Security · Updated September 2026
Door Entry & Access Control Cost UK 2026
A single-property audio intercom runs £350–£700 fitted and video door entry £600–£1,200. Blocks are priced per flat — usually £250–£450 each — because the door station and cabling are shared and the handsets are not.
Door entry and access control cost — 2026
Single properties are priced as a job. Blocks are priced per flat once the door station and riser are in, which is why the first flat looks expensive.
| System | Typical fitted cost | What it does | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Audio intercom, one property | £350–£700 | Speak and release | Terraces and shops |
| Video door entry, one property | £600–£1,200 | See and release | Most homes |
| App / IP video entry | £700–£1,500 | Answer from anywhere | Second homes, lettings |
| Block system, per flat | £250–£450 | Handset plus share of the door station | Blocks of 4–40 |
| Keypad or fob access | £400–£900 | Coded or token entry | Side gates, bin stores |
| Maglock or strike, per door | £350–£800 | Holds and releases the door | Communal doors |
| Fire-alarm interface | +£150–£400 | Releases locks on alarm | Any locked escape route |
Indicative 2026 UK installed prices, compiled from published installer pricing. BestBuilders has no quote history in this category yet, so treat these as a budgeting guide and confirm against three written quotes.
What changes the cost
| Cost factor | Typical impact | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Number of doors | +£350–£800 each | Every controlled door needs a lock, a reader and a cable back to the controller |
| Cable route and riser | +£200–£900 | A clear riser is cheap; surface trunking through a finished communal hall is not |
| Video instead of audio | +£250–£500 | Camera door station, wider cable and a screen at every handset |
| Fail-safe locking | +£150–£400 | Locks that must release on a fire alarm need the interface wiring and testing |
| Existing wiring reuse | −£150–£600 | Some older 4-wire systems take a modern panel; a survey decides this, not a phone call |
| Vandal-resistant station | +£100–£350 | Stainless, flush-mounted and rated - worth it on a street frontage |
Door entry cost by UK region — 2026
Modelled from regional labour rates rather than measured in this category - the hardware costs the same everywhere, the fitting does not.
| Region | Typical installed cost | vs UK average |
|---|---|---|
| London | £770–£1,540 | +25–30% |
| South East | £710–£1,420 | +15–20% |
| South West & East | £640–£1,280 | +5–10% |
| Midlands | £600–£1,200 | Baseline |
| North of England | £570–£1,140 | −5% |
| Wales & Scotland | £580–£1,150 | −5% to baseline |
Getting it priced properly
1. Count the doors, not the flats
Cost follows controlled doors. A block with one entrance and forty flats is cheaper per home than four flats with four doors.
2. Ask what happens in a fire
Any lock on an escape route has to release when the fire alarm goes off. That interface is a real line item and is not optional.
3. Decide fobs, codes or phone
Fobs are lost, codes are shared, apps need a network. Pick the failure you can live with before you compare prices.
Door entry brands compared: Ring, Aiphone, Comelit, Videx, Fermax and BPT
A single house and a block of flats are different markets. Consumer video doorbells do one door beautifully; block systems are about risers, handsets and what happens when the fire alarm goes off.
| Brand | Known for | Ranges you will be quoted | Typical hardware price | Worth knowing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aiphone | Japanese; strong on wired video entry | JO Series, GT Series | £250–£900 | GT is the multi-occupancy range, JO the single-property one |
| BPT (Came) | Long-established in UK developments | Mitho, Agata, XTS | £200–£800 | Often what you already have if the block was built in the 2000s |
| Comelit | Italian; common in UK blocks | Simplebus, Mini, Ikall | £200–£800 | Simplebus runs on two wires, which helps when reusing old cabling |
| Fermax | Spanish; good value across ranges | Way-Fi, Cityline, Skyline | £180–£700 | Way-Fi adds app answering to a conventional block system |
| Ring | Single-property video doorbells | Video Doorbell Pro, Intercom | £60–£230 | The Intercom adapts some existing block handsets; check compatibility first |
| Videx | UK-based, widely specified for flats | VX2200, Kristallo | £200–£850 | Strong support network for maintenance and spares |
Prices above are for the door station or handset only — fitting is separate and is priced in the table further up this page. Brands are listed alphabetically, not ranked: BestBuilders does not sell or endorse any of them.
Door entry priced by system
These are single-property figures. A block is priced per flat once the door station is in.
Door entry & access control — frequently asked questions
£600–£1,200 fitted for a camera door station, an internal screen and an electric release, for a normal house. Adding a second internal screen upstairs is usually £120–£250. The two things that move it are the cabling and the technology: a simple 2-wire system that reuses existing runs sits at the lower end, while an IP system that ties into your network and phone costs more and takes longer to commission. A basic audio-only panel with no camera can come in under £400.
Per flat, typically £250–£450, once the door station and riser cabling are accounted for. The shared kit is a fixed cost spread across the building, so a bigger block is cheaper per home.
Sometimes. Several modern panels will run on older four-wire cabling, which saves the most expensive part of the job. It needs a survey to confirm — nobody can promise it over the phone.
On an escape route, yes — and it's the detail that trips up the cheapest quotes. Any electric lock on a final exit door has to fail safe, meaning it unlocks when the fire alarm sounds or the power drops, and it normally needs a green break-glass unit beside the door as a manual override. A maglock fails safe by nature; a solenoid or motorised lock has to be specified as fail-safe rather than fail-secure. That means an interface between the door and the fire alarm, so budget for the wiring and the interface, not just the lock itself.
It is, if the property is ever empty in the day — you can see who's at the door and let a delivery or a contractor in from your phone wherever you are. The catch is that it leans on a working network at the door station, so ask two things before you buy: what happens when the broadband drops, and whether the answer-from-phone feature needs a subscription. Some makes charge a monthly fee to keep the app and cloud recording running, and that ongoing cost rarely shows up on the install quote.
Related security guides
Bells-only, monitored and smart systems priced.
When a camera or bell box needs consent.
Door entry & access control — guides and detail
The detail behind the number: what changes the price, the planning position, and how to check a quote before you accept it.
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Reviewed by the BestBuilders editorial team · Last updated: 2 September 2026 · Next scheduled review: December 2026 · See our editorial standards.