House Refurbishment Cost London: Full Breakdown (2026 Guide)

How much does house refurbishment cost in London in 2026?

Refurbishment cost in London falls into three broad specification tiers. A light refresh, covering redecoration, new flooring and minor repairs without moving walls or replacing services, typically runs £800 to £1,200 per square metre. A mid-range refurbishment, which usually includes a new kitchen, a new bathroom, a full rewire and some replastering, runs £1,200 to £1,800 per square metre. A premium refurbishment, involving structural alterations, full mechanical and electrical replacement, and a high-specification finish, runs £2,000 to £2,800 or more per square metre.

These figures are general London market guidance rather than a fixed Lian Construction quote. Every property differs in layout, existing condition and access, and the only reliable way to price a specific refurbishment is a site survey. The table below sets out the three tiers alongside an indicative total for a typical 120 sqm London terrace, so the per-square-metre figures are easier to translate into a real project budget.

Why inner London costs more than outer boroughs

Refurbishment in inner London boroughs such as Kensington and Chelsea, Westminster, Camden and Islington typically commands a 15 to 25 percent premium over outer boroughs such as Barking and Dagenham, Bexley or Havering. The gap is driven by site access, not just labour rates: narrow streets, permit-controlled parking, congestion charging and stricter waste and skip licensing all add cost and time to a project before a single wall comes down.

Period property density plays a role too. Inner London has a higher concentration of Victorian and Edwardian terraces and mansion blocks with solid walls, original lath-and-plaster ceilings and shared structures, which tend to need more careful, more expensive repair work than the cavity-wall stock common in outer boroughs. Our property refurbishment London team prices access and structure separately from finish specification, so you can see where the borough premium is actually coming from.

Where the refurbishment budget actually goes

Kitchens and bathrooms are the single biggest line items in most refurbishments, typically absorbing 30 to 40 percent of the total budget once you include units, worktops, tiling, sanitaryware and the plumbing and electrical work behind them. That is a useful benchmark when specification decisions start to drift: if the kitchen and bathroom allowance climbs much past 40 percent of the total, either the rest of the house is being under-specified or the budget needs revisiting.

The remainder splits across structural and building fabric work such as replastering, floor levelling and damp treatment, first and second fix electrics and plumbing, and decoration and finishing trades including tiling and painting. Structural alterations, if any walls are moving, sit outside this split and should be costed as a separate line, since they carry their own building control and, in some cases, party wall requirements.

A worked example: 120 sqm London terrace

Take a typical three-bedroom London terrace at 120 square metres. At light refresh specification, a full internal redecoration with new flooring throughout and minor repairs to plaster and joinery lands around £96,000 to £144,000. Move to mid-range, adding a new kitchen, a new bathroom, a full rewire and replastering where needed, and the same house runs £144,000 to £216,000. At premium specification, with structural alterations such as an open-plan kitchen-diner, full mechanical and electrical replacement and a high-end finish throughout, the same terrace runs £240,000 to £336,000 or more.

On top of any of these tiers, we recommend a contingency of 10 to 15 percent for period properties, higher than the 5 to 10 percent often quoted for newer stock. Solid-wall Victorian and Edwardian terraces regularly reveal damp, deteriorated timber or non-standard wiring once walls and floors are opened up, and a realistic contingency avoids the budget stalling mid-project when something is found behind a wall.

What pushes the cost up or down

Planning permission and building regulations for internal refurbishment

Most internal refurbishment work, including new kitchens, bathrooms, rewiring and replastering, does not need planning permission, since it does not alter the external appearance of the property. Planning permission is more likely to apply if the project extends the building, alters the roofline, or affects a listed building or a property in a conservation area, where even minor external changes can require consent.

Building regulations approval is a separate matter and applies more often than planning permission does. Structural work such as removing a wall, forming a new opening or altering floor joists needs building control sign-off, as does a full rewire, which should be certified under Part P, and most new bathroom installations, which need to meet current electrical safety zones around water. Our property repairs London team can flag which parts of a refurbishment scope will need building control involvement during the initial survey.

How long does a full refurbishment take?

Timeline scales with specification in a fairly predictable way. A light refresh covering redecoration, flooring and minor repairs typically takes two to four weeks. A mid-range refurbishment with a new kitchen, new bathroom, rewire and replastering usually runs eight to fourteen weeks, largely dictated by how many trades need to sequence through the property. A premium refurbishment involving structural alterations and a full mechanical and electrical strip-out can run sixteen to twenty-six weeks or more, particularly where steel beams, building control inspections or party wall agreements are on the critical path.

Adding contingency time alongside contingency budget is worth doing for the same reason: period properties reveal the unexpected once work starts, and a realistic programme accounts for that rather than assuming every wall behind the plaster matches the survey drawing.