A practical starting point for a London refurbishment budget
A cost-per-square-metre guide is useful at the earliest stage because it turns a broad brief into a working allowance. It is not a substitute for measuring the property, agreeing the scope and defining the specification. The figures on this page are deliberately limited to the refurbishment family confirmed in the site's pricing registry.
The guide does not publish borrowed or draft prices for extensions, lofts, basements, kitchens or bathrooms. Those project types need their own verified inputs. For a house refurbishment, choose the band that most closely reflects the intended level of work, apply it only as an initial planning allowance, and then test it against the actual property.
A site assessment, agreed scope and specification are needed before the work can be quoted.
2026 house-refurbishment cost bands
These are guide bands for early planning. They do not become a quotation until the property, scope, constraints and specification have been reviewed.
A band is a budgeting reference, not a promise that every item required by a particular property is included.
What moves a refurbishment between the bands?
The useful question is not only how large the property is, but how much work each square metre requires.
Strip-out and existing condition
The amount retained, repaired or replaced changes labour, waste, temporary protection and making-good requirements.
Structure and layout
Altered openings, structural intervention and complex sequencing need to be designed and priced against the actual building.
Building services
Electrical, plumbing, heating and ventilation scopes must be defined instead of assumed from floor area alone.
Kitchens, bathrooms and joinery
Room count, product selection and bespoke detailing can change the specification even when the footprint stays the same.
Heritage and approvals
Conservation requirements and retained historic fabric can add investigation, specialist design and careful execution.
Access and occupation
Restricted access, neighbour constraints and working around occupants affect logistics, protection and programme planning.
Separate design and construction allowances
Approvals, surveys, procurement and property-specific constraints may sit around these stages. They must be reviewed for the individual project rather than inferred from the guide.
How to turn the guide into a dependable brief
Start with a measured floor area and a written list of spaces to be changed. Record what is being retained, what is being replaced and where the brief is still undecided. Drawings, schedules and room-by-room notes make quotations easier to compare because each contractor is responding to the same information.
Next, identify matters that a floor-area calculation cannot see: structural changes, condition of existing services, planning or heritage constraints, access, occupation and the intended finish level. Resolve important selections before treating a price as fixed. Where an item is not decided, it should be identified as an assumption rather than hidden inside a headline total.
Finally, compare inclusions, exclusions, assumptions and programme as well as the total. The purpose of the square-metre band is to support an early decision; the purpose of the written scope is to control the real project.
Refurbishment cost guide FAQ
It is a guide for refurbishment budgeting, not a quotation: the property, scope, constraints and specification must be assessed before a project price is agreed.
The surveyed scope determines which band is relevant.
The actual programme depends on the final scope, property constraints, approvals, procurement and sequencing, so the contract programme must be prepared for the individual project.
No. Approvals and pre-construction decisions can also affect when work is ready to start.
No. A square-metre band is an early budgeting tool. A reliable quotation needs a measured scope, drawings or schedules where required, a defined specification, and a review of access, structure and property-specific constraints.
Floor area is only one input. Strip-out, structural intervention, building services, kitchens and bathrooms, joinery, finishes, heritage requirements, access and logistics can produce very different scopes in properties with the same footprint.
Compare the same written scope and specification, then check inclusions, exclusions, assumptions and programme. A lower headline total is not comparable if it omits work or uses a different finish level.
Useful inputs include the property address, approximate floor area, desired scope, drawings if available, target specification, known structural or planning constraints, and whether the property will be occupied during the work.
Turn a guide rate into a traceable project budget
Use the figures above within their stated scope and keep the cost guide separate from a quotation for your property. The worksheet records your inputs without supplying a price or VAT assumption.
Give each allowance a basis
Record quantity, unit, allowance or quotation, source and source date. State the work included and excluded, the VAT basis and how confident you are in the figure. Leave unknowns blank rather than entering zero.
Compare like with like
Separate construction, professional services, investigations, approvals, temporary arrangements and other project costs where they apply. Record which items are provisional and avoid counting an allowance twice.
Replace uncertainty with evidence
Update an estimate when a measured scope or confirmed quotation becomes available, retaining its source and exclusions. Set contingency explicitly for the risks identified in your own project and record authorised changes separately.
Replace the guide with a property-specific scope
Share the address, approximate floor area, intended scope and any drawings already prepared. We can then review the information needed for a written project assessment.
Request a project review →Discuss your project
Tell us what you are planning
Share the property location, the work you have in mind and any drawings or permissions you already have.
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Design support: Hampstead Architecture & Planning. Surveying support: Hampstead Chartered Surveyors & Building Consultancy.
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