// payment practices, as filed · company 01141788
Wates Property Services Ltd: how it pays its suppliers, from its own filing
Wates Property Services Ltd reports paying its suppliers in an average of 31 days, with 17% of invoices paid later than the agreed terms, for the period 1 January 2026 to 30 June 2026. Across the 1,496 companies that report on construction contracts, the median is 31 days and 14% late. Every figure below is the company’s own, approved by a director and published on the government register; this page reproduces it and says what it means for a subcontractor.
31 days
Average days to pay
longer than 47% of the 1,496 filers; median 31 days
17%
Paid later than agreed
a higher share than 56% of filers; median 14%
68%
Paid within 30 days
4% took longer than 60 days
The terms it declares
- Standard payment terms
- 30 days
- Maximum contractual period
- 61 days
- Paid in 31 to 60 days
- 28%
- Paid after 60 days
- 4%
- Not paid because of a dispute
- 0%
- Filed on
- 29 July 2026
Their standard terms, in their words
30 days
Every filing since Jun 2018
Wates Property Services Ltd has filed 17 times. The share paid late is down 1 points on the previous filing, and the average days to pay unchanged. The first filing, for the period to 30 June 2018, reported 43 days and 61% late.
| Period to | Days to pay | Paid late | Within 30 days | Over 60 days |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 30 June 2026 | 31 | 17% | 68% | 4% |
| 31 December 2025 | 31 | 18% | 67% | 4% |
| 30 June 2025 | 23 | 11% | 85% | 2% |
| 31 December 2024 | 25 | 12% | 79% | 4% |
| 30 June 2024 | 36 | 22% | 51% | 7% |
| 31 December 2023 | 34 | 14% | 48% | 2% |
Retention
- Retention clauses in construction contracts
- yes
- Standard retention rate
- 5%
- In all construction contracts
- no
- Same terms they receive from their own client
- no
- When they apply retention
- The property maintenance and refurbishment works we deliver vary significantly in scale and complexity. For routine maintenance and facilities management contracts, retention clauses are not typically applied to our supply chain. However, for larger and more complex planned maintenance and project works, retention provisions are generally included within subcontract agreements. These retentions are held to ensure the satisfactory completion of works, including snagging, provision of required documentation and certifications, and the rectification of defects. In some circumstances, we may …
What this means if you are pricing work for them
The share paid later than agreed is the number to read first, because a short term makes an invoice late sooner and a long one hides lateness inside the term. Wates Property Services Ltd is above the median on that measure, so build the delay into your cash flow before you sign. The average days to pay sits at the median.
A worked example on a 30-day term: an invoice of £10,000.00 paid on this company’s average, 1 day after the final date, carries £3.22 of statutory interest at 11.75% plus the fixed sum, £103.22 in all, which the law lets you add without a clause. Run your own figures.
Against the official benchmark: the Department for Business and Trade’s statistics for 2025, published 14 July 2026, put large construction businesses at 33 days to pay with 14% of invoices late by number (13% by value), and all large businesses at 32 days and 15% late. Wates Property Services Ltd is at or inside the sector figure on days. Its late share is above the sector figure.
What the register does not show: it is self-reported, large companies only, and the filing covers the whole company, not your contract. Read it alongside the notice rules that decide what you are actually owed, and keep your own dates.
Questions subcontractors ask about Wates Property Services Ltd
- How long does Wates Property Services Ltd take to pay its suppliers?
- Wates Property Services Ltd reported an average of 31 days to pay an invoice for 1 January 2026 to 30 June 2026, with 68% of invoices paid within 30 days and 4% taking longer than 60 days. The official 2025 figure for large construction businesses is 33 days.
- Does Wates Property Services Ltd pay late?
- By its own filing, 17% of Wates Property Services Ltd's invoices were paid later than the agreed terms, against 14% across large construction businesses in 2025 and a median of 14% among the 1,496 companies on this register that declare construction contracts. That is down 1 points on its previous filing (18% for the period to 31 December 2025).
- Does Wates Property Services Ltd hold retention?
- Yes. Wates Property Services Ltd declares retention clauses in its construction contracts at a standard rate of 5%, though not in all of them. The filing's own wording is quoted above.
- Can I charge Wates Property Services Ltd interest on a late invoice?
- Yes, under the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998, from the day after the final date for payment, at 8% over the Bank of England base rate plus a fixed sum per invoice, without any clause in the contract. The calculator works it out for your figures.
Source: the company’s own report on the government’s payment practices service, report 114804, made under the Reporting on Payment Practices and Performance Regulations 2017 and reproduced under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Register copy taken 2 October 2026; comparisons are against the latest filing of each of the 1,496 companies declaring construction contracts. Figures are as filed, not judged. Not legal advice.
// read next
- Pay less notice: what it must say and when it must arriveWhat a pay less notice must contain under s.111 of the Construction Act, the deadline (contract or 7 days before the final date), and what happens if it's late.
- Late payment interest rate UK: how the 8% over base rule works, and why the date mattersUK late payment interest is 11.75% for business invoices due from 1 July 2026. How it is set, the £40/£70/£100 fixed sums, and a worked example on £18,400.
- Which main contractors pay late? What the payment practices register saysTen UK main contractors' filed payment figures: average days to pay, share paid late, report links. Median of 1,496 construction filers: 31 days, 14% late.
- Every company that files on construction contractsThe full A to Z, 1,496 filers, each with its own page.