In 2026, bricks are priced and quoted per 1,000. Supply-only list prices range from around £600 per 1,000 for perforated engineering bricks to £2,500 or more for handmade facings. Once you add bricklaying labour, which is typically quoted as a day rate per bricklayer or a price per 1,000 bricks laid, the total installed cost sits between £1,250 and £2,500 per 1,000 bricks for most residential projects.

The type of brick, the bond pattern, and whether work involves intricate details such as arches, reveals, or soldier courses all affect how quickly a bricklayer can work and, therefore, the overall cost per 1,000 bricks installed.

Brick Types and Supply Costs

There are three main categories of brick used in UK residential and light commercial construction. Each has a different performance profile, appearance, and price band.

Common bricks (also called commons or flettons) are not intended to be seen. They are used where the brickwork will be hidden, plastered or rendered, such as internal walls and structural cores behind other finishes. London Brick commons are rated F1 for frost resistance, so they are not the brick for saturated work below ground.1 Commons are not always the cheapest option: a London Brick fletton can cost more than a standard facing brick.

Facing bricks are manufactured or hand-made to a decorative standard and left exposed. They come in a wide range of colours, textures, and sizes. Prices vary considerably: a standard machine-made facing brick from a mainstream UK supplier costs around £700–£1,450 per 1,000, reclaimed bricks typically £1,000–£1,500, and handmade bricks £1,400–£2,500 or more.

Engineering bricks are dense, low-absorption bricks used where strength and moisture resistance matter, DPC courses, manholes, retaining walls, sills, and below-ground work. Class A engineering bricks have a compressive strength above 125 N/mm² and water absorption below 4.5%; Class B bricks exceed 75 N/mm² and absorb less than 7%.2

Brick TypeTypical Supply Cost per 1,000 (2026)Common Uses
Commons / flettons£940 – £2,200Internal walls, hidden structure, render backgrounds
Standard machine-made facings£700 – £1,450External walls, extensions, garden walls
Premium / handmade facings£1,400 – £2,500Feature walls, heritage match, exposed gable ends
Reclaimed facings£1,000 – £1,500Period property matching, character builds
Engineering bricks, perforated (Class B)£600 – £760DPC courses, below-ground walls
Engineering bricks, solid (Class A or B)£1,450 – £2,800Sills, copings, retaining walls, high-load work

Prices above are supply-only merchant list prices including VAT, for full packs; trade accounts and large orders usually pay less. At Travis Perkins’ retail list prices, a handmade London stock facing brick costs £2.46.3 A London Brick fletton common costs £2.20 there.4 A dense concrete common brick costs £0.94.5 A solid red Class B engineering brick costs £2.74.6 A solid blue Class A engineering brick costs £2.79.7 Wickes sells a red perforated engineering brick for £0.75.8 Delivery charges vary: packs typically hold 390–625 bricks, and delivery may be included or charged separately. Smaller quantities often carry a surcharge.

What Drives the Price of Bricks

Several factors move the price per 1,000 significantly:

Format and size. Standard UK bricks measure 215 × 102.5 × 65 mm (the “standard format”), which with nominal 10 mm joints gives a coordinating size of 225 × 112.5 × 75 mm and the familiar 60 bricks per m².1 Imperial 73 mm bricks, needed to course in with older brickwork, and other non-standard formats usually cost more per brick. Handmade bricks with intentional variation in size and texture are priced as a speciality product.

Colour and clay source. The colour of a brick comes from its clay body and firing conditions. Bricks that replicate specific regional clay colours, Staffordshire blue, London stock, yellow Suffolk, are often produced in smaller batches, raising the cost.

Class and compressive strength. Engineering bricks are fired longer and at higher temperatures, increasing fuel and kiln time. This is reflected in price.

Order quantity. Buying full packs or full lorry loads attracts better pricing than small quantities. Merchants often quote a lower price per 1,000 when volume is confirmed.

Market timing. Brick deliveries in Great Britain fell 22.8% in July 2026 compared with July 2025, according to government statistics.9 Supply of certain facing bricks can still be constrained if the relevant clay pit or kiln has reduced output.

Bricklaying Labour Costs

Bricklayers in the UK are generally paid a day rate or quote a price per 1,000 bricks laid. In 2026, day rates range from £200–£280 per day for a qualified bricklayer outside London, rising to £250–£350 in London and the South East.10

When priced per 1,000, bricklaying rates typically run:

Work TypeLabour Cost per 1,000 Bricks Laid
Standard stretcher bond (straight runs)£400 – £550
English or Flemish bond£480 – £650
Feature or decorative brickwork£600 – £900
Complex detailing (arches, corbels, reveals)£700 – £1,100
Repointing (not laying)Quoted separately per m²

Output, the number of bricks a bricklayer lays in a day, varies by task and site conditions. A bricklayer in good conditions on a straightforward wall can lay 400–600 bricks per day. Complex detailing, cold weather, or scaffolding constraints reduce output significantly, which increases the effective cost per 1,000 bricks.

Bricklayers typically work alongside a labourer who mixes mortar, brings materials to hand, and keeps the work moving. Labourer rates run £150–£220 per day. On most residential jobs the ratio is one labourer per one or two bricklayers.

Total Installed Cost Per 1,000 Bricks

The installed cost combines material supply, mortar, and labour. Mortar materials (sand and cement or a pre-mixed product) typically add £30–£60 per 1,000 bricks.

ScenarioMaterials per 1,000Labour per 1,000MortarTotal Installed
Common bricks, straight wall£1,200£450£40~£1,690
Standard facings, stretcher bond£1,000£500£45~£1,545
Premium facings, Flemish bond£1,800£600£50~£2,450
Engineering bricks, DPC course£700£500£45~£1,245
Reclaimed facings, complex detailing£1,250£800£50~£2,100

These figures assume a fair-sized residential job (enough work to justify full-time attendance). Small one-off jobs, a garden wall, a single pier, typically carry a minimum call-out or day rate that pushes the effective per-1,000 cost higher.

Worked Example: Single-Storey Extension Side Wall

A typical single-storey rear extension side wall, 5 m long × 2.4 m high in facing brick (stretcher bond):

  • Wall area: 12 m²
  • Bricks required: approximately 60 per m² in standard stretcher bond, so 720 bricks
  • Ordered in full packs: two packs of 416, or 832 bricks, which covers the 720 plus 5–10% for cuts and waste
  • Supply cost (standard facing brick, two packs at £420): £84011
  • Bricklaying labour (720 bricks laid at £500 per 1,000, stretcher bond): £360
  • Labourer (half day assumed): £90
  • Mortar materials: £35
  • Total: approximately £1,325 for this wall element

This does not include scaffolding (if required), cavity insulation, wall ties, lintels, or any finishing. Those are separate cost lines.

Building Regulations Considerations

Brick walls in new construction or extensions must comply with Building Regulations Part A (structure) and Part L (energy efficiency). Cavity walls must achieve minimum U-values: for extensions, the limiting U-value for walls is currently 0.18 W/m²K under Part L (England).12 With full-fill glass mineral wool, Knauf’s chart for its DriTherm Cavity Slab 32 shows that 150–160 mm of insulation, and so a cavity that wide, is needed to reach 0.18 W/m²K, against about 0.23–0.28 W/m²K from a traditional 100 mm cavity, depending on the inner block.13

Below-ground brickwork does not have to be engineering brick: where it is at least 150 mm below finished ground level, most F1 clay bricks are suitable.14 Near ground level, where saturation and freezing are likely, use F2 frost-resistant units in designation (i)/M12 or designation (ii)/M6 mortar; engineering bricks or dense concrete blocks are common choices.14

Tips for Getting the Best Price

Order bricks early and in full-pack quantities. Merchants price better when they can book a full load with a known brick manufacturer. If you are matching an existing property, take a sample brick to a specialist supplier, reclaimed brick yards, in particular, can often source a reasonable match if given enough lead time. Always budget for 5–10% waste on top of your calculated quantity, more if the bond is complex or there are a lot of cut angles.

Avoid ordering two small quantities at different times from the same batch, brick colour can vary between firings, and a visible difference in shade on the finished wall is difficult to resolve without rebuilding.

References (14)

Figures in this note were checked against the sources below on 30 September 2026. Superscript numbers in the text point to them. Every source the site cites, by topic.

  1. 1technicalsupplier figureForterra (London Brick), a data sheet.RN-RJ032ZLondon Brick Commons, 65 mm, made at Kings Dyke. Manufactured to EN 771-1. Dimensions 215 x 102.5 x 65 mm. Compressive strength 25 N/mm2, configuration frogged with 14-20% voids, dry weight 1.95 kg, active soluble salts S2, dimensional tolerance mean T2, manufacture type pressed. Thermal conductivity lambda 10,dry 0.45 W/mK and 0.75 W/mK exposed at 5% moisture. Forterra sell commons as utility bricks, not facing bricks, so colour, texture, chipping, hairline cracks and crazing may vary. London Brick is available in the standard 65 mm size with four bricks also in 73 mm, which is what makes it the usual match for an extension to a mid-century house.
  2. 2technicalsupplier figureWienerberger UK, guidance.RN-81XA5UManufacturer page for engineering bricks. It gives the Class A and Class B compressive strength and water absorption limits from the UK National Annex to BS EN 771-1.
  3. 3costsupplier figureTravis Perkins.RN-2QV2BAA price, true at 2026-09. A national builders' merchant's product page for a handmade London stock facing brick, with its retail pack and per-brick price.
  4. 4costsupplier figureTravis Perkins.RN-4NIRWLA price, true at 2026-09. A national builders' merchant's product page for London Brick commons (flettons), with the retail pack and per-brick price that sets the top of the commons range.
  5. 5costsupplier figureTravis Perkins.RN-YSM5FVA price, true at 2026-09. A national builders' merchant's product page for a dense concrete common brick, giving the retail per-brick price that sets the bottom of the commons range.
  6. 6costsupplier figureTravis Perkins.RN-BS8W6EA price, true at 2026-09. A national builders' merchant's product page for a solid red Class B engineering brick, giving the retail pack and per-brick price that sets the top of the range.
  7. 7costsupplier figureTravis Perkins.RN-DKQ7RSA price, true at 2026-09. A national builders' merchant's product page for a solid blue Class A engineering brick, with the retail pack and per-brick price that sets the top of the engineering range.
  8. 8costsupplier figureWickes.RN-U5IS84A price, true at 2026-09. A national retailer's product page for a red perforated engineering brick sold singly, giving the per-brick price near the bottom of the engineering range.
  9. 9technicalvery strongDepartment for Business and Trade (GOV.UK), guidance.RN-RQLJJ9The official monthly building materials commentary for August 2026, reporting seasonally adjusted brick deliveries in Great Britain down 22.8% year on year in July 2026.
  10. 10costvery strongOffice for National Statistics.RN-MMT1DOA price, true at 2026-07. The ASHE Table 14 dataset gives annual estimates of paid hours worked and earnings for UK employees by sex and by full-time or part-time status, broken down to four-digit Standard Occupational Classification, which is the level that isolates individual construction trades such as bricklayers, carpenters, plasterers and electricians. Released 23 October 2025 as the 2025 provisional edition (zip, about 10.7 MB), with revised and provisional editions back to 2017. A correction dated 19 December 2025 suppressed annual pay estimates for SOC 3312 police officers in some areas; construction occupations are unaffected.
  11. 11costsupplier figureWickes.RN-HFBXHUA price, true at 2026-09. A national retailer's product page for a standard facing brick sold in packs of 416 at £420, the basis of the worked example's supply cost.
  12. 12technicalvery strongMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.RN-L0FCJXThe in-force U-value tables a DIY insulation or door note must quote, with the exact numbers. Table 4.2, limiting U-values for new fabric elements in existing dwellings, sets roof 0.15, wall 0.18, floor 0.18, swimming pool basin 0.25, window 1.4 or Window Energy Rating Band B minimum, rooflight 2.2, doors with more than 60 per cent of the internal face glazed 1.4 or Doorset Energy Rating Band C minimum, and other doors 1.4 or Doorset Energy Rating Band B minimum. Table 4.3, for existing elements, gives a roof threshold of 0.35 and an improved value of 0.16, which is the figure a loft insulation note needs: paragraph 4.12 says a retained element whose U-value is higher than the column (a) threshold, for example through a loft or garage conversion, should be upgraded to the column (b) value. Paragraph 4.13 allows a lesser upgrade only where the improved value is not technically or functionally feasible or would not achieve a simple payback of 15 years or less. Paragraph 4.8 requires a replacement element to be no worse than the one it replaces as well as meeting Table 4.2. Paragraph 4.10 gives the heritage exception: where character must be maintained, a centre pane U-value of no more than 1.2 or low-emissivity secondary glazing. Note 9 records that the timber window concession of 1.6 or Band C ended on 14 June 2023. The 2021 edition came into force on 15 June 2022; a 2026 edition exists at https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/69c122a6cfa346b9d4704a55/ADL1_2026.pdf.
  13. 13technicalsupplier figureKnauf Insulation, guidance.RN-8V7SJMManufacturer chart giving the full-fill thickness of a 0.032 W/mK glass wool slab needed for each target wall U-value by block type: 100 mm gives 0.23 with aircrete and 0.28 with dense block; 0.18 needs 150-160 mm.
  14. 14technicalgoodBrick Development Association, guidance.RN-J43FLRBDA Design Note 7, January 2011 edition, replacing the August 2006 issue and incorporating the recommendations of PD 6697:2010. It identifies saturation as the main cause of brickwork deterioration and works through protection from saturation by design, exposed and ground conditions, vulnerable details and workmanship. It covers the mechanism of frost action and winter construction, and sulfate attack including sulfates from bricks and from other sources, dense mortars and vulnerable situations. It sets out clay brick frost resistance and soluble salts categories and the resulting durability designations, and mortar type and designation, batching accuracy, frost action, anti-freeze admixtures and joint profiles. Section 9 gives brick and mortar selection for durability location by location, including work below or within 150mm above external ground level, clay brick damp proof courses, unrendered and rendered external walls above 150mm, internal walls, unrendered and rendered parapets and chimneys, free-standing and earth-retaining walls, sills, copings and cappings, manholes and planting boxes. References include PD 6697, BS EN 771-1, BS EN 998-2, BS 4027 and the UK National Annex to BS EN 1996-1-1.

  1. London Brick Commons 65mm, Forterra, accessed 10 September 2026. forterra.co.uk

  2. Engineering Bricks, Wienerberger UK, accessed 30 September 2026. wienerberger.co.uk

  3. Imperial Original London Stock Brick 65mm - Pack of 612, Travis Perkins, accessed 30 September 2026. Priced at 2026-09 and left there. travisperkins.co.uk

  4. London Brick Company LBC Facing Brick Commons - Pack of 390, Travis Perkins, accessed 30 September 2026. Priced at 2026-09 and left there. travisperkins.co.uk

  5. Marshalls Dense Concrete Common Brick Grey 215mm x 100mm x 65mm, Travis Perkins, accessed 30 September 2026. Priced at 2026-09 and left there. travisperkins.co.uk

  6. Wienerberger Engineering Brick Red Solid Class B 65mm - Pack of 400, Travis Perkins, accessed 30 September 2026. Priced at 2026-09 and left there. travisperkins.co.uk

  7. Weinerberger Solid Blue Class A Engineering Brick 65mm - Pack of 400, Travis Perkins, accessed 30 September 2026. Priced at 2026-09 and left there. travisperkins.co.uk

  8. Marshalls Red Perforated Engineering Brick - 215 x 100 x 65mm, Wickes, accessed 30 September 2026. Priced at 2026-09 and left there. wickes.co.uk

  9. Construction building materials: commentary August 2026, Department for Business and Trade (GOV.UK), accessed 30 September 2026. gov.uk

  10. ASHE Table 14.6a, hourly pay excluding overtime by occupation, 2025 provisional, Office for National Statistics, accessed 18 September 2026. Priced at 2026-07, so no calibration is needed. ons.gov.uk

  11. Marshalls Frieston Red Facing Brick - 215 x 100 x 65mm - Pack of 416, Wickes, accessed 30 September 2026. Priced at 2026-09 and left there. wickes.co.uk

  12. Approved Document L, Conservation of fuel and power, Volume 1: Dwellings, 2021 edition incorporating 2023 amendments, Table 4.2, Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (GOV.UK), accessed 10 September 2026. assets.publishing.service.gov.uk

  13. DriTherm Cavity Slab 32 and PIR comparison chart, Knauf Insulation, accessed 30 September 2026. pim.knaufinsulation.com

  14. BDA Design Note 7: Brickwork durability, Brick Development Association, accessed 10 September 2026. d23z90m210izbx.cloudfront.net