Mates' Rates: How UK Tradespeople Should Handle Cheap Work for Friends and Family (2026)

Why Mates' Rates So Often Go Wrong

There's a comforting myth behind mates' rates: that there's some big fat margin in every job, and knocking a chunk off just means you make a bit less. For the vast majority of sole traders and small firms, that's simply not true. Here's where it actually bites.

The job still costs you the same

Materials cost what they cost. The day still takes a day. Your van, fuel, tools, insurance and phone don't suddenly get cheaper because the customer is your cousin. When you discount a mate, that discount doesn't come off some imaginary fat margin — it comes straight off your own wage. You're not being generous with the business's money; you're working for less, or for free, out of your own pocket.

You carry the same liability and guarantee

Charging a mate half price — or nothing — doesn't halve your responsibility. If a joint leaks or a circuit trips six months later, you still have to put it right. And here's the kicker: a friend is often more likely to expect endless free call-backs, because the relationship blurs the line between "professional warranty" and "you'll sort it, won't you, you're a mate." You've given away the income but kept all the risk.

Friends are often your worst customers

It sounds harsh, but ask around any trade group and you'll hear the same thing. Friends and family are frequently the most difficult jobs you take on:

• Scope creep: "While you're here, could you just…" — the bathroom turns into the bathroom plus a dodgy radiator plus a shelf in the hall.
• Slow or awkward payment: chasing a friend for money feels mortifying, so you don't — and the invoice drifts for weeks or months.
• Less respect for your time: they'll rebook you at short notice, leave you waiting, or assume you can pop round any evening because "it's only you."
• Pulled away from paying work: every hour spent on the mate's job at a discount is an hour you're not on a full-rate job that actually pays the mortgage.

You risk the friendship and the money

This is the real danger. With a normal customer, if a job sours you lose a customer. With a mate, if it goes wrong — a delay, a snag, an argument over the bill — you can lose the friendship and end up out of pocket. The cheap favour you did to be nice becomes the reason you don't speak at Christmas. No discount is worth that.

The opportunity cost

A day spent at mates' rates is a day you weren't earning your full rate somewhere else. In a quiet week, fine — the time was going spare. But in a busy period, when you're turning down or pushing back paying enquiries to fit in the favour, that's real, measurable lost income. The favour isn't free to you; you're just not seeing the invoice for it.

The Hidden Cost of a "Small Favour" — Worked Example

Let's put numbers on it, because "just cover the materials" sounds harmless until you do the maths. Say a mate asks you to fit a few bits and pieces — a day's work, with around £150 of materials. They offer to "just cover the materials," or worse, suggest you do it "for nothing."

• Materials: £150 (covered by the mate — so you're not out of pocket on those, at least)
• Your normal day rate: £250–£350
• What you actually earn for the day: £0
• Your real loss for the day: £250–£350 in earnings you'd have made on a paying job

And it doesn't stop there. You've still given a year's guarantee. If something needs a return visit, that's another half-day gone — also free. So a "small favour" that felt like it cost you nothing has actually cost you the best part of £300 in lost wages, plus an open-ended liability, plus the awkwardness if it ever goes wrong. Compare that to a normal customer who'd have paid the full rate and respected the guarantee terms.

Should You Do It At All?

None of this means you should never help anyone out. It means you should be deliberate about when. A useful way to think about it is two sliders: how close the person actually is, and how big the job and its liability are.

• Close family, small quick job: changing a tap for your mum, half an hour fixing your brother's leaking trap — sure, do it, and don't make a song and dance about the money. This is being a decent human being.
• Distant acquaintance, small quick job: a friend-of-a-friend you barely know? Quote it like any customer. "Mates' rates" from someone you've met twice is a red flag — they're using a relationship that doesn't really exist to get cheap work.
• Anyone, big or high-liability job: a full rewire, a gas job, anything structural — this is where you must treat it as a proper job no matter who they are. Never cut corners, skip certification, dodge Building Control or ignore Part P just because it's a mate. A favour that isn't done and signed off properly isn't a favour at all.

The Golden Rule: Never Compromise on Safety or Compliance

This deserves its own section because it's where mates' rates do real damage. Doing a mate a favour never means cutting compliance corners.

• Gas work still needs a Gas Safe registered engineer — no exceptions, ever.
• Electrical work still has to meet Part P and be notified or certified where required.
• Building work still needs Building Control sign-off where it applies.

A cheap, uncertified favour can be a catastrophe. If an unnotified electrical job or an unsafe gas connection causes a fire, a flood or worse, "but I was doing them a favour" is no defence — legally, financially or morally. And when your mate comes to sell the house, missing certificates can stall the sale and land the cost back on them anyway. Compliance protects them as much as it protects you. Charge what you must to do it right, or recommend someone who can.

If You Do Give a Discount, Do It the Right Way

Sometimes you genuinely want to help, and a discount is the right call. Fine — but do it so the favour is visible and doesn't quietly become the new expected price.

Quote the full price first, then show the discount

Always quote the real, full price so they can see what the work is genuinely worth. Then show the discount as a clear, separate line: "Normally £X, mates' rate £Y." That way the favour is in black and white. They know exactly what you've done for them, and there's no risk of the discounted figure becoming the "normal" number they quote to their friends on your behalf.

Discount labour, never materials — and never below cost

If you knock money off, take it off your labour, not your materials. Never charge a mate less than the materials cost you — you should never actually lose money on a job, friend or not. A sensible mates' rate is a smaller margin on your time, not a subsidy on parts.

Keep the discount sensible

"Free" is rarely the answer for anything beyond a tiny favour. A sensible mates' rate is something like 10–20% off, or charging materials plus a fair day rate. That's generous without leaving you working for nothing. If 10–20% off doesn't feel like enough to them, that tells you something about how they value your trade.

Still do the paperwork — and take a deposit

Being a mate doesn't mean no quote, no scope and no records. Put it in writing with a clear scope of works, exactly as you would for any customer. Take a deposit to cover materials up front — that's not distrust, it's how you run a business. Set the boundaries plainly at the start: what's included, what isn't, and how call-backs work. Doing this before you start is what stops the scope creep and the awkward conversations later.

How to Say No — Politely

Often the kindest thing for everyone is a friendly no. The trick is to decline the discount, or the job, without making it personal. Here are scripts you can actually use — warm, honest, and hard to argue with:

• Booked up: "I'd love to help but I'm flat out for the next few weeks — I'd hate to rush yours or let you down on timing. Want me to recommend someone good?"
• Fixed pricing policy: "To be straight with you, I charge everyone the same these days — it got messy doing it any other way. But I'll always make sure you get a fair, honest price."
• Recommend a trusted contact: "Honestly, for that kind of job you want a specialist — let me put you onto someone I trust who'll look after you."
• Offer advice instead of labour: "I can't take the job on, but happy to come and have a look and tell you what to ask for so you don't get ripped off."
• The gentle reality check: "I'd do it for nothing if it was ten minutes, but it's a proper day's work — I just can't give away a full day, I'm sure you get it."

Notice none of these are blunt refusals. Each one offers something — a recommendation, advice, or simply honesty — so the person walks away feeling helped, not rejected.

The "Same Price as Anyone" Approach

The cleanest long-term position is simple: "I'll give you a price, same as anyone." You're a professional running a business, not a hobbyist doing favours, and the vast majority of reasonable friends respect that the moment you frame it that way. Most people genuinely don't want to take the food off your table — they ask for mates' rates because it's the done thing, not because they're trying to fleece you. When you calmly say "I'll do you a proper quote and make sure it's fair," you give them permission to pay you properly. The ones who push back hard after that were never really mates about it.

Protecting the Friendship Is the Whole Point

Here's the thing people miss: the boundaries aren't there to protect the money at the expense of the relationship. They protect both. Resentment is what kills friendships — the slow burn of feeling taken advantage of, of doing a job you didn't really want to do, for less than it was worth, and stewing on it afterwards. Clarity up front, a written scope, and a fair price you're actually happy with mean you can do the work, enjoy doing a good job for someone you like, and have absolutely nothing to resent. That's how you keep the mate and stay in business.

Quick Reference: Mates' Rates Dos and Don'ts