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Clearing a single blocked drain at a domestic property is a fixed £105 + VAT with Happy Drains — one price, not an hourly rate, with the jetting equipment included. Surveys, cleaning and repairs are priced in the index below, and whatever the job you get a fixed price to approve before any work starts.
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Our own pricing for the most common domestic drainage jobs. Where a job varies too much for a single figure we show the range it usually falls in, and confirm a fixed price on site once our engineer has seen the problem. Use the table to sanity-check any quote you have been given.
Prices last updated 26 July 2026.
| Job type | Price (excludes VAT) | What affects the price |
|---|---|---|
| Blocked drain unblocking (single blockage, accessible) | £105 Fixed price — jetting equipment included | Fixed for a standard domestic single blockage, however it has to be cleared. Difficult access, or a job needing extended jetting beyond clearing the blockage, is priced separately. |
| High-pressure jetting (stubborn or recurring blockage) | £135 first hour Then £67.50 per additional 30 minutes | How long the jetting takes — the length of run jetted, the severity of the root, fat or scale build-up, and the number of access points. |
| Drain cleaning / descaling | £120–£300 Indicative range — fixed price quoted on site | Pipe length and diameter, degree of scale or silt, and whether a survey is bundled. |
| CCTV drain survey | £225 or £395 Two fixed options — see below | Which of the two surveys you need: a structural condition survey, or the fuller build-over survey that adds a scaled block plan and a sonde trace of the drain's position and depth. |
| Drain repair — no-dig / patch lining | £400–£1,200 Indicative range — fixed price quoted on site | Length of the damaged section, depth, and whether a full pipe reline or a localised patch is needed. |
| Drain repair — excavation (collapsed drain) | £1,200–£4,000+ Indicative range — fixed price quoted on site | Depth and location of the collapse, surface reinstatement (driveway, road, garden), and access for machinery. |
All prices on this page exclude VAT. The prices shown are for domestic customers. Prices assume the chambers are accessible and any necessary permissions are in place. Emergency and out-of-hours call-outs are priced individually and confirmed before work begins.
The unblocking price is fixed, and it includes the kit. Clearing a single blocked drain is £105 + VAT — not an hourly rate — and the mechanical and jetting equipment we use to clear it is part of that price. It is common in this trade to start with rods at a low headline rate and add a jetting charge once the rods will not shift the blockage; we do not do that.
Extended high-pressure jetting beyond clearing a single blockage — a long run, heavy root or fat build-up, or a drain that keeps blocking — is charged by time instead: £135 + VAT for the first hour, then £67.50 + VAT for each additional 30 minutes. You are told which basis applies before we start.
Two blocked drains rarely cost the same. These are the factors that move the price up or down:
An accessible chamber is quick; a blockage under a driveway, extension or shared run takes longer to reach and clear.
Wet wipes and fat clear faster than tree roots, collapsed pipework or years of scale. The cause often decides the method.
Rodding is cheapest; high-pressure water jetting and descaling cost more but clear stubborn or recurring blockages properly.
Clearing or surveying a long run between chambers takes more time and equipment than a single trap.
Emergency and out-of-hours attendance is priced separately — always confirmed before we start.
If a survey shows damaged pipework, a repair costs more than a clear — which is why we diagnose before we quote.
A CCTV drain survey sends a camera through your pipes to find exactly what is wrong — a blockage, root ingress, a crack or a collapse — and where. It is the honest way to avoid paying for the wrong fix. We price surveys as two fixed options, so what you pay depends on what the report has to prove, not on how long the job takes.
Both options assume the chambers are accessible, any necessary permissions have been granted, and the pipework is clean enough to survey.
Which one you need comes down to the reason for the survey. A structural condition survey is what you want when you are buying a property, making an insurance claim, or dealing with a drain that keeps blocking — a dated report is what conveyancers and insurers ask for. The build-over survey is the one to book when you are building over or near a drain: the water company needs to see where the pipe actually runs and how deep it is, which is what the sonde trace and scaled block plan give them.
CCTV surveys across East Sussex · Brighton drainage services
For a standard domestic single blockage with accessible chambers, we charge one fixed price — shown in the Price Index above — rather than an hourly rate, and the mechanical and jetting equipment is included in it. So the price does not change if rodding alone will not shift the blockage. You approve the figure before any work starts.
Yes. We use fixed, upfront pricing with no hidden fees. Once our engineer has seen the problem, you get a clear price to approve before any work begins, and the invoice matches the figure you agreed.
We offer two fixed-price options: a structural condition survey, and a fuller build-over survey that adds a scaled block plan and a sonde trace giving the drain's position and depth. Both cover up to 30m of drainage, are carried out by a WRc-certified surveyor, and come with video footage and a PDF technical report. The CCTV survey section above sets out both prices and exactly what each one covers.
The main factors are access (how easy the drain is to reach), the cause and severity of the blockage, the length of pipe that needs clearing, and whether it is an out-of-hours emergency. A quick survey often decides which method is needed.
Almost always. Clearing a blockage is a short job; a repair means fixing damaged pipework, which can range from a no-dig patch to full excavation of a collapsed drain. That is why we recommend a CCTV survey when a drain keeps blocking — it tells you whether you need a clear or a repair before you spend on the wrong one.
It depends on your policy and the cause. Sudden damage (for example a collapse or root ingress) is more likely to be covered than gradual wear. A dated CCTV survey report is usually what an insurer asks for, which is one reason a survey is worth having.
The Happy Drains Price Index is our own pricing, set against our own book of work — not scraped estimates and not a national average. Two separate things go into it, and we are explicit about which is which.
The job volumes are ours and they are counted, not modelled. Our dispatch records cover 15,108 jobs from 1 July 2025 to 8 July 2026, of which 3,314 were in the Sussex, Surrey, Kent and Hampshire postcode areas (BN, TN, RH, PO, GU), each categorised by job type (unblocking, CCTV survey, repair) and location. That is what tells us which drainage jobs actually come up across the South East, and where.
The prices are our own published pricing for each of those job types — the figures we quote and hold domestic customers to, grouped by the same job-type categories, signed off by the owner and quoted excluding VAT. They are not an average of invoiced amounts: our job records carry job type, date and location, not invoice values. Where we publish a fixed price it is exactly that; where we publish a range, the range reflects how much access, severity and method move the price of the same nominal job.
Journalists and researchers: you are welcome to cite the Happy Drains Price Index with a link to this page. For the current figures, a regional breakdown, or commentary on drainage costs, contact us on 0800 849 8099.
Local, upfront drainage pricing across the South East:
Call 07824 757572