How much does it cost to renovate a Victorian terrace in London?

A full refurbishment of a typical three bedroom Victorian terrace in London, about 100 m² over two floors, costs £174,500 to £227,400 including VAT at a Standard finish. That is £156,000 to £192,000 for the building work, or £130,000 to £160,000 before VAT, and £18,500 to £35,400 for the products and finishes, at prices checked in September 2026.

The building work is the band our free estimate gives a 100 m² full refurbishment at Standard, kitchen and bathroom included. It prices the products for fitting only, with you supplying them. Those, everything a second fix puts in from the floors to the basin, come from our free second fix calculator, whose typical Victorian terrace is this house. The total adds 20% VAT to the building work, then the products, whose prices include it.

It is an indicative benchmark, not a quote. The two parts overlap a little, as paint and sundries sit in both, so the true total sits slightly lower. Professional fees, planning and building control fees, and delivery are extra.

Our calculator's typical Victorian or Edwardian terrace has three bedrooms, two living rooms, a separate kitchen, one bathroom, a cloakroom WC and tall period ceilings. A full refurbishment renews its layout, services and finishes: in the calculator, a full strip out of every trade but the windows.

Total including VAT, with the building work at Standard, by the level of the finishes, best case to worst case:

• Budget finishes, £9,700 to £18,800: £165,700 to £210,800
• Standard finishes, £18,500 to £35,400: £174,500 to £227,400
• Medium finishes, £31,900 to £65,600: £187,900 to £257,600
• High finishes, £71,100 to £154,800: £227,100 to £346,800

Before VAT, the free estimate puts the building work at £104,000 to £128,000 at Essential, £130,000 to £160,000 at Standard and £143,000 to £176,000 at High. Including VAT, the whole range for this house runs from £134,500 to £172,400, with Essential building work and Budget finishes, to £242,700 to £366,000, with High building work and High finishes.

Budget buys trade ranges, such as laminate and moulded panel doors; Standard, well known brands, such as Quick-Step laminate, solid core shaker doors and Stelrad or Myson radiators; Medium, engineered oak, oak doors with solid brass levers and Little Greene paint; High, herringbone oak, made to measure doors, cast iron radiators and Farrow & Ball. At every level the kitchen and bathrooms are about half the finishes.

The free estimate prices a kitchen or a bathroom on its own; with this house's products from the calculator at Standard, the totals including VAT are:

• A new kitchen: £36,100 to £44,900. The builder's work of a full refit is £25,500 to £29,500 before VAT, and the units, worktops, five appliances, sink and tap £5,500 to £9,500 with VAT. See new kitchen costs in London.
• The bathroom and the cloakroom WC: £29,500 to £37,900. The building work is £15,000 to £18,000 for the bathroom and £6,000 to £7,000 for the WC before VAT, and the sanitaryware, tiles and tanking £4,300 to £7,900 with VAT. The bathroom alone is £21,100 to £27,400: see bathroom renovation costs in London.

Our guide to house refurbishment costs in London has real priced examples of lighter work, before VAT:

• A refresh: redecorating a 75 m² flat priced at around £7,600 with the walls in good condition and around £9,500 where they needed real preparation, and laying about 35 m² of engineered wood flooring at around £5,300. For this house, the calculator puts the paint at £1,300 to £2,100 and the floors, stair carpet included, at £2,500 to £6,100, at Standard, with VAT.
• Rewiring: a full rewire of a large house of around 165 m² priced at around £40,000. The calculator prices only what shows: this house's sockets, switches and light fittings, £1,000 to £2,100 at Standard, with VAT.

Taking each budget as the whole spend, VAT included, for this house:

• £50,000: one of the big rooms, not the house. The kitchen at Standard comes to £36,100 to £44,900; the bathroom and cloakroom WC, £29,500 to £37,900.
• £100,000: not a full refurbishment, as even the Essential building work is £124,800 to £153,600 with VAT. It does renew the rooms that work hardest: the kitchen, bathroom and cloakroom WC at Standard, with Standard products, come to £65,600 to £82,800, leaving £17,200 to £34,400 for decoration, floors and surprises.
• £150,000: about the least a full refurbishment takes. Essential building work with Budget finishes is £134,500 to £172,400, so £150,000 holds only if the house has few surprises.
• £200,000: a full refurbishment at Standard with Standard finishes, £174,500 to £227,400, with £200,000 near the middle; Essential building work with Standard finishes, £143,300 to £189,000, leaves room for the unexpected. A 20 m² side return as well comes within reach only at Essential with Budget finishes, £160,200 to £204,200; a loft conversion as well starts at £210,200.

The free estimate prices each before VAT, at Standard:

• A side return or rear extension of 20 m², the calculator's typical one for a terrace: priced with the refurbishment, at the same rate on all 120 m², the two come to £156,000 to £192,000. On its own, an extension is never priced below £100,000. The finishes for the larger home, with its open plan kitchen and one more living space, are £19,600 to £37,800 with VAT, so the total including VAT is £206,800 to £268,200.
• A loft conversion of 25 m², with a bedroom and an en suite: £75,000 to £92,500, on top of the refurbishment's £130,000 to £160,000. The finishes for the house with its loft come to £24,700 to £46,900 with VAT, as three floors usually need fire doors onto the halls and landings: the calculator prices 9 of the 12 doors as FD30 sets. The total is £270,700 to £349,900 including VAT.

For which suits your house, see rear extension or side return, loft conversions in Victorian houses and loft conversions with an en suite. Both usually bring in the Party Wall Act, so serve the notices early.

Period fabric adds cost because the right way to work on an old house takes time and skill, not because of what it buys: in the calculator, this house's tall ceilings add only £200 to £400 to the Standard finishes.

• Lime plaster: solid brick walls were plastered in lime, which lets them breathe. Gypsum patches, cement render and some modern paints can trap moisture, so repairs are best made in lime, which is slower to apply and cure.
• Damp: often a symptom of a leaking gutter, a blocked air brick, ground raised above the damp proof course, or condensation. Find the cause before paying for a cure.
• Suspended timber floors: the ground floor often sits on joists over a void ventilated by air bricks. Keep them clear, check the joists before a new floor goes down, and insulate without closing the void.
• Sash windows: original box sashes can usually be overhauled. New windows are not in the totals above: the calculator prices nine with their boards at £3,100 to £7,200 in uPVC at Standard, supply only, with VAT, and £9,700 to £20,400 at High, the band that holds painted timber box sashes. In a conservation area it prices the four facing the street at High, to match the originals: £5,600 to £12,100 at Standard.
• Cornices: an original can usually be cleaned back and repaired, and missing lengths run in plaster to its profile; see coving, cornice, skirting and doors.
• Chimney breasts: taking one out usually means carrying what is left above on a steel beam designed by a structural engineer and approved by building control, with a party wall notice where it sits on a party wall.

What to keep is a design decision as much as a cost: see period home interiors and our period and listed renovation service.

Quotes for one house can differ widely, often for honest reasons:

• Condition: our redecoration examples moved by a quarter on condition alone, and what opening up the house reveals is priced when it is found.
• Scope: a refresh and a full strip out are different projects.
• Layout: taking out a wall brings a beam, a structural engineer and building control.
• Specification: this house's finishes alone run from £9,700 at Budget, best case, to £154,800 at High, worst case.
• Who does it: a builder pricing labour while you buy the products and run the trades prices a different job from a contractor who designs, buys, manages and answers for all of it.

Compare quotes line by line, with the same finishes behind each: see keeping a renovation on budget and choosing a building company.

Margaretta Terrace in Chelsea, SW3, took five months: a full design and build of a Victorian townhouse, with structural reinforcement, marble bathrooms, bespoke chimneys, herringbone floors, an open plan kitchen, two children's rooms on the top floor and a library shared with the living room, in deep blue.

Choose a terraced house built in the Victorian or Edwardian era in our second fix calculator and it starts from exactly this house. Change the size, the rooms or the level, add a planned extension or loft, and it prices every finish, brands named, best case to worst case: a benchmark of the materials whoever builds, not a quote from MVV or anyone else.

For the building work, the free estimate prices a refurbishment, an extension, a loft, a kitchen or bathrooms in about two minutes, before VAT. Both are free in our Design Studio. A price for your own house comes from a quotation once it has been seen, as our guide to the free estimate, the AI estimate and a quotation explains.

For one team from survey to handover, see our property refurbishments and design and build services; for a flat in a converted house, see flat renovation costs in London.