Builder Deposits: How Much Is Normal in the UK?

“How much do you want upfront?” is the question that separates established builders from cash-flow casualties, and homeowners lose more money to deposits than to almost any other single mistake. The rules of thumb are simple, and worth holding to even when a builder you like pushes back.

What’s normal, by type of work

The pattern: deposits are legitimate where they fund something ordered specifically for you, and suspicious where they fund the builder’s general cash flow. A £60,000 extension needs no meaningful deposit; a £15,000 German kitchen genuinely does.

The Federation of Master Builders gives around 10% as a common guide for a deposit on larger projects, particularly where materials or made-to-order items have to be bought in advance.¹

When to refuse

Decline, or renegotiate, when:

• the deposit exceeds ~25% on general building work;
• it’s demanded in cash;
• the reason given is “to secure your slot” months ahead (a small booking fee of £100–£500 is one thing; thousands is another);
• the builder is a recently incorporated company with no trading history, check Companies House;
• there’s pressure to pay before a written contract exists.

An established firm asking for a big deposit is usually telling you its last job hasn’t paid or its credit accounts are exhausted. Either way, you’d be lending money to a business the trade suppliers won’t.

Protecting whatever you do pay

1. Pay by credit card if you can, even £100 of it. Under Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act, paying any part of a contract priced at more than £100 and up to £30,000 by credit card makes the card company jointly liable for the builder’s breaches, including a deposit that vanishes with a dissolved company.² It’s the strongest free protection in consumer law.
2. Tie the deposit to named orders. “Deposit applied to the window order with [supplier], receipt to be provided” turns a cash-flow gift into a traceable purchase.
3. Use deposit protection where offered. TrustMark expects its registered businesses to have financial protection covering prepayments such as deposits, and some trade bodies offer deposit and guarantee insurance; genuine schemes issue you a policy document, not a logo on a letterhead.³
4. Never pay a deposit for labour. Labour is paid in arrears, against work done, through stage payments released only once each stage is complete.¹
5. Get it in the contract: amount, what it covers, and that it’s deducted from the first stage payment.

Deposits and your cancellation rights

If you signed at home (as many building contracts are), the Consumer Contracts Regulations give you a 14-day cooling-off period from the day the contract is made.⁴ A deposit must be refunded within 14 days if you cancel within that period, less a proportionate charge only where you expressly asked for work to start early.⁵ Builders who never give you the cancellation information extend that window by up to 12 months, a point covered in our contracts pillar.⁶ The regulations do not apply to contracts for the construction of new buildings, so a new-build or self-build contract is outside them.⁷

If the deposit has already gone wrong

Paid, and the builder has gone quiet or under? Move in this order: written demand with a deadline; Section 75 claim if any part went on credit card; chargeback (via your bank, for debit cards, typically within 120 days); then the formal dispute route.⁸ Speed matters, card schemes run time limits, and insolvent builders’ creditor queues reward the early.

The best protection, though, is the boring one: vet the builder, keep the deposit small, and keep every pound you pay slightly behind the value standing on site.

This guide is general information for homeowners in England and Wales, not legal advice.