Private GP start-up costs: a line-by-line budget

The assumptions behind this budget

• You are setting up your own service, with your own registration, rather than working sessionally for another provider.
• England is the default. Where Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland differ, we say so.
• Figures are fees published by the body that charges them, or suppliers’ own price lists, at 24 September 2026. They change, so check each one.
• Where no reliable public figure exists, we tell you what drives the cost rather than guess.

If you would rather fill in your own figures as you go, the Private GP Launch Pack has this budget as a worksheet.

Published fees

Cost	Fee at the time of review	Notes
CQC annual fee (England)	£1,867 a year	For a private doctor or clinic with one location, which the CQC places in its community healthcare fee category. There is no separate application fee.
HIW (Wales)	£500 to apply, then £500 a year	Plus £100 for a registered manager, unless you are a sole trader
HIS (Scotland)	£3,996 to register, then from £1,372 a year	Paid in full with the application and not refundable. The annual fee is higher if you have staff.
RQIA (Northern Ireland)	Set in regulations	Check RQIA’s current registration and annual fees before you apply
ICO data protection fee	£52 a year (tier 1) or £78 (tier 2)	Tier 1 covers turnover up to £632,000 or up to 10 staff. There is a £5 discount by direct debit.
Company formation	£100 online	£124 by post. Plus £50 for each annual confirmation statement. Nothing for a sole trader.
Enhanced DBS check	£49.50, falling to £41 from 5 October 2026	Plus any umbrella body charge. Scotland and Northern Ireland use Disclosure Scotland and AccessNI.
Healthcode clearing service	£9.20 a month plus a fee per invoice	Only if you invoice insurers directly. See insurer billing.

For a limited company with one location in England, the first four one-off and annual fees add up to about £2,100 in the first year (£1,867 + £52 + £100 + £49.50).

One-off costs

Cost	What drives it	How to price it
Premises deposit, legal fees and fit-out	Size and condition of the site, handwash basins, flooring, lighting, data cabling and signage	Nothing if you rent rooms by the session. Otherwise get quotes from a surveyor and contractors.
Clinical equipment	Your services, such as ECG, spirometry, a vaccine fridge or minor surgery	Supplier quotes. Consider leasing expensive items. See equipment.
Emergency medicines and equipment	Your risk assessment and services	Wholesaler quotes. See the emergency drugs cabinet.
Opening stock	Consumables, dressings, sharps bins, PPE and any vaccines	Wholesaler price lists. See medical supplies.
IT hardware	Laptops, printer, card reader, secure Wi-Fi	Retail prices. Don’t forget encryption and backups.
Brand and website	Whether you build it yourself or use an agency	Two or three quotes. See building your website.
Policies and registration support	Your own time, templates, or a consultant	Fixed-price quotes from consultants, if you use one
Software set-up and data migration	The supplier. Some charge set-up or migration fees and others do not.	Ask for it in writing

Running costs

Cost	Published price or range	Notes
Rent or room hire	No reliable published range	Varies with location and whether you rent by the session or lease. With a lease, add service charge and utilities.
Business rates	England: nothing if rateable value is £12,000 or less	Small business rate relief tapers to nothing at £15,000. Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland run their own schemes.
Medical indemnity	Quote only	MDOs price on the amount and type of work you do. See indemnity costs.
Other insurance	Quote only	Once you employ anyone, employers’ liability cover of at least £5 million is a legal requirement. See essential insurance.
Clinical record and practice software	About £28 to £125 per user a month for suppliers that publish prices	WriteUpp Solo £27.95 excluding VAT. Hero Health £59 per user plus 0.75% per payment, alongside EMIS Web. Jump EHR £100 on an annual plan or £125 rolling. Semble and Meddbase quote on request. Check what the price includes: booking, invoicing, SMS, video, e-prescribing and lab links can each cost extra.
Private e-prescribing	Varies	Often charged per prescription. See private prescribing.
Pathology	Lab price lists	Lab fees, plus courier and collection costs. Many practices pass these on to patients. See pathology.
Staff	National Living Wage £12.71 an hour (21 and over) from April 2026	Employer National Insurance is 15% above £5,000 a year per employee. The Employment Allowance (up to £10,500) may offset some of it. Add workplace pension contributions.
Clinical waste, consumables, cleaning	Contractor quotes	See medical waste
Accountant, bank and card fees	Quotes and provider tariffs	Card fees are usually a percentage of each payment
Marketing	Your choice	Some directory listings are free. Paid search has no fixed cost. See getting your first patients.

Which lines apply to your route

Cost line	Rooms by the session	Own leased clinic	Remote only
Regulator fees and ICO	Yes	Yes	Yes
Fit-out and deposit	No	Yes	No
Business rates	Usually included in room hire	Yes	No
Clinical equipment and emergency kit	Some (check what the host provides)	Yes	Minimal
Software and indemnity	Yes	Yes	Yes
Staff	Often none at first	Usually reception at least	Often none at first

Costs that are easy to miss

• Your GMC annual retention fee, appraisal costs and any professional memberships
• Equipment servicing, calibration and electrical safety testing
• Card terminal rental, SMS reminder credits and paid add-ons in your software
• Membership of an independent complaints review scheme such as ISCAS, if you choose one
• Training for you and any staff, such as safeguarding, basic life support and infection control
• Your own sick pay and holiday cover, which the practice has to absorb
• Professional fees for your lease, contracts and employment paperwork

Add each one to the worksheet, even if the amount is small. Together they add up.

VAT: budget gross, not net

Medical care by a registered doctor is exempt from VAT when its main purpose is the patient’s health. A practice that makes only exempt supplies does not charge VAT and cannot reclaim the VAT on its costs. So a £1,000 piece of equipment plus VAT costs you £1,200. Some reports and medicals are standard-rated. If you make some taxable supplies as well, the partial exemption rules usually limit how much VAT you can recover. See VAT for private GPs.

Working capital

You pay rent, indemnity, software and insurance from the first month, and some costs come before you can see a patient at all. To size the buffer:

1. Add up your monthly running costs.
2. Estimate how many months it will take to reach break-even, using a slow case as well as your expected one. See pricing and break-even.
3. Multiply the two, add your one-off costs, and add a contingency you are comfortable with.

That total is what you need from savings, a loan or investors. Once you open, compare actual spending with the budget every month and update your break-even figure, so you spot a shortfall while there is still time to act. See funding a new practice.

Keeping costs down

• Start in rooms hired by the session, or under practising privileges, and move once demand is proven.
• Launch with a focused set of services. Each new service can add equipment, training, indemnity and registration cost.
• Prefer software with published prices, no set-up fee and monthly terms, so a slow start costs less.
• Get three quotes for insurance, waste, fit-out and equipment.

For the full sequence of set-up steps, see how to start a private GP practice.