How Much Does It Cost To Renovate a House?
Here’s our useful guide to house renovation costs. If you are thinking about when you should consider improvements to your home or if you want to buy a fixer-up property as your first home, then our “How much does it cost to renovate a house?” is the perfect place to start. An important decision is assessing the likely cost of the renovation, as well as the typical costs for any house renovation task, especially that in 2022 we are still “feeling” a building material crisis.
Most people will renovate their house at least once in their lifetime. For others, it could be something they do more than once. People renovate their house for a variety of reasons: to increase the value of the property, make more space for a bigger family, or if they are first-time buyers who are purchasing a house to renovate.
Home renovations or refurbishments can be a more cost-effective solution than moving altogether. Renovations not only increase the efficiency, value and comfort of your home but also makes the property your own and lend a new sense of belonging.
Renovation is undoubtedly cheaper than new construction, but it can still cost you a significant amount of money. Estimating your renovation cost will help you plan your finances better and make the renovation process less cumbersome.
Benefits of renovating your house:
- Renovations costs less. A well-planned renovation project can cost a lot less than upgrading to a new home, especially if is done in stages. Also, can be seen as a long term investment, as with upgrading your home, most likely the overall house price will increase.
- Create your perfect environment. You will be able to add your personal touches, requirements and home improvements to in order to make you feel “at home”.
- Keep enjoying your home and neighbourhood. Renovating means you can keep living in the home and area that you know and love. There’ll be no adjusting to a new house, new commute or new neighbours.
Sometimes homeowners choose to do their renovations themselves. This is a smart way to save your money, but not all renovations can be ‘DIY-ed’. Electrical issues, roof leaks, cracks in beams and floors are just a few of the issues that must be handled professionally to keep your family safe.
Unless you’re experienced in these matters, you must spend a good amount of money to renovate your home. In this article, we outline typical renovations and how much they may cost.
The final cost depends on a lot of things really!
This article will cover:
- Should I Renovate or Move?
- How much would Cost to Give your House a Facelift?
- How much would Cost to Replace the Boiler and Heating?
- How much would Cost to Replace the Windows and Doors?
- How much would Cost to Renovate my Kitchen?
- House Renovation Cost of a New Bathroom
- Structural Changes or Repairs Costs
- How much would Cost a New Roof?
- Always get an Expert to Assess the House
- Factors Affecting the House Renovation Costs
- How Long does Renovation Take?
- Average Cost of Renovating a 3-Bedroom House in 2022
The cost of home renovation will depend on several factors such as the size of your house, the amount of renovation work needed, the kind of materials you chose and how much D.I.Y are you willing to take on.
So, the good news is that you’re the best judge in deciding what needs renovating, however, you need to make sure you’re getting sound advice from experts when it comes to technical issues like electricals, plumbing and structural integrity of the house.
Need A Free Estimate?
- Fully qualified RICS professional surveyor
- Affordable, fast and thorough surveys
- Clear, precise and easy to understand report
A quick and easy way to improve your house is to improve the way it looks, and that means getting a paint job. A newly painted facade will make your house appear new from the outside. Painting the inside is a bit more work when compared to the outside.
But if you’re renovating, we recommend you do both the inside and the outside together. If you’re up for it, you can save money by painting the inside of the house yourself. Depending on whether scaffolding is required, repainting the exterior of a standard three-bedroom semi-detached house might cost anywhere from £1000 to £1,500.
Boiler and radiators are going to be the most basic renovations for you. If you’re buying an old house, then it is likely that you will want to upgrade them. A new boiler can cost you around £2,500, while new pipework can raise the total price with another £1,500 (depends on pipe length, type and complexity). Investing in upgrading the heating is one of those things that will contribute significantly towards increasing your home value.
If you live in a Listed Building, your first thought would be that you need new wooden windows. Keep in mind that new windows and doors will cost you significantly more than refurbishing the old one. Keep in mind when you put together your renovation budget that you can actually refurbish your existing windows as well.
To maintain a uniform interior design, you will have to make sure the windows match each other. So, if you replace one, you will end up replacing all. A rough estimate per window is £500. Doors can be around £800.
Of course, if your home has UPVC doors and windows, then changing them will be cheaper than wood or wood composite doors/windows.
The kitchen is going to be one of the most expensive items of your project. A beautiful new kitchen will transform your house and increase its value. The average house renovation cost for a new kitchen is between £10,000 to £20,000. However, this cost can go much higher depending on your material and design choices.
After the kitchen, the other most expensive item on your renovation list is going to be getting a new bathroom. But the average cost for a bathroom renovation will be £6,000 per bathroom.
Again, the cost for this will depend on your choices. If your intention for the home renovation is to increase the property value, we recommend that you do this. A good bathroom is high on the priority list for home buyers.
If you discover that you need to make some structural changes, this is not good news. Structural repairs are expensive, and they will depend on the site-specific damage. However, if you’ve purchased your house with caution, you could be dealing with minor damages, and most can be covered under £7,000- £10,000.
One of the biggest house renovation costs can arise is replacing your roof. If your survey has suggested you need a new roof then prepare to pay anywhere between £4,500-£14,000 depending on the size of your property and the extent of the work needed. (subject to tile type, roof surface and roof structure being replaced – for example rafters which are splitted)
Consider replacing the guttering and fascia boards if you are paying already for scaffolding due to a new roof.
Before you start living in a house you need to be sure that your new house is structurally safe. You need to be sure of issues like dampness, leaks in the roof, wires or pipes, and the integrity of walls and beams.
If you have any doubts about these matters, a professional house surveyor should be consulted. A house surveyor will conduct a thorough examination of the property’s condition.
They will then let you know if there are any major repairs or changes that need to be made to your house. This survey can cost you around £1,000, but the resulting peace of mind and sense of direction will be worth it.
Need A Free Estimate?
- Fully qualified RICS professional surveyor
- Affordable, fast and thorough surveys
- Clear, precise and easy to understand report
As mentioned before, a house renovation cost can be long, costly and be influenced by many factors. Some of the main ones are:
- Property size
- Age and condition of the property
- Complexity of renovation
- Craftsmanship
- Quality of materials, fixtures and finishings
- Property location
Many of these most common renovations can be done in a relatively short period of time. However, once in a while roadblocks can be occur depending on your project complexity, if requires planning permission or not, or if structural issue have been discovered, etc.
We highly praise to start your renovation project having some realistic expectations in terms of costs and timeline. Here are some rough timings for how long a renovation can take:
- Kitchen complete renovation: 3 – 12 weeks
- Kitchen update: 1 – 3 weeks
- New bathroom: 3 – 5 weeks
- New heating system: 1 week
- New doors and windows: 1 – 3 days
- New roofing: 3 – 10 days (highly dependent on weather)
The average cost of renovating a 3-bedroom house, in 2022, can range anywhere from £55,000 to £78,750. Please see our house renovation costs breakdown, as follows (costs per elements, to help you see which costs you might want to mix and match for your project):
- A new heating system could cost about £4,500. There may be additional costs if you need to do any major work to extend the gas supply line.
- The cost of rewiring a house is in the region of £5,000. That price will depend on the complexity of the electrical system and the size of the property.
- Installing a new set of windows will average cost of about £4,750.
- Replastering walls will add a cost of between £2,500 all the way to £10,000+ (depending on sqm and/or hourly rate – a medium room to be replastered including the ceiling will cost you around £700 and can take up to 3 days)
- Installing a new toilet downstairs (including tiling for the floor and distribution pipework and waste) will cost around £1,250.
- A new kitchen will cost between £10,000 – £20,000. That often includes the cost of design, the supply of materials and installation.
- A new family bathroom will cost you around £6,000.
- If you’re looking to install French doors, on average will cost you £2,500 (including the doors, lintels, brickwork and plasterwork).
- Sometimes, a kitchen extension will be desired. A 4-metre kitchen extension with floor space of roughly 12 m2 and a flat roof comes at an average cost of £23,000.
- If you’re renovating a house and you want to open your living room, by knocking partially a non-structural wall, that will cost you about £1,750.
For many homeowners, the reality is that you will find issues with the house only after you’ve bought it. Many unexpected things may come up. When hopping through the market, looking at properties to buy, most of us do not really pay enough attention to small, yet important, details like house wiring, or kitchen design, bathroom drains, or power outlets.
You may have thought about the cost of new tiles, but there is a cost associated with removing old tiles as well. The cost of renovating will not only be related to fitting new things but also removing old fittings.
So, it is best if you can plan the renovation before you get started with the project. We hope our quick guide will help you with your project planning.
Written by Danil P.
29th Nov 2021 (Last updated on 3rd Jan 2023)
11 minute read
