What it costs
What a London locksmith should actually cost
Realistic price bands for lockouts, lock changes and emergency callouts in London — and the one phone question that stops a £90 job becoming a £600 one.
There is no official price list for locksmithing in the United Kingdom, because there is no regulator to publish one. Prices are set by each firm, and they vary by hour, by day, by borough and by how desperate you sound.
So treat everything below as indicative bands, not quotes. The value is in knowing roughly where a fair figure sits, so you can tell when a number is out of the ordinary.
How to use this page: find the row that matches your job, then ring two or three firms and ask for a total. If the quotes cluster near the band, you are in normal territory. If one is wildly above, you have learned something useful about that firm.
The bands
| Job | Typical daytime, weekday | Typical night, weekend or bank holiday |
|---|---|---|
| Simple lockout, opened without damage | roughly £65–£150 | roughly £120–£250 |
| Lockout needing the lock drilled and replaced | roughly £120–£250 including a basic lock | roughly £180–£350+ |
| Euro cylinder swapped for a decent anti-snap one | roughly £90–£180 fitted | higher, plus the night premium |
| Mortice lock replaced (BS 3621 rated) | roughly £120–£220 fitted | higher, plus the night premium |
| uPVC multipoint mechanism repair or replacement | roughly £150–£350+ | considerably more |
Central London and same-hour attendance push toward the top of each band. A booked morning appointment in an outer borough sits near the bottom.
Why the night price is so much higher — and when it is justified
Someone is getting out of bed, driving across a city, and carrying stock. A genuine premium of somewhere between fifty and a hundred percent over the daytime rate is normal and fair.
What is not normal is a night rate three or four times the daytime rate, appearing only after the van arrives. That is not a premium, it is a captive audience.
Practical consequence: if you are safe, warm and it is 9pm, ask what a booked appointment tomorrow morning would cost. Hearing both numbers in the same call is often the cheapest thirty seconds of your week.
The single question that protects you
Ask it before anyone gets in a van:
“What is the total I will pay, including callout, labour, parts and VAT — and can you text me that figure now?”
Note every part of that sentence:
- Total, not “the callout is £X”. The callout fee is the smallest number in the transaction and it is the one they will happily give you.
- Including parts. “Plus parts” is where a £15 cylinder becomes £180.
- Including VAT. A firm that is VAT-registered and quotes without it has added twenty percent to your bill in silence.
- Text me that figure. A written quote is very hard to argue with later, and asking for one immediately separates the professionals from the rest.
If they will not put a number in writing before travelling, ring someone else.
What actually drives the price up
Destructive versus non-destructive entry. Most standard UK domestic locks can be opened without damage by a competent locksmith. If the lock is drilled, you are also buying a replacement lock and paying to fit it. Ask on the phone whether they expect to open it non-destructively — and ask again on the doorstep, before tools come out.
The lock they fit. A basic euro cylinder is a few pounds. A properly rated anti-snap cylinder — look for TS007 3-star, or Sold Secure Diamond — costs meaningfully more and is worth having, because cheap cylinders are vulnerable to snapping. Fine to pay for the good one. Not fine to be charged for the good one and given the cheap one. Ask to keep the packaging.
Insurance-grade mortice locks. Many home insurance policies require a BS 3621 rated mortice deadlock on final exit doors. Fitting one is a bigger job than swapping a cylinder, and priced accordingly.
Where you are, and when. Congestion and clean-air charges, parking, and the hour of the night all end up in the number. Reasonable, if disclosed up front.
Ways to pay less without taking a risk
- Wait until morning if you have somewhere safe to be. This is the single biggest saving available.
- Ring three firms. Ten minutes of calls on a lock change routinely moves the price by a third.
- Book, do not emergency-call. “Can you come tomorrow between nine and twelve?” is a different product from “come now”.
- Ask what the lock costs separately. A firm confident in its pricing will tell you the part and the labour as two numbers.
- Pay by card. Card payments leave a record, and paying by credit card can bring additional protection on larger amounts. Cash on the doorstep leaves you with nothing to dispute.
If you think you have been overcharged
Do not pay in cash under pressure, and do not sign a blank job sheet.
Under UK consumer law, a service must be carried out with reasonable care and skill, and where no price was agreed in advance you are required to pay only a reasonable price — not whatever appears on the invoice. That is the lever.
Keep the invoice, the parts, any text messages, and photographs of the work. Then get proper consumer advice from Citizens Advice, who can also refer matters to Trading Standards. If you paid by card, contact your bank about a chargeback or a Section 75 claim promptly.
The short version
Daytime simple lockout: think under about £150. Night: think under about £250. Anything far beyond that needs an explanation you understand before the work starts — not after. And the sentence that saves the money is always the same one: what is the total, including everything, in writing, before you set off?