Decorator day rate calculator, Brighton 2026, after tax
Typical: £219 a day. Work out yours below.
Tell us the take home pay you want.
We show you the day rate to charge in Brighton.
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Hiring a decorator in Brighton? See what a fair quote looks like.
A painter and decorator in Brighton typically charges £219 a day.
To take home £35,500 a year after real costs you need £256 a day.
Both are labour only, from the rate model and the calculator's default assumptions.
Change the inputs and your own number takes over. Quote that one.
Quotable
According to the Office for National Statistics, local pay differs enough by area to move a day rate.
Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings
Data from HM Land Registry's UK House Price Index sets the second local input, per the October 2026 review.
Reviewed on .
These figures use the same sums as the free calculator. The two always agree.
Where these figures come from
Rate estimates blend the national median decorator day rate from five UK directories.
Those five are Checkatrade, HaMuch, MyBuilder, CostEstimator, MyJobQuote.
To that we add official ONS regional earnings and local house price data.
Sources: ONS ASHE 2025, UK House Price Index April 2026.
Rates reviewed October 2026.
Where does Brighton sit among the 31 modelled towns?
Each dot is one modelled town, stacked where towns share a rate.
Brighton is number 5 of 31, with 4 above it and 26 below.
The shaded band is the local range decorators here quote inside.
Quotable
What is decorating work like in Brighton?
Brighton and Hove publishes its own guidance on exterior colours.
That covers the seafront and the old streets behind it.
Permission can also be required simply to put paint on brick or flint that has never been painted before.
Alongside all that heritage sits a private rented sector holding roughly a third of homes.
That means constant turnaround work between tenancies.
The figure here is £219, well above Portsmouth at £194 and Southampton at £191.
It is still short of Guildford at £235.
Why do tradespeople undercharge?
Pricing off the going rate.
Pricing off what everyone else charges feels safe.
But the going rate says what customers are used to paying, not what your business needs.
The calculator on this page starts from the take home you want and adds your real costs.
The number it gives is the one to quote.
We argue why the going rate is not a fair rate on its own page.
What do decorators in Brighton ask about rates?
What do decorators charge in Brighton in a day?
This is one of the dearer towns in the dataset, modelling at £219 with a spread of £164 to £285.
A high local figure is not the same as a high enough figure, and the default sum still asks for £256 a day.
Work out your own number before you assume the town is carrying you.
Can a house in Brighton be painted any colour the owner wants?
Not everywhere, and the restriction catches people out on ordinary streets rather than only on grand ones.
The council publishes what it considers appropriate for facades in its conservation areas.
There are a great many of those.
Check before you buy the paint, because repainting at your own cost is the alternative.
Is tenancy turnaround work in Brighton worth taking cheaply?
It is worth taking, and it is not worth discounting.
Quick jobs between tenants are the ones most likely to be squeezed on price.
They still consume a full day of your year.
Repeat work should reduce the days you spend quoting.
That shows up in the calculator as a lower unbillable figure, not as a lower rate.
What does a decorating quote in Brighton usually cover?
Labour for the days on site, and rarely the paint itself.
On a protected facade the specified product can cost several times ordinary trade paint.
Where access is restricted, carrying gear from wherever the van could stop takes real time.
That time belongs in the price.
What do decorators charge in other towns?
The homepage shows what decorators charge a day across the UK, town by town.