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Most livery yards set their prices by looking at the yard down the road. That's how many yards end up subsidising their liveries out of their own pocket. Hay, bedding, insurance and electricity have all gone up sharply in the last few years, and the going rate in your area tells you nothing about what a stable actually costs you to provide.
This guide is for yard owners and managers. It covers typical UK livery rates for 2026, how to work out your real cost per stable, and how to turn that into prices for full, part, DIY and grass livery.
There's no official national survey of livery prices. The figures below are ranges pulled from yard price lists, equestrian guides and owner forums. Treat them as a sense-check, not a price list. Regional variation is huge: yards in the South East and near large towns commonly charge 30–50% more than rural yards in the North, Wales or Scotland.
| Livery type | Typical weekly price | What's usually included |
|---|---|---|
| Grass livery | £20–£45 | Field, water, fencing; owner does everything else |
| DIY livery | £30–£60 | Stable, grazing, facilities; hay and bedding often extra |
| Assisted DIY | £50–£90 | DIY plus turn-out or bring-in on set days |
| Part livery | £90–£160 | Daily turn-out, bring-in, mucking out and feeding; owner exercises |
| Full livery | £150–£300+ | All care, usually hay, bedding and feed; exercise sometimes extra |
At the top end, well-equipped yards around London advertise full livery at over £1,000 a month. Some DIY yards in the North still charge under £50 a week including hay. Both can be right for their market. What matters is whether your price covers your costs.
Start with a year's costs, then divide by the number of stables you can realistically fill. Use your expected occupancy, not 100%. A yard that's full in winter and has two empty boxes all summer needs to price for that.
This is the line most yard owners leave out. Time each job: mucking out, turn-out, bring-in, haying and feeding. Multiply the hours by a real hourly rate. At minimum that's the National Living Wage, and it's more if you employ staff and pay employer's NI and holiday. If you do the work yourself and don't pay yourself, you're giving your liveries a hidden discount.
Once you know the fixed cost per stable per week, build each package up from it:
Then add a margin. A 15–25% margin on top of true cost is a reasonable target. It gives you a buffer against a bad hay year and money to reinvest in the yard.
Enter your yard's real costs once, and StableRate Pro works out what each full, part, DIY and grass livery place costs to provide and what you need to charge to make a margin. It's an offline app with no subscription.
See StableRate Pro — £15 →Extras are where many yards quietly lose money, because they're done as favours. Write them on a price list and charge every time. Common extras include:
If the cheapest yard nearby is charging less than it costs them to run, matching them only means you both lose money. Compete on what your yard offers instead: an all-weather arena, floodlights, hacking straight off the yard, year-round turn-out, on-site staff, or a quiet, adult-only atmosphere. Those are reasons people pay more, and they make it hard to compare your price directly with another yard's.
Full livery in the UK typically costs £150–£300 a week in 2026. Yards in the South East and near London often charge more, sometimes over £1,000 a month. Rural yards in the North tend to be at the lower end.
Most UK DIY livery is £30–£60 a week, often with hay and bedding charged on top. Work out your fixed cost per stable first (rent, insurance, utilities, maintenance) and add a margin, rather than copying nearby yards.
On part livery the yard handles daily care such as turn-out, bring-in, mucking out and feeding, and the owner exercises the horse. On full livery the yard takes on all care, usually including hay, bedding and feed. Exercise is sometimes included and sometimes charged as an extra.
Review your costs every year, ideally before winter. Small annual rises in line with your real cost increases, written into the livery agreement, are fairer and easier for liveries to absorb than occasional big jumps.