A full flat renovation in London costs around £55,000 for a one-bedroom flat, £85,000 for a two-bed, £115,000 for a three-bed and £145,000 for a four-bed at 2026 prices, assuming a complete transformation with new kitchen, bathrooms and services. Per square foot, budget £200–£500 for a full renovation or £120–£250 for light-to-mid work. This guide explains what drives those figures, the leasehold hurdles unique to flats, and where central boroughs add a premium.
How much does a flat renovation cost in London in 2026?
The table below shows realistic all-in figures for a full transformation: strip-out, new kitchen, new bathroom or bathrooms, rewiring, new plumbing and heating, replastering, flooring and decoration throughout. These are mid-range specifications in outer and mid London; central boroughs run higher, as we cover later.
The per-bedroom jump is not arbitrary. Each additional bedroom adds floor area, but more importantly larger flats usually carry a second bathroom, more radiators, more electrical circuits and longer pipe runs, all of which scale cost faster than the headline square footage suggests.
We price every flat individually after a survey, because two flats of identical size can vary by £20,000 or more depending on ceiling heights, existing services and how much of the building fabric is shared. But these figures are honest starting points for budgeting, and if a quote comes in dramatically below them, the difference is almost always hiding in exclusions.
| Flat size | Full renovation cost (2026) |
|---|---|
| 1-bedroom flat | around £55,000 |
| 2-bedroom flat | around £85,000 |
| 3-bedroom flat | around £115,000 |
| 4-bedroom flat | around £145,000 |
Flat renovation cost per square foot
Per square foot rates let you sanity-check any quote against your actual floor area, which matters because London flats of the same bedroom count vary enormously in size.
For a full renovation, including new kitchen and bathrooms, rewiring, replumbing, replastering and full redecoration, budget £200–£500 per square foot in 2026. The lower end reflects straightforward purpose-built flats with sensible access; the upper end reflects high specifications, period conversions and central locations.
For light-to-mid work, such as redecoration, new flooring, a refreshed bathroom and partial updates rather than full replacement of services, budget £120–£250 per square foot.
To put that in context, a typical 650 square foot two-bed flat sits at £130,000–£325,000 for a genuinely full renovation at the upper specifications, or £78,000–£162,500 at the lighter end, which is why our round figure of around £85,000 for a standard two-bed full transformation assumes a sensible mid-range specification rather than prime finishes. Always ask which square footage a builder is using; gross internal area is the standard, and quotes based on anything else are not comparable.
What makes flats more expensive to renovate than houses?
Flats carry costs that houses simply do not, and they catch first-time renovators out.
Access is the big one. No lift means every sheet of plasterboard, every bath and every bag of rubble travels the stairs by hand, and tight communal staircases in conversions slow that further. On upper-floor flats without a lift we typically add 5–10% to labour to reflect the reality of the carry.
Working hours are restricted. Most mansion blocks and managed buildings limit noisy work to roughly 8am–5pm on weekdays, often with a complete ban on weekends, which stretches the programme compared with a house where Saturday working is possible.
Then there are building-level costs: service-charge deposits or dilapidation deposits demanded by managing agents (commonly £500–£2,500, refundable), protection of communal areas, and sometimes a requirement to use the building's nominated contractors for anything touching shared services.
None of these are reasons to avoid renovating a flat. They are reasons to hire a contractor who has worked in London blocks before and prices these realities in from the start, rather than discovering them in week two.
Licence to alter: the leasehold paperwork you cannot skip
Most London flats are leasehold, and most leases require the freeholder's formal consent, called a licence to alter, before structural changes, alterations to services, or anything affecting the building fabric.
Expect the process to cost £1,500–£5,000 in total: the freeholder's solicitor and surveyor fees (which you pay, typically £1,000–£3,000), plus your own drawings and specifications. Timescales run from four weeks to four months depending on the managing agent, so we tell clients to start this conversation before appointing a builder, not after.
What needs consent varies by lease, but commonly includes moving walls, relocating kitchens or bathrooms, changing flooring (acoustic conditions are standard in mansion blocks), and any work to windows. Pure redecoration usually does not.
Skipping the licence is a genuinely bad idea. Freeholders can demand work be undone, and an unlicensed alteration surfaces during conveyancing and can derail a future sale. We regularly coordinate the technical submissions for clients' licence applications, supplying drawings, method statements and insurance details, because a clean application is the fastest route to a yes.
The inner London premium: what central boroughs really cost
Location moves the needle on flat renovation costs more than almost any other factor. Inner London flats typically cost 15–25% more to renovate than comparable outer London flats, before any difference in specification.
The premium comes from compounding small frictions: parking suspensions in controlled zones, congestion and ULEZ charges on every van movement, no loading bays, managing agents with stricter requirements, and the difficulty of getting skips licensed on busy central streets. Each is minor; together they add real money.
In Kensington & Chelsea and Westminster the market shifts again, because the housing stock and client expectations push specifications upwards. Full renovations in these boroughs typically run £2,500–£3,500 per square metre, putting a 75 square metre two-bed flat at £187,500–£262,500 for high-end work. Lateral apartments in stucco terraces and mansion blocks bring listed building issues, ornate plasterwork worth preserving and acoustic flooring conditions, all of which demand experienced trades.
Our surveyors price the borough as well as the flat. A quote that ignores where the building stands is a quote that will not survive contact with the project.
Worked example: a 2-bed flat refurbishment budget
Here is how a typical around £85,000 full transformation of a 70 square metre two-bed London flat breaks down at 2026 prices.
Strip-out and waste: £3,500–£5,000. Full rewire with new consumer unit: £6,000–£8,500. New plumbing and combi boiler or heat interface work: £7,000–£10,000. Bathroom, fully refitted with proper tanking: £10,000–£14,000. Kitchen, supplied and fitted with appliances: £14,000–£20,000. Replastering throughout: £6,000–£9,000. Flooring, engineered timber with acoustic underlay to satisfy the lease: £6,000–£9,000. Carpentry, doors and built-in storage: £5,000–£8,000. Full decoration: £5,000–£7,000. Preliminaries, protection of communal areas and project management make up the balance.
Add the leasehold costs that sit outside the building contract: licence to alter fees of £1,500–£5,000 and any refundable deposit the managing agent requires.
The ranges overlap deliberately. A client who keeps the kitchen and bathroom in their existing positions, chooses mid-range tiles and decides everything before we start will land at the bottom of each line. Moving the bathroom across the flat can add £8,000 on its own.
How to keep a London flat renovation on budget
After hundreds of London flat projects, the pattern behind on-budget renovations is consistent, and none of it is complicated.
First, keep wet rooms where they are. Kitchens and bathrooms connected to the existing soil stack cost a fraction of relocated ones, and in a flat you often cannot move the stack at all without consent from every leaseholder it serves.
Second, resolve the licence to alter before signing a building contract. A builder waiting on freeholder consent is either costing you delay charges or has moved to another job.
Third, order long-lead items early. Kitchens, sanitaryware and flooring on six-week lead times must be ordered in week one, not when the first fix finishes.
Fourth, fix the specification in writing before work starts, down to tile names and tap models. Provisional cost sums are where budgets go to die; a fully specified contract is the single strongest predictor of an on-budget project.
Finally, hold a 10% contingency even in a flat. Unknowns are fewer than in an old house, but shared services and what sits beneath the existing floor remain unknowable until strip-out. If you would like a fixed, fully itemised quotation, call us on 020 3962 0455.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does a 2-bed flat refurbishment cost in London?
A full transformation of a 2-bed London flat costs around £85,000 at 2026 prices, covering a new kitchen, new bathroom, rewiring, replumbing, replastering, flooring and decoration. Light-to-mid refurbishment of the same flat runs £35,000–£55,000.
What does flat renovation cost per square foot in London?
Budget £200–£500 per square foot for a full renovation including new services, kitchen and bathrooms, or £120–£250 per square foot for light-to-mid work. Central boroughs and period conversions sit at the upper end of those ranges.
How much does a licence to alter cost?
Expect £1,500–£5,000 in total: the freeholder's legal and surveying fees (typically £1,000–£3,000, paid by you) plus your own drawings and specifications. Allow four weeks to four months for consent, and start before appointing a builder.
How much extra does renovating in Kensington & Chelsea or Westminster cost?
Full renovations in K&C and Westminster typically run £2,500–£3,500 per square metre, against £1,200–£1,800 for mid-range work elsewhere in London. A 75 square metre flat therefore budgets at £187,500–£262,500 for high-end central-borough work.
Do flats without a lift cost more to renovate?
Yes. Hand-carrying materials and waste up and down stairs adds roughly 5–10% to labour costs on upper-floor flats without lift access. On an £85,000 two-bed renovation that is £4,000–£8,000, which is why access should be visible as a line in any quote.