Moving a fuse box in London costs from £350 labour-only if the new position is within a couple of metres of the meter — the classic “get it out of the cupboard under the stairs and onto the hall wall” job — and £550–£750 when it goes to another room and every circuit has to be extended to reach it. If the electricity meter and cut-out have to move as well, add UK Power Networks’ and your supplier’s charges and a few weeks’ lead time, because those two pieces are not ours to move. Most of the moves we do are part of a kitchen refit, a loft conversion, an extension or a house split into flats, and roughly half of them become a new consumer unit at the same time (from £550, which includes the move). F & A Electrical is NICEIC registered, rated 9.32/10 from 242 reviews, based in Tottenham N15. Call 07407 627542 or 07500 721453.
What moving a fuse box actually involves
A consumer unit has two sets of cables attached: the meter tails coming in (two thick cables from the meter, plus the main earth) and one cable per circuit going out — typically eight to sixteen in a London house. Moving the board means every one of those has to reach the new position. The tails are easy to extend or replace, subject to a maximum unfused length of about three metres from the meter before a switch-fuse is needed. The circuit cables are the work: each one has to be extended with a maintenance-free junction (or, better, re-run from the first accessory) to the new board position, and every joint has to stay accessible or be of the type that does not need to be. Then the board is mounted, everything is reconnected and labelled, every circuit is tested and the whole installation gets an Electrical Installation Certificate and a Part P notification to the council. That is why “just moving it a bit” is rarely a one-hour job, and why the price is driven by distance and circuit count rather than by the board itself.
Cost to move a fuse box in London — by distance and situation
| Move | What’s involved | Labour (inc VAT) | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Same wall or same cupboard, up to 2 m — e.g. raise it above a new worktop or off the floor | Extend tails and 8–12 circuits, re-mount, test, certify | from £350 | Half a day |
| Under-stairs cupboard to the hall wall or porch, 2–5 m | Extend all circuits, new tails, new isolator, chase or surface the run | £450–£550 | 1 day |
| To another room on the same floor (kitchen to utility, hall to garage), 5–10 m | Re-run or extend 10–16 circuits, tails via a switch-fuse if over 3 m from the meter | £550–£750 | 1–1.5 days |
| To another floor (ground to first, or into a loft conversion) | Long extensions on every circuit, usually re-run several, switch-fuse at the meter | £750–£1,100 | 1.5–2 days |
| Move + new RCBO consumer unit at the same time (the usual choice) | Everything above, but the new board is fitted at the new position — no double handling | from £550 (short move) to £900 (another floor) — the board change is included | 1–2 days |
| Move because the meter and cut-out are also moving (extension, new front door, flat conversion) | UK Power Networks moves the cut-out, supplier moves the meter, we move or replace the board and re-run the tails | Our part from £450; UKPN typically several hundred pounds to £1,000+, quoted; supplier £0–£150 | 4–12 weeks end to end |
| Split a house into flats — one board per flat plus a landlord’s board | New boards in each flat fed by sub-mains from a landlord’s board at the intake | from £450 landlord’s board + £350 per flat sub-main + £450 per flat board | 2–4 days |
Labour-only, materials at trade cost — a good RCBO board is around £150–£250 in parts, cable and junctions £30–£80 for a typical move. Making good to plaster is not included; we chase and leave the wall ready for your plasterer, or run surface trunking in a garage or utility where that is acceptable. Prices for a replacement in the same position are on the fuse board replacement page.
Why it usually makes sense to replace the board while moving it
Three reasons. First, the labour overlaps almost completely: once every circuit is disconnected and extended, connecting them into a new board takes no longer than into the old one, so a move-plus-replacement is typically only £100–£150 more than the move alone. Second, boards in London houses that are being moved are usually old — a plastic Wylex or MK board from the 1980s or 90s with one RCD or none — and an old board reinstalled in a new position still fails the same items on an EICR: no RCD protection on socket circuits (C2), no SPD, plastic enclosure under a wooden stair (C3). Third, a new board in a new position gets a single certificate that covers everything; reinstalling an old board that then needs upgrading six months later means paying the disconnection labour twice. The one case where we move without replacing is a board under about eight years old with RCBOs already fitted — there we move it as it is.
The meter problem: what you can and cannot move yourself
A fuse box move is only ever the customer’s side of the meter. If the new position for the board is within about three metres of the meter, the job is entirely ours and takes a day. If you want the board somewhere the tails cannot reach — the other side of the house, or a new utility room at the back — there are two routes. The cheaper is a switch-fuse at the meter (a small enclosure with a 100 A fuse, from £180 including the tails) feeding a long sub-main to the board wherever you want it; the meter stays where it is. The other is to move the meter and cut-out, which means an application to UK Power Networks to relocate the service cable and cut-out (they quote after a site look, typically a few hundred pounds for a short move on the same wall and £1,000 or more for a new entry point through the wall), then a separate booking with your energy supplier to relocate the meter, then us for the board. Budget six to twelve weeks for the DNO and supplier appointments. The ownership split is explained in full in who is responsible for the main fuse, cut-out and meter tails.
Where the board can and cannot go
| Proposed position | Allowed? | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Hallway wall, at 1.35–1.45 m switch height | Yes — ideal | Accessible, meets the height guidance for new work, easy to label and reset |
| Under the stairs (existing position for most Victorian terraces) | Yes, with conditions | Must be a non-combustible (metal) enclosure since 2016; needs clear access, not buried behind the hoover |
| Kitchen, above a worktop | Yes | Not directly above the hob or sink; usually inside a tall cupboard with a cut-out for access |
| Bathroom or shower room | No | Not permitted within the zones; move it out |
| Garage or outbuilding | Yes, if the supply enters there | Otherwise you are running a sub-main; consider a switch-fuse and a second board instead |
| Loft | Possible but poor | Access for resetting an RCD in the dark at 2 am is the test; usually better to keep it downstairs and sub-main the loft |
| Inside a bedroom wardrobe or behind furniture | Discouraged | Must remain accessible; a locked or furniture-blocked board is an EICR observation |
| Outside, in a meter box on the front wall | Only the meter and cut-out, not the consumer unit | Consumer units are not rated for outdoor meter boxes; fit an isolator outside and the board inside |
How the job runs
We start with a photo of the current board and the meter, and a rough sketch of where you want it, and quote from that in most cases — a site visit is needed only for a move to another floor or where the meter is moving. On the day, the power is off for most of the job: we isolate at the main switch (or via UK Power Networks’ temporary disconnection where the tails are being replaced), extend or re-run each circuit to the new position, fit the board, connect and label, then test every circuit — continuity, insulation resistance, polarity, earth-fault loop impedance and RCD times — and switch back on circuit by circuit. You get the Electrical Installation Certificate with the test results, and we notify Building Control under Part P within 30 days, which is the document a buyer’s solicitor or an EICR inspector will ask to see. If the move is part of a bigger project, we coordinate with the builder so the chasing is done while walls are open — the cheapest time to move a board is the week the plaster is off.
Frequently asked questions
How much does it cost to move a fuse box in the UK / London?
In London, from £350 labour-only for a short move of up to two metres, £450–£550 to a nearby wall, £550–£750 to another room and £750–£1,100 to another floor. National cost guides quote £300–£600 as an average; London labour and the older, more crowded Victorian installations put most real jobs at the upper end of that. Replacing the board at the same time adds roughly £100–£150 over the move alone.
Can I move a fuse box myself?
Not legally in England without notifying Building Control. Moving or replacing a consumer unit is notifiable work under Part P, and it involves working on the meter tails, which are live until the main fuse is pulled — and only UK Power Networks may pull it. A registered electrician self-certifies the work; see what Part P certification is.
Do I need to move the meter as well?
Only if the new board position is more than about three metres of cable from the meter and you don’t want a switch-fuse. A switch-fuse at the meter feeding a sub-main lets the board go anywhere in the house while the meter stays put, and it is far cheaper and faster than relocating the cut-out and meter.
How long is the power off?
For a same-room move, three to five hours; for a move to another room or floor, most of a working day. We reconnect the fridge-freezer and the boiler first where the circuits allow, and we never leave a house overnight without power.
Will moving the fuse box affect my EICR?
A moved board with new tails, a new isolator and — usually — a new RCBO enclosure removes the commonest board-related C2s and C3s from any future report. The Electrical Installation Certificate we issue dates the work, and the next EICR is due five years from a landlord’s last report regardless of the move. Prices are on the EICR cost guide.
Can the fuse box go in the kitchen during a refit?
Yes, and it is one of the most common moves — inside a tall unit or above the worktop, away from the hob and sink, with access maintained. We work with the kitchen fitter’s plan so the board position matches the unit run; the rules for the rest of the kitchen are in kitchen electrical requirements. If the house is being rewired anyway, the move is included in the rewire price — see the rewire cost guide.
Fuse box moves from £350, move plus new RCBO board from £550, split-house landlord’s boards from £450 — labour-only, certified and notified, across Haringey, Hackney, Islington, Enfield, Waltham Forest, Camden, Newham, Tower Hamlets and Barnet — see all areas we cover. Call 07407 627542 or 07500 721453, or WhatsApp a photo of the board and the meter with a note of where you want it and we’ll quote from that.