The short answer
Aluminium usually costs more than uPVC to buy and fit, and it lasts longer, keeps its shape in sun and frost, does not rust and holds a baked paint finish. It is worth the extra on a house you plan to keep, on a period front where plastic looks wrong, or on awkward long runs. On a modern house you may sell soon, uPVC is often the sounder choice financially.
What you pay for with aluminium
The extra money buys material and finish. Aluminium gutters are usually extruded or rolled, and the better ranges are cast to copy period profiles. They are lighter than cast iron and stiffer than plastic. The paint is applied at the factory and baked on, which gives a harder skin than a coat brushed on site, and a wide choice of colours is available.
Joints are normally sealed with a purpose-made sealant or a mechanical joint, and the metal does not distort under sun in the way plastic can. Brackets and fittings are usually matched to the profile, so the whole system works together.
There is no single UK price for aluminium that we can quote with confidence. MyBuilder's 2026 guide gives guttering across materials at about £30 to £70 per metre, with scaffold extra. The guide does not split that spread by material, so the fixed price that follows our survey will show the real gap for your house.
Lifespan: the main argument for paying more
The value case rests on how long each material lasts. Pureseal Services, a gutter-cleaning firm writing in December 2025, is the one source we have, so we rate it as low confidence. It gives uPVC guttering as 10 to 20 years, aluminium as 20 to 30 years and cast iron as 40 to 70 years, sometimes longer. Real life varies with exposure, workmanship and maintenance, and those are typical ranges, not promises.
Take the figures at face value and a simple pattern appears. Replacing a plastic run once or twice in the time an aluminium one lasts means paying for scaffold, labour and waste removal more than once. Scaffold alone adds about £20 to £40 per square metre in MyBuilder's guide. On a tall house that cost can be as large as the difference in material, so a longer-lived gutter saves more than it first appears.
Against that, if you expect to move within a few years, or the existing gutters are in good order and only need a clean, the longer horizon may not benefit you. Value depends on how long you will be paying the bill.
Where aluminium does better, and where it does not
Ice and sun. Plastic becomes brittle as it ages, and a cold snap exposes the weak lengths. Aluminium is more tolerant of the movement, although a run that holds water and freezes can still be strained. Our page on why gutters freeze and crack covers the failure in detail.
Appearance. On a Georgian or Victorian front, a cast aluminium section in a half-round or an ogee shape passes for the original. That is often the way to get a metal look at lower weight than iron. For true cast iron, see our notes on cast iron gutters, where the heavier brackets and painting regime are explained.
Long runs. Aluminium can be supplied in long continuous lengths made on site, so there are fewer joints to leak. That helps on a big or complex roofline where every join is a possible failure point.
Where it does not help. A rotten fascia defeats any material. If the board behind is soft, the best gutter will still drop. Bright metal can also dent if a ladder is leant on it, and a deep dent is difficult to correct.
Checks before you order
Look at the roofline before you choose a gutter. The fascia needs to be sound enough to hold brackets, and the soffit and eaves ventilation should be working. If boards need renewing, do it now, since the gutter will be off anyway. If your soffits are old, they may be asbestos cement, which has to be checked and handled with care before anyone drills or breaks it. Our page on asbestos soffits explains the checks, and HSE guidance sets out how the work is treated.
Ask for the profile and the finish to be named in the quote, along with the bracket spacing and the fall. A vague line that says only "aluminium gutters" tells you little. For a protected house, put the choice of material to B&NES planning before you order.
Our survey costs nothing, we photograph your own roofline, and the written fixed price lets you set one material beside another using real figures. If you want the figures for several materials in the same visit, just ask us to price each one.
So is it worth it?
It is worth it where the house is staying with you, where the roofline is tall or hard to reach, or where appearance matters on an older building. It is hard to justify where the gutters are low and simple, where the budget is tight and the plastic is fairly new, or where a sale is close.
If you are unsure, the cheapest route is to have the existing run inspected. An existing run with sound brackets and a proper fall may need nothing more than cleaning and resealing. We prefer to repair where repair works, and we will say if replacement is not needed.
Where replacement is the answer, the material choice is a question of how long you want to wait before the next bill. Aluminium also suits a house where the fascia is sound, since the brackets need firm timber to hold the longer lengths. For the rest of the work on the roofline, see the gutters, soffits and fascias hub, and call 01225 285181 to arrange a survey.
