Blog · 19 October 2026 · 8 min read
How Much Do Chimney Sweeps Earn in the UK? The Real Numbers
There's no official figure for what chimney sweeps earn. ONS doesn't publish pay for sweeps on their own, and its pay survey only covers employees, which leaves out every sweep who works for themselves. So this guide does two things: it sets out what sweeps charge in 2026, and it works through the numbers for a self-employed sweep (turnover, costs, tax and National Insurance) with every assumption shown, so you can swap in your own.
The short answer: in our worked example, a self-employed sweep charging HETAS's 2026 UK average of £72 and doing 600 sweeps a year (about three a working day) turns over £43,200 and takes home about £28,400 after costs, income tax and National Insurance. At 400 sweeps it's about £19,200; at 800, about £38,250.
What chimney sweeps charge in 2026
HETAS's chimney sweep price guide, updated in May 2026, says most sweeps charge £60–£85 for a standard sweep, with a UK average of about £72. It sampled HETAS Approved sweeps in three major cities in each region, pricing a lined flue serving a stove that's used correctly with the right fuel. Its regional averages:
| Region | Standard sweep |
|---|---|
| London | £82 |
| North West | £77 |
| Yorkshire and the Humber | £76 |
| Scotland | £76 |
| Wales | £75 |
| South East | £73 |
| East of England | £72 |
| South West | £70 |
| West Midlands | £69 |
| North East | £67 |
| East Midlands | £60 |
| UK average | £72 |
For that price HETAS includes the sweep itself, dust sheets with a sealed access point, vacuuming during and after the job, a visual check of the flue, appliance connections and chimney pot, and a certificate.
Other sources come out higher. MyJobQuote's cost guide (28 September 2026), built from quotes tradespeople gave homeowners on its platform, puts the average at about £105, with most standard jobs between £90 and £120. The two measure different things (approved sweeps' standard prices against quotes on a marketplace), so treat £72 as a typical standard price rather than a ceiling.
Extras
HETAS lists what usually costs more on top of a standard sweep:
- birds' nests and blockages: £100–£200;
- heavy soot or creosote that needs power sweeping: £50–£100;
- open fires and inglenooks: £35–£50;
- difficult access: £30–£100;
- a CCTV chimney inspection added to a sweep: £50–£100.
What employed sweeps earn
ONS counts chimney sweeps in a broad group, "elementary cleaning occupations not elsewhere classified" (unit group 9229 in its occupation classification), alongside bin cleaners and toilet cleaners. The median employee in that group earned £25,688 a year to April 2025, in provisional figures from ONS's Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings. It's a rough guide at best: the group mixes very different jobs, and the survey leaves out the self-employed.
For comparison, a full-time job at the National Living Wage, £12.71 an hour for workers aged 21 and over from April 2026, pays about £24,800 a year at 37.5 hours a week.
The self-employed maths
Here's a worked example for a sole trader in England in the 2026/27 tax year. The prices, tax rates and HMRC's mileage rate are real figures; the number of sweeps, the mileage and some of the costs are our assumptions, and they're marked as such. Swap in your own.
Assumptions:
- You charge £72 a sweep, HETAS's UK average, and sell no extras.
- You do 600 sweeps a year: about three a day over 200 working days, allowing for quiet weeks and holidays. HETAS puts a straightforward sweep at 30 minutes to an hour.
- You drive 10,000 business miles.
- Half your customers pay by card.
Costs for the year:
| Cost | A year | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Van: 10,000 business miles | £5,500 | HMRC flat rate, 55p a mile |
| Public liability insurance (£2m) | £150 | Our allowance |
| HETAS registration | £409 | HETAS renewal, inc. VAT |
| Replacing and adding kit | £1,000 | Our allowance |
| Consumables: smoke pellets, sacks, sheets, PPE | £600 | Our allowance, £1 a sweep |
| Phone, accountant, admin | £1,200 | Our allowance |
| Card fees: 300 card payments | £384 | 1.5% + 20p (£1.28 on £72) |
| Total | £9,243 |
HMRC's simplified mileage rate for 2026/27 is 55p a mile for the first 10,000 business miles and 25p after that, and it's meant to cover the cost of buying and running the vehicle: insurance, repairs, servicing and fuel. HETAS's renewal fee is from its price list. For insurance, published starting prices for a sweep's public liability cover are under £100 a year (for example, from £84.80 for £1 million), so £150 allows for the £2 million HETAS asks for.
From turnover to take-home:
| A year | |
|---|---|
| Turnover: 600 sweeps × £72 | £43,200 |
| Less costs | −£9,243 |
| Profit | £33,957 |
| Income tax: 20% of the £21,387 above the £12,570 personal allowance | −£4,277 |
| Class 4 National Insurance: 6% of the same £21,387 | −£1,283 |
| Take-home | £28,397 |
That's about £2,366 a month. The rates are GOV.UK's for 2026/27: a £12,570 personal allowance, then 20% income tax up to £50,270, and Class 4 National Insurance at 6% on profits between £12,570 and £50,270. There's no Class 2 National Insurance to pay either: with profits of £7,105 or more, your National Insurance record is protected without it.
How the numbers move:
| Sweeps a year | 400 | 600 | 800 |
|---|---|---|---|
| About a day, over 200 days | 2 | 3 | 4 |
| Business miles | 7,000 | 10,000 | 13,000 |
| Turnover | £28,800 | £43,200 | £57,600 |
| Costs | £7,265 | £9,243 | £10,321 |
| Profit | £21,535 | £33,957 | £47,279 |
| Income tax and Class 4 NI | £2,331 | £5,560 | £9,025 |
| Take-home | £19,204 | £28,397 | £38,254 |
The assumptions are the same in each column; miles over 10,000 count at HMRC's 25p rate.
What the example leaves out:
- Scotland has different income tax bands, so the tax line is different there.
- VAT: even 800 sweeps at £72 (£57,600) is well under the £90,000 VAT registration threshold.
- Making Tax Digital applies to sole traders whose qualifying income (broadly, turnover) was over £50,000 from April 2026, over £30,000 from April 2027 and over £20,000 from April 2028, each based on an earlier tax year (GOV.UK). Our Making Tax Digital guide explains what that means.
- Holidays, sick days and a pension come out of your take-home: nobody pays them for you.
- Starting costs aren't in the yearly figures: training (from £649 to about £2,250, see how to become a chimney sweep) and kit. At one UK supplier, Rodstation, rods, brushes, sheets, tools and a vacuum come to just over £2,000 including VAT.
What moves your earnings
- Your price. HETAS's regional averages run from £60 in the East Midlands to £82 in London. At 600 sweeps, every £10 on your average job is £6,000 a year.
- Extras. Nests, power sweeping, open fires and CCTV inspections all cost the customer more, and they come from people you're already visiting.
- The season. HETAS says September to November is the busiest time and recommends that homeowners book in spring or early summer. Offering spring and summer slots fills months that would otherwise be quiet.
- Customers who need two sweeps a year. HETAS advises sweeping at least twice a year for wood and at least once a year for smokeless fuel, so a wood-burning customer can be two jobs a year.
- Miles. At HMRC's 55p, every 1,000 business miles you save is worth £550 in the example. Booking jobs close together counts.
- Customers coming back. Every customer you sweep this year can be next year's booking, if they remember who you are.
Where We Sweep fits
We Sweep helps with the last three. Customers book online at any hour, your day is planned around where the jobs are, and about 11 months after the sweep, for bookings made through We Sweep, the customer gets a prompt to book their next one.
You pay We Sweep nothing; your customers pay a £1.95 online booking fee, which you can subsidise, and standard card processing of 1.5% + 20p applies to card payments (it's already in the costs above). See pricing, or apply here.
Frequently asked questions
How much does a chimney sweep charge?
HETAS's May 2026 guide says most sweeps charge £60–£85 for a standard sweep, about £72 on average, from £60 in the East Midlands to £82 in London. Extras such as nest removal, power sweeping and CCTV inspections cost more.
How much does a self-employed chimney sweep earn?
There's no official figure. In our worked example, a sole trader in England charging £72 takes home about £19,200 a year from 400 sweeps, £28,400 from 600 and £38,250 from 800, after costs, income tax and National Insurance.
How many chimneys can a sweep do in a day?
No trade body publishes a figure. HETAS puts a straightforward sweep at 30 minutes to an hour, so it depends on travel, the jobs and the season; our example averages two to four a day across the year.
Do chimney sweeps charge VAT?
Only if they're VAT registered, which is compulsory once taxable turnover goes over £90,000 in a 12-month period.
When are chimney sweeps busiest?
From September to November, according to HETAS, as people get ready to use their stoves again.