2026 cost report
What Christmas lights actually cost in London & the South East
Fitted 2026 prices by property type, the four things that move the number, and an honest account of where the money goes. Every figure below comes from the same estimator that prices real enquiries.
The table
2026 fitted prices, by property
One season, one price: design, lights, installation, in-season repairs and January take-down.
| Property | Typical scope | Lit metres | Season price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mid-terrace | Single frontage roofline, warm white | 10–14 m | £1,500 – £1,650 |
| Semi-detached | Roofline, porch, door dressing | 16–24 m | £1,800 – £2,300 |
| Semi with reveals | Roofline plus window outlines | 24–34 m | £2,600 – £3,000 |
| Detached | Full roofline plus one dressed tree | 30–45 m | £3,200 – £4,200 |
| Large detached | Roofline, reveals, two wrapped trees | 45–70 m | £4,400 – £6,800 |
| Country house or estate | Rooflines, reveals, drive trees, gates | 70 m+ | £8,000 – £13,000 |
Minimum project value £1,500. Prices held for 14 days from the proposal.
What moves the number
Four variables, in order of impact
1.Metres, not rooms
Nobody prices a bedroom count. Price follows lit metres: roofline is the cheapest metre you can buy, window reveals cost roughly double it per metre, and a close-wound tree is the most expensive light on any quote.
2.Height, and therefore access
Two storeys is ladder work. Anything above roughly 8 m needs a platform, and platform hire plus platform time is typically 12–18% of a large job — money that produces no visible light and cannot be removed safely.
3.What the wall is made of
Gutter clips are free. Painted stucco, listed brick and stone all rule out drilling, which means slower, cleverer fixing and more labour hours for the same visual result.
4.What the price actually includes
A fitted price should cover design, commercial-grade lights on hire, installation, in-season repairs and January take-down. Two of those five — maintenance and take-down — are where a cheap quote quietly stops.
Where the money goes
An £11,400 estate, broken down
The clearest way to read a large quote is to see one taken apart. This is the flagship scheme in our case-study library.
34%
Roofline and gables
27%
Drive trees and gate piers
15%
Access — platform, two days
14%
Window reveals
10%
Fresh greenery and door
£11,400
Total, fitted for the season
By geography
What changes as you leave the M25
We price London and the South East the same way — Surrey, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire, Hampshire, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hertfordshire, Essex.
Inner London
Terraces and stucco villas, short frontages, parking suspensions and no drilling. Small metres, high care — most schemes land £1,500–£2,800.
Outer London and the suburbs
Semis and detached houses with real front gardens. Trees start appearing on the quote, which is what pushes the median to roughly £2,900.
Surrey, Berkshire and Buckinghamshire
Detached and gated properties, long drives, mature trees, frequent platform work. £3,500–£8,000 is the normal band, and the drive usually earns its cost.
Kent, Sussex, Essex, Hertfordshire and beyond
Same pricing model, same crew. Travel does not appear as a separate line — it is inside the fixed seasonal price, quoted before you commit to anything.
Straight answers
Cost questions, answered plainly
Get your own number, not an average
Send a few photos and your postcode. We come back with a scheme and a fixed seasonal price that holds.