2026 edition
UK skip hire price index
The same builder's skip costs ~55% more in London than in the North of England.Regional price bands, permit fees and market density — compiled from 4299 listed firms across 390 towns.
Price bands by region, 2026
Typical prices paid including delivery, collection, disposal and VAT, compiled from published UK price guides and reviewed July 2026. Bands are deliberately broad — individual quotes vary by firm, access and waste type.
| Region | Mini (2–3 yd) | Midi (4–5 yd) | Builder's (6–8 yd) | Large (10–12 yd) | Listed firms |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| London | £100–£200 | £140–£280 | £210–£380 | £320–£520 | 70 |
| South East | £85–£170 | £120–£250 | £180–£330 | £280–£470 | 278 |
| South West | £75–£155 | £110–£225 | £160–£300 | £255–£430 | 125 |
| East of England | £75–£150 | £110–£220 | £160–£300 | £250–£430 | 171 |
| Midlands | £70–£140 | £100–£200 | £150–£280 | £240–£400 | 271 |
| North of England | £60–£120 | £90–£180 | £130–£250 | £220–£380 | 383 |
| Scotland | £65–£130 | £95–£190 | £140–£260 | £230–£390 | 89 |
| Wales | £70–£140 | £100–£200 | £145–£270 | £235–£400 | 66 |
| Northern Ireland | £60–£120 | £90–£180 | £130–£250 | £220–£380 | 29 |
| UK overall | £70–£150 | £100–£220 | £150–£300 | £250–£440 | 4299 |
What the index shows
- The North–London gap is ~55% on a builder's skip (the North of England: £130–£250; London: £210–£380). Disposal costs, wages and permit regimes drive most of it.
- Permit fees vary ~13× between councils — from £12.90 (Bolton) to £165 (Southend-on-Sea) across the 80 councils we track that charge a flat fee (1 more charges a daily rate instead, so it isn't ranked here). See fees by council.
- The 8-yard builder's skip remains the UK's reference size — the best £-per-cubic-yard for mixed waste in every region.
- Market coverage: 4299 firms across 390 towns and 75 counties are listed in our directory; density is highest in the North West, West Midlands and Essex.
Where the firms are
Methodology & citation
What these figures are. The price bands are indicative editorial rangesfor a standard hire (1–2 weeks, general waste, no permit), compiled from published 2026 UK skip-hire price guides. They are deliberately broad and are not a survey of quoted prices — we do not collect quotes, so read them as the typical spread, not a measured average.
What is measured. Permit fees are taken from each council's own published fee information, one council at a time — 81 councils, 57 of them linking straight to the issuing council's page, each carrying its own review date. Directory density is counted from the 4,299 firms listed here. Those two datasets are the citable part of this page; the price bands are an editorial estimate and should be described as one.
Reuse freely with attribution (CC BY 4.0): cite as"123SkipHire.com UK Skip Hire Price Index 2026" with a link to this page.