House Renovation Cost London 2026: Prices by Job

London renovation costs by scope

Start by deciding which kind of renovation you are planning. These typical 2026 London ranges are rough estimates.

Scope	Typical London range	What it usually means
Cosmetic update	£15,000–£30,000	Painting, flooring and minor changes, with the layout and services left as they are
Kitchen and bathroom upgrade	£20,000–£40,000	New kitchen and bathroom, with the plumbing and electrics they need
Full house refurbishment	£60,000–£120,000	Most rooms renewed, often with a rewire, new heating, replastering and new kitchen and bathroom

VAT may not be included in these ranges. Keep 10–15% for unexpected costs. For lofts and extensions, see our loft conversion cost and house extension cost guides.

Price the renovation job by job

A full refurbishment is a bundle of separate jobs. Pricing each one shows where a quotation is high, low or missing something.

Job	Typical cost	Basis and scope
Full rewire, London house	2-bed £5,600 · 3-bed £8,100 · 4-bed £10,500	London, September 2026. Excludes replastering and redecoration; 5–7 days for a terrace or semi
Full rewire, London flat	1-bed £4,000 · 2-bed £5,600	London, as above; 3–4 days
Central heating where there is none	About £4,000	Average three-bedroom home, UK
Replacement combi boiler	About £2,700	UK average
New kitchen	£10,000–£20,000 on average	UK average
New bathroom	About £6,000 on average	UK average
Replacement uPVC window	£400–£600 each, installed	UK average
Knocking through an internal wall	Around £3,500	UK average. Load-bearing walls need a structural design
Full structural survey before you buy	£500–£1,500	UK average

The UK-wide figures above rise in London and the South East, so treat them as a floor for a London budget.

Edwardian bedroom at first fix with chased cable runs, metal back boxes and new copper heating pipes between the joists — Illustration: rewiring and heating pipes at first fix, before replastering. A London 3-bed house rewire: about £8,100.

Stripped Victorian bathroom with lifted floorboards, joists, old lead and galvanised pipes beside new copper pipework and the soil stack — Illustration: a bathroom stripped back, showing the old pipework a new layout must replace. UK average new bathroom: about £6,000.

Load-bearing wall between two Victorian reception rooms held on Acrow props and strongboys while a steel beam sits on padstones — Illustration: opening up a load-bearing wall on temporary props. Knocking through an internal wall typically costs around £3,500.

Victorian hallway with a zip-door dust barrier, floor protection over encaustic tiles and film over the stair carpet — Illustration: protecting a hallway so the family can stay in while rooms are worked on.

Trade day rates behind the prices

Use day rates to sense-check the labour lines in a quotation, not to price the job yourself.

Trade	Typical day rate
Electrician	Around £400
Plumber	£325–£375
Plasterer	Around £300
Kitchen fitter	£250–£350
Joiner	£240–£360

UK figures; London rates are usually higher.

A worked budget for a three-bedroom London terrace

A hypothetical full refurbishment, priced only from the typical figures above. It shows how the jobs add up, not a price for your house.

Budget line	Lower figure	Higher figure
Full rewire, 3-bed London house	£8,100	£8,100
Central heating where there is none	£4,000	£4,000
New kitchen	£10,000	£20,000
New bathroom	£6,000	£6,000
8 replacement windows at £400–£600	£3,200	£4,800
Knocking through one internal wall	£3,500	£3,500
Subtotal of the priced jobs	£34,800	£46,400
Contingency at 10–15%	£3,480	£6,960
Total with contingency	£38,280	£53,360

That total is well below the typical £60,000–£120,000 London range for a full refurbishment. The gap is the work with no single standard price: replastering, flooring, joinery, decoration, structural design, building control, protection, waste and, where figures exclude it, 20% VAT. Ask for those lines to be priced from your room-by-room schedule. Most of the job figures are UK averages, so a London quotation for the same items will usually be higher.

What pushes a London renovation price up

Older London houses often hide work that only shows once the house is opened up.

The age of the house

Victorian and Edwardian houses can have lath-and-plaster ceilings, old lead or galvanised pipework and wiring that was never designed for today’s loads. Replacing services usually means replastering the walls they run through.

What opening up reveals

Rot, damp and asbestos are the usual surprises. An asbestos survey before strip-out is required for refurbishment work in many buildings; read our refurbishment asbestos survey guide.

Changing the layout

Moving walls, the kitchen or the bathroom adds structural design, steelwork and new drainage routes. See structural alterations.

Living in during the work

Staying at home means phasing the rooms, keeping a working kitchen or bathroom and protecting the hallway and stairs. That adds time and protection costs, but can save on rent.

Access, parking and waste

Skip and parking-bay permits, restricted delivery times and carrying materials through the house all add to London prices. Read our construction waste guide.

Get the sequence right so nothing is done twice: services before plaster, plaster before joinery, joinery before decoration. Our renovation order of work guide sets out the stages.

Compare renovation quotations on the same basis

Renovation quotations differ most in what they leave out. Ask each builder to answer the same questions.

Question	What to check
VAT	Is every figure shown with or without 20% VAT?
Room-by-room scope	Is each room priced separately, so you can see what changes if you drop or add one?
Strip-out and waste	Are removal, skips, permits and disposal included?
Unknowns	What provisional sums cover rot, damp or asbestos, and how is extra work priced?
Making good	After the rewire and plumbing, who replasters and redecorates the disturbed walls?
Supply	Who supplies the kitchen, bathroom fittings, tiles and flooring, and who fits them?
Living in	If you stay at home, which rooms stay usable and how long is each phase?
Payment stages	Are payments tied to completed stages? See our payment stages guide.

For dated quotation examples and a budget method, see house renovation and refurbishment in London.

House renovation cost questions

How much does a full house renovation cost in London?

A full house refurbishment in London typically costs about £60,000–£120,000. Lofts, extensions and structural changes come on top. The figure for your house depends on its size, condition and the specification you choose.

How much does it cost to rewire a house in London?

A London price guide updated in September 2026 gives about £5,600 for a two-bedroom house, £8,100 for three bedrooms and £10,500 for four, excluding replastering and redecoration.

How much contingency should I keep?

Allow around 10% of the total, or 10–15% for a London renovation. Older houses and larger strip-outs justify the higher end.

Do I need planning permission to renovate?

Most internal renovation does not need planning permission. Listed buildings need listed building consent, and a leaseholder may need the freeholder’s consent. Electrical, structural and heating work must meet Building Regulations.

Is it cheaper to stay in the house during the work?

It can save rent, but phasing, protection and a temporary kitchen or bathroom add time and cost. Ask for both options to be priced.

Plan the rest of the renovation

House renovation in London · Flat refurbishment · Structural alterations · Renovation order of work · House extension cost · Loft conversion cost

House renovation cost in London

Price the renovation room by room.