How Much Does a Full House Rewire Cost in Stevenage?

For most homeowners, the cost of a full house rewire is not something they have ever had cause to look up before. It tends to become relevant either when something goes wrong — repeated tripped circuits, burning smells from sockets, flickering lights that have no obvious explanation — or when a surveyor flags the electrical installation as a concern following a property purchase. Either way, the starting point is usually the same: what is this going to cost, and is it really necessary?

Stevenage has a housing stock that makes this question particularly relevant. The town’s new town development programme, which built the majority of its residential areas from the early 1950s through to the 1970s, means that a large number of properties across Bedwell, Shephall, Pin Green, Chells and Symonds Green are now carrying electrical installations that are between 50 and 70 years old. Many of these have never been fully replaced. The older housing around Stevenage Old Town and in the surrounding villages of Knebworth, Woolmer Green and Walkern adds further properties with installations that predate even the new town era.

For any of these properties, a rewire is not a luxury — it is overdue maintenance. This post sets out what it costs in this part of Hertfordshire, what affects the final figure, and what the process actually involves.

What Does a House Rewire Cost in Stevenage?

Rewiring costs are primarily driven by the size of the property and the number of circuits involved. For Stevenage and the surrounding Hertfordshire area, current realistic prices from a registered local electrician are as follows:

 

• • One bedroom flat or small terraced house: £2,600–£4,300

• • Two bedroom house: £3,400–£5,400

• • Three bedroom semi-detached: £4,500–£6,900

• • Four bedroom detached: £6,200–£9,800

• • Five bedroom or larger: £9,000–£14,000+

These are complete job prices covering all new cabling, a replacement consumer unit, new sockets, switches and light fittings throughout, full testing and an Electrical Installation Certificate on completion. Replastering and redecoration following the work are separate costs that need to be budgeted alongside the electrical quote.

Stevenage sits in the mid-range for Hertfordshire labour costs — below St Albans and Welwyn Garden City, which carry a premium reflecting proximity to London, but above more rural parts of the county. The figures above reflect what you should realistically expect to pay from a competent, registered contractor working in the SG1 to SG2 postcode area.

What Affects the Cost?

The Property’s Age and Electrical History

The age of the installation and what has happened to it over the decades is one of the most significant cost variables. Stevenage’s new town housing was built consistently and at scale, which means the electrical installations from this era tend to follow predictable patterns — original wiring from the 1950s and 1960s was typically rubber-insulated, which becomes brittle and dangerous with age, and in many cases has been partially updated at various points without ever being comprehensively replaced.

A property where the installation is a patchwork of different eras — some original rubber cable, some later PVC wiring, a consumer unit that has been changed once but with old circuits still attached — takes more time to strip back and replace cleanly than one with a single consistent installation throughout. The older properties in Stevenage Old Town, some of which predate the new town by several decades, can be particularly involved given the construction methods and the age of what is in the walls.

Construction Type and Cable Routing

How cables are run through a property depends heavily on how it was built. Stevenage’s new town housing is predominantly cavity wall construction with concrete ground floors — a characteristic feature of the era. Concrete floors cannot be lifted to route cables beneath them in the way timber suspended floors can, which means ground floor circuits typically need to be run through ceiling voids, chased into walls, or routed in surface trunking. Each approach has different implications for the time required and the decorative work needed afterwards.

Properties with timber upper floors — which most of Stevenage’s housing has — are more straightforward on the upper storeys, where cables can run beneath the floorboards without extensive making good. The ground floor is usually where the additional complexity sits on new town-era properties.

Number of Circuits and Additional Supplies

The scope of the installation makes a significant difference to the overall cost. A straightforward three-bedroom semi with a standard ring main, lighting circuit, cooker circuit and immersion heater supply is a defined and predictable job. A property that also has a garage supply, external lighting, an EV charger point, underfloor heating circuits or a home office with dedicated data and power infrastructure is a larger scope of work and priced accordingly.

Be specific about what you want included when getting quotes — and make sure you are comparing quotes that cover the same scope rather than assuming they do.

Whether the Property Is Occupied During the Work

An occupied property takes longer to rewire than an empty one. Working around furniture, managing which parts of the installation remain live at the end of each working day, and accommodating a household’s routine all add time to the programme. This does not usually show up as a separate line item on a quote — most electricians price by the day — but the additional time will be reflected in the overall figure.

If you have just purchased a Stevenage property and it is empty before you move in, that window is genuinely the best time to have a rewire done. The job runs faster, the disruption is contained, and there are no compromises in cable routing to avoid disturbing a lived-in room.

Consumer Unit Upgrade vs Full Rewire

These are two different jobs that are sometimes confused. A consumer unit upgrade replaces the fuse board with a modern unit incorporating RCD and RCBO protection, improving the safety of the installation without replacing any of the wiring. In Stevenage, a consumer unit replacement typically costs £380–£630 fitted.

A full rewire replaces everything — all cables, all accessories, the consumer unit, and the earthing arrangements. If the existing wiring is in good condition, a consumer unit upgrade may be all that is needed. If the cables are old, deteriorated or non-compliant, replacing the board without replacing the wiring does not solve the underlying problem.

An EICR carried out before committing to either job will tell you clearly which is actually needed. More on that below.

What the Process Involves

A house rewire is carried out in two main phases with a making-good period in between.

First fix is the most disruptive stage. All new cables are run through the property — floorboards lifted on timber floors, channels chased into walls, cables pulled through ceiling voids. The property will look considerably disrupted during this phase. Dust is unavoidable, and access to certain rooms will be restricted at various points. Where possible, the existing installation is kept energised during first fix so the household is not left without power throughout.

Once first fix cabling is complete, the property needs to be made good — any chases in plasterwork filled and brought flush, floorboards re-secured, and any damaged surfaces repaired. This work and the subsequent drying time typically account for one to two weeks in the middle of the programme.

Second fix follows once the making-good is complete and dry. The new consumer unit is installed and connected, all sockets, switches and light fittings are fitted and wired up, and the full test sequence is carried out against the requirements of BS 7671. On completion, an Electrical Installation Certificate is issued — a legal document that confirms the installation has been designed, constructed and tested to the required standard, and which you will need when you come to sell the property.

How Long Does a Rewire Take in Stevenage?

Working days on site vary by property size:

 

• • One to two bedroom property: two to four days

• • Three bedroom semi: four to six days

• • Four bedroom detached: seven to ten days

• • Larger properties: ten days or more

End to end — including the making-good and drying period between first and second fix — most rewires on a standard Stevenage semi run to two to three weeks from start to certified completion. Larger properties or those with more complex installations will take longer.

Part P and Registered Electricians

A full house rewire falls under Part P of the Building Regulations, which means the work must be either carried out by a registered competent person or notified to building control independently. In practice, using an electrician registered with NICEIC, NAPIT or ELECSA is the straightforward route — they can self-certify the work, issue the certificate, and notify building control on your behalf without any additional process on your part.

Always verify registration before agreeing to any rewiring work. A legitimate registered electrician will provide their scheme membership details without hesitation.

Is an EICR the Right Starting Point?

If you are not certain whether your property needs a full rewire, an EICR is a sensible first step. A formal inspection and test of the existing installation grades any issues by severity — from immediate dangers through to recommendations — and gives you a clear, evidence-based picture of what the installation needs rather than a decision based on guesswork.

EICR costs in Stevenage typically run between £130 and £270 for a standard domestic property. Many electricians will apply the EICR cost towards the rewire quote if a full replacement turns out to be required. For any property in the town’s new town neighbourhoods where the wiring has not been touched since the house was built, an EICR is not a formality — it is a genuinely useful document.

If you are based in Stevenage, Knebworth, Letchworth, Hitchin, Welwyn or anywhere across Hertfordshire, get in touch and we will arrange a visit. We will assess what the installation needs and give you a clear quote with no obligation.