Painting & Decorating · All 32 London boroughs
Painters and Decorators in London: Interiors, Exteriors and Wallpaper
Most of a London repaint is preparation: Victorian woodwork that may carry old lead paint, sash windows painted shut, fresh plaster that needs weeks to dry, and front walls that some councils control. Soraiz Builders paints interiors and woodwork, hangs and strips wallpaper, paints exterior walls, render and garden timber with scaffold arranged where needed, and sprays kitchens and uPVC, with a reply to every enquiry within 2 hours.
Quick answer: 2026 London prices
A painter and decorator in London typically charges £280 to £450 a day. Painting a standard bedroom costs about £480 to £700, a living room £600 to £1,000, and a hall, stairs and landing around £900 to £2,000. Exterior repaints start at around £1,500 for a terraced house, plus scaffold where the upper floors need it.
Send a few photos and your postcode and we reply within 2 hours during business hours, with a visit or a written price.
- Founded 2019
- 250+ London projects
- MyBuilder 5.0 from 23 verified reviews
- Fixed-price quotes
Quick estimate
How much will your decorating cost?
Add the rooms you want painted and the box below totals the typical London market range for walls, ceilings and woodwork. It uses the 2026 figures in the cost tables further down. It is a guide for budgeting, not a Soraiz Builders quote: condition, ceiling height and how much filling is needed move the real price.
Add a room to see a typical range.
What we do
What painting and decorating work do we carry out?
Six kinds of work, inside and out, for homeowners, landlords and businesses across London. Plaster repairs and skimming before decorating are covered on our Plastering & Rendering in London page.
Interior painting and woodwork
Walls, ceilings, skirting, doors, frames, stairs and banisters, with cracks filled, surfaces sanded and new plaster mist-coated before the finish coats.
- Single rooms to whole homes
- Gloss, satin and eggshell woodwork
- Kitchen and bathroom paints
Wallpaper hanging and removal
Old paper stripped, walls made good and lined where needed, then plain, patterned or heavy papers hung with the pattern matched across every join.
- Stripping and making good
- Lining paper
- Feature walls and full rooms
Exterior walls and render
Masonry and render painted, with exterior window frames, doors, fascias and soffits. We arrange scaffold for upper floors, including the council licence when it stands on the pavement.
- Masonry and breathable paints
- Window frames and front doors
- Scaffold arranged when needed
Fences, gates, sheds and decking
Garden timber cleaned, stained, painted or oiled, and metal gates and railings rubbed down, primed and repainted.
- Fence panels and sheds
- Decking oil and stain
- Metal gates and railings
Sash and period windows
Timber sash windows and period joinery prepared and painted so they still open, with loose putty and minor timber defects made good first.
- Sashes freed and painted
- Putty and minor repairs
- Period doors and panelling
Spray painting
Kitchen cabinet doors, internal doors and uPVC windows and doors spray-finished for a smooth, even coat without brush marks.
- Kitchen cabinet resprays
- uPVC windows and doors
- Internal doors
Every decorating job includes
- A written price listing rooms, surfaces and coats
- Floors and furniture covered before work starts
- Filling, sanding and priming as part of the price
- A mist coat on any new plaster
- Trade-quality paints suited to each surface
- A walk-round with you before we finish
2026 costs
How much does a painter and decorator cost in London?
A painter and decorator in London typically charges £280 to £450 a day in 2026, around 20 to 30% more than elsewhere in the UK, and most rooms cost £480 to £1,000 to paint.
The tables below are typical London market ranges, not fixed Soraiz Builders prices. Every job is priced in writing before work starts.
Interior painting
| Job | Typical cost | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Day rate | £280–£450 | One experienced decorator; inner London sits at the top |
| Small room or hallway | £420–£580 | London; box rooms and ground-floor halls |
| Standard bedroom | £480–£700 | London; condition and filling set where it lands |
| Living room | £600–£1,000 | London; bays, alcoves and high ceilings push it up |
| Hall, stairs and landing | £900–£2,000 | UK guide covering walls, ceilings, woodwork and stair access; London sits at the top |
| Ceiling only | £150–£320 | London, per room |
| Woodwork only | £100–£260 | London; skirting, door and frame |
| Whole two-bed home | £2,300–£4,500 | London, whole-home repaint |
Sources: Fantastic Services painting and decorating cost guide (2026, London column), Trade2Base decorator day rates (2026), Book A Builder UK painter and decorator costs (2026). Typical market ranges, not fixed Soraiz Builders prices.
Wallpaper
| Job | Typical cost | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Plain or random-match paper | £30 per roll | Labour only; the paper is bought separately |
| Patterned paper | £45 per roll | Pattern matching takes longer |
| Heavy, textured or grasscloth | £60 per roll | Specialist papers and pastes |
| Feature wall | £140–£250 | One wall, hung |
| Four-wall bedroom, London | £448–£832 | London regional figure |
| Strip old paper | +£150–£300 | Per room; more if the plaster underneath needs repair |
| Lining paper | +£80–£150 | Per room, over uneven walls |
Sources: BestBuilders wallpapering cost guide (August 2026), Fantastic Services (£30–£60 per roll hung in London). Typical market ranges, not fixed Soraiz Builders prices.
Exterior painting and access
| Job | Typical cost | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Front elevation only | £500–£1,500 | Front of the house only |
| Terraced house, 2 to 3 bed | £1,500–£3,100 | Whole exterior |
| Semi-detached, 3 bed | £2,600–£5,700 | Whole exterior |
| Three-storey house | £4,500–£9,500 | Scaffold almost always needed |
| Exterior door | About £200 | Prepared and painted |
| Scaffold hire | £500–£1,200 a week | Semi-detached; large detached £1,000–£2,000 |
| Council scaffold licence | Varies by borough | e.g. Hammersmith & Fulham £660 a month up to 15 m, plus a £750 deposit |
Sources: MyJobQuote exterior house painting costs (August 2026, UK ranges; London quotes sit at the top end), Trade2Base painting and scaffolding costs (2026), Hammersmith & Fulham highways licensing fees (2026/27). Typical market ranges, not fixed Soraiz Builders prices.
Specialist and outdoor work
| Job | Typical cost | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Paint a sash window | £100–£250 | Per window; full sash refurbishment is £500–£1,200 |
| Kitchen cabinet respray | £45–£90 per door | Average kitchen £1,200–£2,500; 2 to 4 days on site |
| uPVC window spray | £150–£200 | Per window frame; a door and frame £200–£250 |
| Fence panel | £20–£45 | Per 6 ft panel, both sides |
| Shed or fence job | £180–£350 | Stain or paint; pressure washing £60–£120 |
| Commercial walls | £10–£25 per m² | Large flat areas; office fit-outs £12–£20 per m² |
Sources: BestBuilders sash window costs (July 2026), Trade2Base kitchen respray (June 2026), fence painting and commercial painting costs (2026), MyJobQuote uPVC spraying and fence staining costs (2026). Typical market ranges, not fixed Soraiz Builders prices.
Decorating inside a bigger project is priced as part of it. See the House Renovation Cost in London (2026) guide for how decorating fits into a full renovation budget.
Paint and finish
Which paint should you use in a London home?
Use the paint that suits the surface, not just the colour: matt or vinyl matt for most walls, a kitchen and bathroom paint where there is steam, water-based satinwood or eggshell for woodwork, and a breathable finish on old solid walls. Getting this wrong is the usual reason a new paint job peels or yellows within a year or two.
Walls and ceilings
Matt hides the dents and patches that older London walls collect, while vinyl matt and durable matt finishes wipe clean in hallways, kitchens and children’s rooms. Bathrooms and kitchens need a paint made for humidity, because ordinary emulsion soon shows mould around a shower or hob.
Woodwork
Traditional oil-based gloss gives a hard shine but slowly yellows, especially in rooms with little daylight. Water-based satinwood and eggshell stay white for longer and dry faster, which suits doors, skirting and banisters in homes that stay lived in during the work.
New plaster
Fresh plaster has to dry before it is painted, often four to six weeks for a full skim and longer for thick coats or in winter; one rule of thumb is about four weeks for every 5 mm of depth. The first coat is a thinned mist coat that soaks in and seals the surface, so the finish coats do not peel.
Old solid walls and render
Most London homes built before 1919 have solid brick walls and some have lime render or lime plaster, which manage moisture by letting it evaporate. Coating them in plastic-based masonry paint or vinyl emulsion can trap that moisture and cause damp and flaking, so breathable mineral, silicate or lime-based paints are the safer choice. Outside, masonry paint needs dry weather and at least 5°C; Dulux Weathershield, for example, should not be applied below 5°C.
Rules
Which rules apply to painting and decorating?
Inside, the main risk is old lead paint; outside, it is planning control in conservation areas, the scaffold licence and, for flats, the lease. These are the points we check at quote stage.
- Lead paint: lead was removed from most decorative paints in the early 1960s, but some paint sold up to the 1990s may still contain it, so older woodwork and window frames often carry lead layers. Paint in good condition can simply be painted over. Where it must be removed, it should never be dry sanded or burned off; wet abrading and chemical or infrared stripping keep the dust and fumes down, and the waste is sealed in bags.
- Conservation areas and Article 4 directions: painting a door or window frame the same colour rarely needs permission, but painting brickwork can. In parts of Hammersmith & Fulham, for example, an Article 4 direction means planning permission is needed to paint unpainted brickwork on a front elevation, and some Kensington and Chelsea streets set the colour of stucco fronts, such as magnolia with white woodwork in Earl’s Court Square. Check your council’s conservation area page before choosing an exterior colour.
- Listed buildings: changes that affect the character of a listed building, inside or out, can need listed building consent, and traditional paints are often expected.
- Scaffold on the pavement: a council licence is needed whenever any part of a scaffold stands on a public pavement or road. Fees, deposits and notice periods differ by borough, which is why we price the licence into exterior quotes.
- Leasehold flats: many leases make the freeholder responsible for exterior and communal decoration and set how often it is done. If the freeholder plans major works costing any leaseholder more than £250, it must consult first under Section 20.
London homes
What makes decorating London homes different?
The age of a London home decides most of the preparation, and preparation decides most of the price.
Victorian and Edwardian terraces
High ceilings, cornicing, picture rails and timber sash windows, often under many layers of old paint. Stairwells need tall access, sashes need freeing, and early layers may contain lead.
1930s semis
Bay windows, pebbledash or render, and exterior timber such as fascias and porches. Pebbledash takes far more paint than smooth render, and hairline cracks are filled before the masonry coats.
Flats and conversions
Parking, lifts and communal areas shape the job. Corridors are protected, work keeps to agreed hours, and exterior or communal decoration usually sits with the freeholder.
New builds
New plaster and timber shrink as the building dries out, which opens hairline cracks in the first year or so. Many owners wait for that before a full repaint, then fill and repaint once.
Landlords and businesses
Do you repaint rental properties and offices?
Yes. We repaint flats and houses between tenancies, and shops and offices, with the work planned around the gap between tenants or the hours the business is closed.
End of tenancy
Redecoration is one of the most disputed items in deposit claims, so a quick, documented repaint between tenants protects both sides. Deposit adjudicators allow for fair wear and tear and the age of the decoration: after a tenancy of five years or more, they rarely award redecoration costs against the tenant, because the property would have needed repainting anyway. Dated before and after photos, which we take as standard, help either way.
Shops and offices
Commercial repaints are usually priced by area rather than by room, and can run in the evenings or at weekends so the business keeps trading. Larger refits are covered on our Office Refurbishment & Fit-Out in London page.
Recent Painting & Decorating projects
Real jobs that included this work, documented from the dated photos taken on site.
22 photosBlendon, Sidcup (Bexley)
Whole-home renovation in Blendon, Sidcup
A Sidcup home taken back to bare walls and finished as new over about 13 weeks: re-plastered throughout, a new kitchen and boiler, a new tiled bathroom, new flooring, decoration and a cleared garden.
Read the case study
8 photosHarrow Weald (Harrow)
Bathroom refit and flat refresh in Harrow Weald
A Harrow Weald flat turned around in a week in January 2026: a new bath and electric shower, new wood-effect flooring in the living room and hall, and a full repaint.
Read the case study
7 photosWoolwich Common, Woolwich (Greenwich)
Flat refurbishment in Woolwich
A Woolwich flat finished in October 2025 with new grey oak-effect laminate throughout, a refreshed shower room and white walls and woodwork in every room.
Read the case studyHow it works
What happens when you book a decorator with us?
Send photos or book a visit
Tell us which rooms or walls, your postcode and any colours in mind. Photos are often enough for a first price on interior work.
Written, itemised quote
You get a price that lists the rooms, surfaces, preparation, coats and paint, plus scaffold and any council licence for exterior work.
Protect and prepare
Floors and furniture are covered, then cracks are filled, surfaces sanded and primed, and old paint checked before anything is disturbed.
Paint
A mist coat on new plaster, then the finish coats, with the house kept usable and tidied at the end of each day.
Walk-round and photos
We go round the finished work with you, touch up anything you spot, and send before and after photos for your records.
Timings
How long does painting and decorating take?
One room usually takes one to two days, a hall, stairs and landing two to three, and a two-bed flat about four to five; an exterior repaint takes three to five working days once the scaffold is up, depending on the weather. Our Brockley flat was redecorated in four days. Drying time between coats, not brushwork, is what sets the pace, and new plaster adds weeks before painting can start.
How to choose a decorator in London
- A written quote listing preparation and coats
- The paint brand and finish named
- A plan for old lead paint in older homes
- Scaffold and licence included for exterior work
- Public liability insurance
- Recent photos and reviews you can check
Questions
Painting and decorating in London: frequently asked questions
How much does a painter and decorator charge per day in London?
A painter and decorator in London typically charges £280 to £450 a day in 2026, with inner London at the top of that range. That is around 20 to 30% more than elsewhere in the UK. Most decorators price larger jobs as a fixed total rather than by the day, so ask for a written quote that lists the rooms, preparation and number of coats.
How much does it cost to paint a room in London?
Painting a standard bedroom in London typically costs £480 to £700 for walls, ceiling and woodwork, a small room or hallway £420 to £580, and a living room £600 to £1,000. A hall, stairs and landing costs more, about £900 to £2,000, because of the height and the banisters. Poor walls that need a lot of filling, or very high ceilings, push the price up.
How much does it cost to paint the outside of a house?
Typical UK ranges are £500 to £1,500 for a front elevation, £1,500 to £3,100 for a terraced house and £2,600 to £5,700 for a three-bed semi, with London quotes at the top of those ranges. Scaffold hire adds around £500 to £1,200 a week, plus a council licence if it stands on the pavement. Repairs to render or pointing are extra.
Do I need planning permission to paint the outside of my house?
Usually not, but there are exceptions. In some London conservation areas an Article 4 direction means you need planning permission to paint brickwork on the front of the house, and a few streets set the colour of stucco fronts. Listed buildings may need listed building consent. Repainting doors and window frames in the same colour is normally fine. Check your council’s conservation area guidance first.
How long should new plaster dry before painting?
Usually four to six weeks for a full skim, and longer for thick coats or in cold, damp weather; a common rule of thumb is about four weeks for every 5 mm of plaster. The plaster turns from dark to an even pale pink when dry. The first coat should be a thinned mist coat that soaks in and seals the surface, so later coats do not peel.
Is it safe to sand old paint in a period home?
Not if it might contain lead, which is likely on woodwork painted before the 1960s and possible up to the 1990s. Paint in good condition can be painted over. If it must come off, avoid dry sanding and blowlamps: use wet abrading or a chemical or infrared stripper, keep children and pregnant women away from the dust, and seal the waste in bags.
Can a landlord charge a tenant for repainting?
Only for damage beyond fair wear and tear, and only in proportion to the age of the decoration. Deposit adjudicators consider the length of the tenancy and the condition at check-in, and after five years or more they rarely award redecoration costs, because repainting would have been due anyway. Dated check-in and check-out photos are the evidence that decides most disputes.
Can you paint the outside of a house in winter?
Sometimes, on dry days, but it is not ideal. Most masonry paints should not be applied below 5°C or onto damp walls, and paint needs dry hours afterwards to cure, so short, wet winter days leave little working time. Late spring to early autumn is the best window in London. Interior work can be done all year round.
Verified reviews
What London clients say about our decorating
★★★★★
“Really happy with the work! They came and did the job in quick time and in a professional manner. Good communication and always happy to listen to our needs.”
Omid Ayoobe, Croydon · Painted a 4-bedroom semi · February 2026
★★★★★
“They were very professional. Came on time, did exactly as they said and did an excellent job. I had the halls, two bedrooms and lounge painted. I also had 7 doors with 15 panes in each door, very tricky but they did excellent job… highly recommended!”
Sharon, North Finchley · Ground-floor flat repaint · April 2025
★★★★★
“Soraiz Builders were a pleasure to deal with. They were responsive to my messages, had reasonable pricing, were timely for their appointments and completed the work to a good standard.”
Dillon, Woolwich · Entrance hallway and stairwell of a 3-storey house · March 2025
★★★★★
“Hard working and punctual. Both Hussain and his colleague completed the paint job to a good standard within the time promised.”
MyBuilder user, Greenford · Interior hallway and landing · April 2025
★★★★★
“Good work quick reliable Guys turned up on time and got the job done faster than I expected. Will be using them again”
Umair, Palmers Green · Hallway and stairs · April 2024
★★★★★
“Very good reliable builders, excellent service. Quality and reliable competitive prices. Had a re visit after 1 month of finishing work and rectified slight issues free of charge.”
Azhar, Islington · Rooms and staircase, white gloss on doors · December 2024
All six are painting jobs from our 23 verified reviews on MyBuilder (rated 5.0), quoted in the clients’ own words.
Get started
Get a free decorating quote in London
Send photos of the rooms or walls and your postcode. We reply within 2 hours during business hours and give you a written price listing every room, surface and coat before work starts.
- Founded 2019
- 250+ London projects
- MyBuilder 5.0 from 23 verified reviews
- All 32 boroughs