Both kitchen and bathroom fitters have been named as two of the trades with the biggest daily rate increases in recent years, according to new research from business finance company Capital on Tap.
According to the company’s new research into tradespeople demand and pay rates, the average hourly rate for kitchen fitters is estimated to have risen by around 3% in the last three years, while bathroom fitters have increased their hourly rate by an average of 5% since 2023.
Out of all of the trades recorded by Capital on Tap, this makes bathroom fitters the sixth fastest growing trade, with kitchen fitters coming in at seventh place.
In fact, bathroom fitters were also found to be amongst the highest-paid tradespeople in 2026, with an average daily rate of £248 ranking them seventh in the top ten list. In joint-first place was appliance repair specialists and fire and security specialists (with average daily rates of £420), followed by removal and storage specialists (£281), and then heating engineers (£259).
In stark contrast to this, kitchen fitters appeared in ninth place on the list of the ten lowest earning trades, with Capital on Tap saying that the average daily rate for a kitchen fitter is approximately £201.
According to the finance company, the lowest-earning trade was found to be cleaning work (with a daily rate of £149), followed by plasterers in second place (£170) and painters and decorators in third (£173).
Commenting on these lowest paid trades, Capital on Tap said: “At first glance, this may seem surprising. Plastering, in particular, is often associated with high fees for specialised or large-scale projects. However, the national averages also include smaller jobs, entry-level workers, and areas with high competition, all of which bring the overall figure down.
“These trades generally have lower barriers to entry, meaning more people can offer the service, which puts downward pressure on pricing. They are also less urgent than trades like plumbing or heating, giving customers more flexibility to shop around and compare rates.”
According to Capital on Tap, it sourced data on hourly rates from tradespeople on tradespeople website Hamuch, and then calculated the average of all local rates listed for each trade. This data was then combined with hourly trade rates, using data from the Office for National Statistics collected between November 2025 and January 2026.