How much does chimney breast removal cost in the UK?
Chimney breast removal costs £2,800 on average in the UK. Most jobs fall between £1,500 and £6,000 for the job. Extent of removal: Breast removed in one room £1,500 to £2,500; Breast removed across two floors £2,500 to £4,000; Full chimney and stack removed £3,500 to £6,000. Prices reviewed July 2026.
Removing a chimney breast, sometimes just called chimney removal, reclaims floor space, but it is structural work: whatever is left above has to be supported, signed off by building control, and usually designed by a structural engineer.
Chimney breast removal cost calculator
Use the calculator to price your chimney breast removal in 2026. Adjust the options and area for a UK cost range. Nothing is sent anywhere.
Chimney breast removal cost breakdown
Typical chimney breast removal costs, by option:
| Extent of removal | Typical UK cost |
|---|---|
| Breast removed in one room (single floor) | £1,500 to £2,500 |
| Breast removed across two floors | £2,500 to £4,000 |
| Full chimney and stack removed | £3,500 to £6,000 |
| + Structural engineer and building control | add £500 to £1,000 |
What's included in the price?
Typical chimney breast removal prices include:
- Removing the breast and making good walls, floor and ceiling
- Support for any brickwork left above (gallows brackets or steel)
- Building control sign-off
- Waste removal
What changes the price?
The things that move chimney breast removal prices most:
How many floors the breast is removed from
Whether the stack in the loft and on the roof also comes out
How the remaining structure is supported
Making good, plastering and any redecoration
These are why two quotes for the same job can differ, and the only way to know your price is to get prices from local firms (through Bark; we may earn a fee, at no extra cost to you).
Does where you live change the cost?
In London, chimney breast removal typically costs around £3,400 for the job, about 20% above the UK average of £2,800. In the North, Scotland and Wales the guide figure is nearer £2,700.
| Region | From | Typical | Up to |
|---|---|---|---|
| Midlands / East (UK average) | £1,500 | £2,800 | £6,000 |
| London | £1,800 | £3,400 | £7,200 |
| South East / South West | £1,600 | £2,900 | £6,300 |
| North / Scotland / Wales | £1,500 | £2,700 | £5,800 |
Guide prices for the job, scaled with the same regional multipliers as the calculator. Not quotes.
Chimney breast removal cost in major UK cities
| City | From | Typical | Up to |
|---|---|---|---|
| Belfast | £1,400 | £2,700 | £5,700 |
| Birmingham | £1,500 | £2,800 | £6,000 |
| Bristol | £1,600 | £2,900 | £6,300 |
| Cardiff | £1,500 | £2,700 | £5,800 |
| Edinburgh | £1,500 | £2,700 | £5,800 |
| Glasgow | £1,500 | £2,700 | £5,800 |
| Leeds | £1,500 | £2,700 | £5,800 |
| Liverpool | £1,500 | £2,700 | £5,800 |
| London | £1,800 | £3,400 | £7,200 |
| Manchester | £1,500 | £2,700 | £5,800 |
| Newcastle | £1,500 | £2,700 | £5,800 |
| Sheffield | £1,500 | £2,700 | £5,800 |
City guide estimates, scaled by local labour costs. Indicative averages for chimney breast removal, not quotes.
Prices in London and the South East run above the national figures, mainly on labour.
Compare this with a real quote
The figures above are guide prices. Two or three quotes for your chimney breast removal tell you what it costs where you live.
Free and no obligation. You answer a few questions on Bark, local pros get in touch, and you decide who, if anyone, to hire. We may earn a fee, at no extra cost to you.Common questions
How much does it cost to remove a chimney breast?
Chimney breast removal costs roughly £1,500 to £6,000 in the UK, typically around £2,800. Taking the breast out of one room is £1,500 to £2,500, across two floors £2,500 to £4,000, and removing the full chimney and stack including roof making good is £3,500 to £6,000. A structural engineer and building control usually add £500 to £1,000.
Do I need planning permission to remove a chimney breast?
Planning permission is not usually needed, but building regulations approval always is, because it is structural work. You will also need a structural engineer's design for how the remaining structure is supported, and if the chimney is shared with a neighbour (common in terraces and semis) a party wall agreement is required before work starts. That duty applies in England and Wales; Scotland and Northern Ireland have no equivalent Act.
Can you remove a chimney breast on the ground floor only?
Yes, and it is a common request to reclaim space in a living room. The important point is that the breast on the floors above does not simply float: it has to be supported, usually on galvanised steel gallows brackets bolted to the party wall, or a steel beam. That support is exactly what the structural engineer designs and building control checks, and it is why even a ground-floor-only removal is a proper structural job rather than a quick knock-through.
Is removing a chimney breast a big job?
It is more involved than it looks. Beyond the demolition and skip, the crew has to support the structure above, make good the wall, floor and ceiling where the breast was, and get building control sign-off, which is why it takes several days and costs £1,500 to £6,000. Removing the full stack adds roof and scaffolding work. It is very much a job for a builder working to an engineer's design, not a DIY afternoon.
Do I need a structural engineer to remove a chimney breast?
Yes, in almost all cases. The engineer calculates how to carry the load of whatever is left above once the breast is gone, and specifies the brackets or steel needed. Their fee is generally £300 to £600 and is money well spent: it is what keeps the structure safe and satisfies building control. Skipping it risks cracking, sagging or worse, and can cause problems when you sell.
Is it worth removing a chimney breast?
In a small room where a redundant breast eats a metre of usable width, removal can genuinely transform the space, and at £1,500 to £6,000 it is cheaper than an extension for the floor area you gain. It is less worth it if the fireplace is a period feature you would keep, if the flue still serves a working stove or boiler, or if a partial removal leaves an awkward supported section. Weigh the space gained against the disruption and the making-good.
Can gallows brackets always be used, or do I need a steel beam?
Not always, and this is one of the bigger swings in the price. Gallows brackets are triangular steel frames bolted to the party wall with a lintel or steel plate spanning between them, and they are the cheaper way to carry what is left of the stack. They are ruled out in several specific situations: a supporting wall thinner than 225mm, a breast projecting more than about 340mm, which is to say more than 150 per cent of the wall's thickness, brickwork or mortar in poor condition, and, awkwardly, where the neighbour has already taken their breast out on the other side of the same party wall and hung brackets from it. The Institution of Structural Engineers' guidance is that a properly designed steel beam should generally be preferred in any case, because the load it carries can be calculated and checked. That is your engineer's call rather than the builder's, and it is worth raising early, because a beam costs more than brackets and moves you up the £1,500 to £6,000 range. Where the work affects a party wall, the Party Wall etc. Act 1996 applies as well.
Can I remove a chimney breast myself?
No, not the structural part. A chimney breast supports the masonry above it, so the work needs a structural engineer to size and sign off the support before anything is taken out, and building control approval. The only safe DIY is prep and clearing the room. The removal itself, at £1,500 to £6,000 depending on how much comes out, must be done by a builder working to the engineer's design.
Official guidance and sources
The rules and schemes referenced on this page come from these official UK sources. The price figures are Costwise's own; see how we price.
- Party walls and building work GOV.UK · Removing a chimney from a party wall is work you must tell a neighbour about, with notice given between two months and a year before starting. England and Wales only.
- Party Wall etc. Act 1996, section 2 legislation.gov.uk · Section 2(2)(g) covers cutting away a projecting chimney breast from a party wall, and section 2(5) makes that right subject to making good all damage.
Cite this data
These figures are free to use in articles, reports and research under a CC BY 4.0 licence. All we ask is a credit to Costwise, and online a link. Where your style allows, please make "Costwise" the linked word so readers can check the figure for their own region.
Costwise (2026): Chimney breast removal typically costs £2,800 in the UK, ranging from £1,500 to £6,000 for the job. Reviewed July 2026. costwiseuk.co.ukSource: Costwise (costwiseuk.co.uk)Costwise (2026). Chimney breast removal cost. Costwise UK cost data, version 2026-10-05. https://costwiseuk.co.uk/chimney-breast-removal-cost/2026-10-05 (158 jobs)Dataset DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.21159943 · also on Kaggle, Hugging Face and Figshare. Method: how we price. Downloadable CSV.
These are independent guide prices based on typical UK jobs in 2026. Your actual cost depends on your property, spec, access and where you live. Always get at least three written quotes before committing.