How much does it cost to renovate a flat in London?

A full refurbishment of a typical two bed flat in London, about 75 m² in a Victorian or Edwardian conversion, costs around £130,800 to £170,400 including VAT at a Standard finish. A one bed flat of about 45 m² comes to around £81,800 to £108,200 on the same basis.

Each figure has two parts. The building work comes from our free estimate: £1,300 to £1,600 per m² of floor, ex VAT, at its Standard finish, for a full refurbishment with the layout, wiring, plumbing, heating and finishes renewed and the kitchen and bathroom fitted. It assumes you supply the products, which our free second fix calculator prices, from the kitchen units and the bathroom suite to the floors, doors, radiators, sockets and paint, including VAT, at UK suppliers' prices checked in September 2026. The total is the building work plus 20% VAT, plus the products.

The two overlap a little, as paint and sundries sit in both, so the true total sits slightly lower. It is an indicative benchmark from typical London jobs, not a quote.

Totals including VAT for a full refurbishment, the building work at the free estimate's Standard level and the finishes at each of the calculator's four, best case to worst case. Both homes are the calculator's typical flats in a Victorian or Edwardian conversion: one bathroom, a separate kitchen and period ceilings, with the windows left out.

A two bed flat of about 75 m² (810 sq ft), whose building work comes to £97,500 to £120,000 ex VAT, or £117,000 to £144,000 with VAT:

• Budget finishes, £7,300 to £14,200: £124,300 to £158,200 in all.
• Standard finishes, £13,800 to £26,400: £130,800 to £170,400 in all.
• Medium finishes, £24,000 to £48,800: £141,000 to £192,800 in all.
• High finishes, £53,600 to £117,200: £170,600 to £261,200 in all.

A one bed flat of about 45 m² (480 sq ft), whose building work comes to £58,500 to £72,000 ex VAT, or £70,200 to £86,400 with VAT:

• Budget finishes, £6,100 to £11,800: £76,300 to £98,200 in all.
• Standard finishes, £11,600 to £21,800: £81,800 to £108,200 in all.
• Medium finishes, £20,200 to £40,400: £90,400 to £126,800 in all.
• High finishes, £45,300 to £98,800: £115,500 to £185,200 in all.

The free estimate prices the building work at its Essential and High levels too: £78,000 to £96,000 and £107,500 to £132,000 ex VAT for the two bed, £47,000 to £57,500 and £64,500 to £79,000 for the one bed. With VAT, the two bed then runs from £100,900 to £129,400 with Budget finishes on Essential building work up to £182,600 to £275,600 with High finishes on High building work; the one bed from £62,500 to £80,800 up to £122,700 to £193,600.

Per square metre, the two bed at Standard comes to about £1,740 to £2,270 including VAT, or £162 to £211 per sq ft, and the one bed to about £1,820 to £2,400 per m², or £169 to £223 per sq ft. The smaller flat costs more for its size because it still has a whole kitchen and bathroom. The building work alone is about £121 to £149 per sq ft ex VAT. For a whole house, see Victorian terrace renovation costs.

The scope matters most. For a 75 m² flat, the building work alone, ex VAT:

• A refresh, redecoration only: around £7,600 where the walls were in good condition and around £9,500 where they needed real preparation, as priced on our estimator.
• A new kitchen and bathroom, the rest left as it is: £40,500 to £47,500 on the free estimate.
• A full refurbishment, rewired and replumbed: £97,500 to £120,000, kitchen and bathroom included.

With VAT and Standard products, the new kitchen and bathroom of the two bed come to £56,700 to £71,400. Four more things move the figure:

• Condition: it alone moved that redecoration price by a quarter. Old wiring, tired plaster and uneven floors are priced when they are found, so keeping a renovation on budget starts with a survey and a contingency: the Federation of Master Builders suggests at least 10 percent, and 15 percent or more for older homes.
• Layout: moving the kitchen or taking out a wall turns decoration into construction, with a structural engineer where the wall carries load, building control and the freeholder's consent.
• Specification: the finishes move the total more than the building work's level does. In the two bed, the kitchen alone is £5,000 to £8,600 at Standard and £23,150 to £52,000 at High, while raising the building work from Standard to High adds £10,000 to £12,000 ex VAT. Any trade can take its own level in the calculator, so you can spend where it shows.
• Who does it: our building figures are for a contractor running the whole job, so a quote that leaves out the design, the making good or the management looks lower. Compare like for like.

Where the flat is matters too. The free estimate is calibrated to inner west London, the Fulham, Chelsea and Wandsworth belt: prime central projects often price 8 to 25 percent above it, and outer London commonly runs 10 to 20 percent below.

A shared building brings its own rules:

• The lease and a licence to alter: most leases need the freeholder's written consent, given as a licence to alter, before you change the structure, the layout or the services. You usually pay the freeholder's reasonable legal and surveyor's fees, and it can take a few months, so ask early.
• Taking out a wall: expect the freeholder's consent, a structural engineer's design if it carries load, and usually building control approval. Cutting into a wall or floor you share with a neighbour is party structure work, with two months' notice under the Party Wall Act: see our guide to party wall agreements.
• Hard floors and sound: many London leases require carpet, or the freeholder's consent and an acoustic underlay, before a hard floor goes down. Read yours first. The calculator's Standard floor, rigid core luxury vinyl or branded laminate, often has an acoustic underlay built in.
• Working hours: most London boroughs allow noisy work from 8am to 6pm on weekdays and 8am to 1pm on Saturdays, never on Sundays or bank holidays, and many blocks set shorter hours. Fewer hours on site make a longer programme.
• The lift and the street: managing agents usually ask for the lift and common parts to be protected and deliveries booked. A skip or scaffold on the road needs a licence, usually from the borough, and parking bays may need suspending.
• Fire doors: the flat entrance door in a block is usually an FD30S fire doorset with smoke seals and a self-closer, so replace it only with a certificated doorset, with the freeholder's consent. A flat with a floor more than 4.5 m above the ground can also need fire doors onto its entrance hall. The calculator never prices the entrance door, and prices fire doors inside only in a flat over three or more floors: building control confirms what yours needs.
• Taller buildings: in a higher-risk building, at least 18 m or seven storeys tall with two or more homes, work that would need building control anywhere else needs the Building Safety Regulator's approval before it starts, as our guide to refurbishing a flat in a high-rise explains.

Windows need care too: the lease says who may replace them, and changing how they look can need planning permission, as flats have no permitted development rights, which our guide to mansion block loft conversions explains.

Our own London flats took three to five months:

• Eton Lane, Belsize Park, NW3: a two bedroom, two bathroom flat, with new bathrooms, upgraded electrics and plumbing, new floors throughout, a fully redesigned kitchen and the decoration. Three months.
• Park Lane, Mayfair, W1K: a two storey apartment overlooking Hyde Park, its original wood and marble floors and its garden restored, and the interiors furnished and decorated. Three months.
• Bolton Gardens, Chelsea, SW5: a two bedroom flat whose layout was altered for a new kitchen, with bespoke joinery and both bathrooms renovated. Four months.
• Redington Avenue, Hampstead, NW3: the design and build of a 150 m² apartment, with an open plan living room and kitchen that a custom sliding door can divide, a bespoke kitchen, a seat in the bow windows and mood lighting that sets off the herringbone floor. Five months.

Before work starts come the design, the freeholder's licence and, in a taller building, the regulator's approval, so begin those early: see the order of works. At 306 Fulham Road, SW10, the six flats we delivered have engineered oak floors, the calculator's Medium floor, and marble finished bathrooms, a High finish in its terms.

In London, not for a full refurbishment. The smallest whole job above, a one bed flat at the free estimate's Essential level with Budget finishes, comes to £62,500 to £80,800 including VAT, and a new kitchen and bathroom alone come to £43,100 to £53,200 at those levels.

What £40,000 can buy:

• A refresh: redecorating a 75 m² flat priced around £7,600 to £9,500, ex VAT.
• A new kitchen: £35,100 to £43,100 in a one bed flat and £35,600 to £44,000 in a two bed, with building work, products and VAT at Standard.
• A new bathroom: £21,100 to £27,400 on the same basis, as our bathroom guide shows.

Both halves are free to work out, side by side in our Design Studio:

1. 01The building work: our free estimate opens with Full refurbishment chosen. Choose Flat or maisonette, give the floor area and a finish, and an indicative range ex VAT arrives on screen and by email in about two minutes.
2. 02The finishes: our second fix calculator prices everything fitted at second fix. Choose Flat and when it was built, check the bedrooms and the size, tick Everything: a full strip out, and choose a level. It lists every trade, best case to worst case, with the brands it buys.
3. 03The total: add 20% VAT to the building work, then add the finishes.

Neither is a quote. A price for your flat comes from a quotation, once it has been seen. If you would like one team to design and build it, see our property refurbishments and design and build services.