How Much Does a Full Home Renovation Cost?

Across current 2026 UK renovation cost data, most full home renovations outside London fall somewhere between £800 and £1,800 per square metre, depending on how much structural work is involved and the specification chosen. As a rough illustration, that would put a 100 square metre house in the region of £80,000 to £180,000 for the renovation work, though the spread on any individual property can sit outside that either way.

The range is wide because “full renovation” covers very different scopes. A cosmetic refresh, new kitchen, redecoration and some flooring, sits at the lower end. A full structural renovation, rewiring, replumbing, new heating, layout changes and premium finishes, sits at the top. Neither figure includes an extension, which is priced separately.

Renovation budgets rarely fail because one item was expensive. They fail because three or four areas each ran slightly over. It helps to know which areas carry the most movement before you set a figure.

Kitchens, bathrooms and services tend to absorb the largest share on most projects. Structure is the least predictable, because nobody can price with certainty what is behind a wall until it is opened.

A renovation quote should set out scope clearly, because the word “full” gets used loosely. Ours generally covers:

Landscaping, furniture and window dressings are the most common gaps between what a homeowner assumes is included and what is not. Confirming scope in writing before comparing quotes avoids that mismatch.

This distinction matters more than most homeowners realise before a renovation goes wrong. Citizens Advice explains it clearly: a quote is a promise to do the work at an agreed price, while an estimate is only the trader’s best guess. A quote cannot legally be increased without good reason, an estimate can move considerably.

Our own quotes are fixed price and include professional fees and VAT unless the design or specification changes. No hidden costs, no surprises at the end. If you have been given an estimate rather than a quote, ask which one it is before you budget against it.

A handful of factors move the figure more than anything else:

Structural work: Removing walls, altering the layout or adding steel beams adds cost and usually needs building control sign off.

Age and condition: Older properties frequently hide issues such as outdated wiring, damp or undersized joists once walls are opened up.

Services: A full rewire and replumb costs considerably more than working around existing services.

Kitchens and bathrooms: These typically absorb the largest share of a renovation budget. Our kitchen refurbishment pricing starts from £5,000 for improvements, £12,000 for a full refurbishment and £20,000 where structural work is involved.

Roof condition: Where a renovation uncovers roof timber issues, that work sits with a carpenter rather than the general renovation team, which our carpenter or roofer guide explains in more detail.

The line items that catch homeowners out are rarely the obvious ones. The usual omissions are:

Then there is what the building itself is hiding. On our Claremont Avenue project, a Victorian house being modernised for a young family, lifting the existing timber ground floor revealed a large void underneath. Over boarding it would have been the cheap answer and the wrong one. We raised levels with well compacted fill and poured a new concrete slab to carry insulation, wet underfloor heating and screed, which gave the ground floor a lifespan comparable to a new build. That decision added cost against the original budget, which is precisely what a contingency exists for.

The same Claremont Avenue project is a fair illustration of how scope drives cost on a period property. It involved a full re roof, render to the first floor, complete replastering and redecoration, an internal knock through to form a kitchen and dining room, solar PV, underfloor heating on new slabs and upgraded insulation throughout.

Two decisions on that project carried real unbudgeted cost.

The brick match. Planning sensitivities and the age of the property required imperial size bricks matched for size, colour and texture. They cost more than a standard brick, and it was not negotiable if the extension was going to sit properly against the original house.

The structural interface. The glazing above the bifold doors needed a support strategy that was not on the original steelwork, so we designed and installed an additional steel plate to carry the load.

Neither was visible in the initial scope, and both are the sort of thing a contingency covers. That project is in our case studies.

Usually, yes, and it catches people out. HMRC’s VAT Notice 708 sets the rates by project type rather than by how extensive the work is.

The reduced rate is the one worth knowing about, but it is conditional and the empty period has to be evidenced.

For most occupied homes being renovated, planning on the standard rate is the safer assumption. If you think the empty property exception might apply to you, confirm it with HMRC or your accountant rather than budgeting on it, because the evidence requirements are specific. Our comparison of self build house costs covers how the VAT position differs for a new build project, if that route is also on the table.

The savings that hold up over time come from decisions made early, not from cheaper materials chosen late.

Keep services where they are. Moving a kitchen or bathroom across the house means new drainage runs, new supply routes and more making good. It rarely shows in the finished result in proportion to what it costs.

Phase the work sensibly. Structural work, services and the envelope in one go, then finishing rooms over a longer period. That spreads cost without the inefficiency of returning to redo work later.

Settle the specification before work starts. Changing a kitchen layout once first fix is in is far more expensive than changing it on a drawing.

What is worth paying for is anything that ends up buried. Insulation, wiring, pipework and structural work are all things you only get cheap access to once.

Full house renovations typically run three to six months, based on current Cognitive Construction project timescales, with single room refurbishments usually taking two to four weeks. Structural work, the condition of the property, and how much needs building control sign off all affect where a project sits in that range.

Most full renovations touch several trades at once: brickwork if walls move, carpentry for joists and joinery, roofing if the roof is affected, alongside plumbing and electrics. Managing that sequencing yourself is a genuine job. Our guide to the difference between a carpenter and a general builder explains which trade owns which part of a project like this, which is worth understanding before you start appointing people separately.

Cognitive Construction delivers full renovations across Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire, with brickwork, carpentry and site teams on our own payroll rather than subcontracted.

Book in your visit to get your roof assessed so we can go through your project together.