi replacement around £1,800–£3,500, with a median near £2,300. MyJobQuote’s 2026 boiler guide cites an average install near £2,400. Both are samples of published quotes, not a price this site can honour.

No plumbing card on this directory publishes a pound tariff for a boiler. Twenty-one businesses mention boilers. That is a service line, not a price list. Nine plumbing businesses show Gas Safe on the profile. The mark appears only when it is there.

London, Manchester and Bristol

London labour and parking often sit at the top of a national band. A basement flat with a long flue run is not the same hour-count as a cupboard next to an outside wall. Open plumbing in London when that is the city, not as a proxy for the whole country.

Manchester cards that mention boilers still do not print a tariff. Use plumbing in Manchester for a number, and ask whether the first figure is a repair, a service or a swap. Bristol has one Gas Safe mark on a mixed building card; treat that as a register line, not a city-wide rate. Leeds and Birmingham follow the national band more closely on labour, with access and parking still able to move a Saturday call.

Glasgow and Edinburgh are outside the Boiler Upgrade Scheme area. A heat-pump headline from GOV.UK does not attach to those addresses. The replacement-boiler conversation there is still Gas Safe for gas work, with a different Scottish grant landscape that this page does not price.

What moves the price

1. Like-for-like versus a move. A new cupboard, a different flue terminal or a change from a regular boiler to a combi is extra design, not a swap.
2. The condition of the system. Sludge, a missing filter or old valves can turn a one-day swap into a flush and a set of radiator valves.
3. Controls. A cheap programmer left in place is not the same quote as a new thermostat and zoning.
4. Timing. A no-heating call in January is priced as disruption, not as a planned summer swap.
5. VAT. Ask whether the figure is plus VAT. Silence is not “included”.

Run the heating-power calculator as a rough kW check, then compare it with what the engineer sizes. The tool does not specify a boiler.

This is not the heat-pump grant

The Boiler Upgrade Scheme is a discount on an eligible heat pump (or, in limited cases, biomass) claimed by an MCS-certified installer. It is not money toward a new gas combi. Gas Safe is the legal register for gas work. MCS is the mark that scheme needs. Do not let a headline £7,500 figure sit next to a combi quote as if they were the same job.

What to have on the call

Have the boiler make and model, the fault code if there is one, and whether you want the same connections reused. Ask if the person is Gas Safe for the work you described. Ask whether a power flush, filter, controls, flue and VAT sit inside the first figure, and what paper they leave (Benchmark, landlord certificate, or a repair note).

This site does not email the engineer. Open plumbing and heating — for example London or Manchester — and use the number on the card.

Questions before you treat this as a bill