Full house refurbishment in London
A full house refurbishment takes a property back to its structure and rebuilds it: new services, repaired fabric, new kitchen and bathrooms, and finishes throughout. This guide sets out the stages in the order they have to happen, what needs consent, and the variables that decide cost and duration — so you can plan a realistic programme before anyone quotes.
The stages, in order
Survey and condition report
Measured survey, drainage and damp checks, structural condition, and the state of the existing electrics, heating and water. This is where the real scope of a refurbishment is decided.
Design and scope
Layout changes, structural openings, bathroom and kitchen positions, and a written room-by-room specification. A refurbishment priced without a written scope is a guess.
Consents and notices
Planning or listed building consent where the works are external or protected, building control notification, party wall notices for structural work on shared walls, and freeholder consent for flats.
Strip-out
Removal of finishes, old services and anything not being retained, with protection for items that are. Hidden defects normally surface in this week or two, so a contingency belongs in the budget.
Structure and fabric
Steel for removed walls, floor repairs and levelling, roof and window works, damp and timber treatment, and insulation upgrades while the fabric is open.
First fix services
Electrical, plumbing, heating, ventilation and data routed before anything is closed up. Underfloor heating, waste falls and extract runs are all easier now than later.
Plaster, screed and substrates
Boarding, plaster, screeds and tanking to wet areas. Drying time is real time — it belongs on the programme rather than being absorbed by optimism.
Second fix and finishes
Joinery, kitchen and bathroom installation, flooring, tiling, doors, ironmongery, sanitaryware, light fittings and decoration.
Commissioning, sign-off and snagging
Heating balanced, systems tested and certified, building control completion, then a documented snagging list worked through before handover.
Planning and building regulations
Internal refurbishment of an unlisted house usually falls outside planning control, but building regulations still apply to structural alterations, electrical work, heating, drainage, insulation upgrades, fire safety and ventilation. Notifiable work is either run through a full plans application or a building notice, and completion certificates matter when you come to sell.
Consent gets more involved where the building is listed — interior fabric can be protected — or in a conservation area, where windows, roofs and external finishes are controlled. Flats need the freeholder's licence to alter, and structural work on a shared wall requires party wall notices with a statutory notice period, so those start early rather than the week before mobilisation.
What drives cost and duration
Property size and layout
Floor area sets the baseline; the number of wet rooms and the amount of layout change move it more than square metres alone.
Condition on day one
Damp, failed roofs, old wiring and settlement are discovered in strip-out. A contingency is not pessimism, it is arithmetic.
Structural scope
Every removed wall means steel, padstones, calculations, building control and often a party wall award.
Services replacement
A full rewire and new heating system is normal in an unmodernised house and is a substantial share of the total.
Specification
Joinery, stone, glazing and sanitaryware choices move the finished figure further than any other single decision.
Access and logistics
Parking suspensions, skip licences, protected routes and restricted working hours all cost time in central London.
We do not publish fixed prices for whole-house work, because the honest figure depends on condition and scope. The instant quotation tool gives an indicative range for budgeting; a real price follows a survey and a written scope.
Refurbishment questions
What counts as a full house refurbishment?
Work across the whole property rather than one room: usually strip-out, structural alterations, a full rewire and new heating, replastering, new kitchen and bathrooms, joinery, flooring and decoration throughout. If the services are staying and only two rooms change, it is a partial refurbishment.
Do I need planning permission to refurbish a house?
Internal refurbishment of an unlisted house normally does not need planning permission, but it does need building control for structural, electrical and heating work. Listed buildings need listed building consent for internal alterations too, conservation areas control external changes, and flats need the freeholder's licence to alter.
How long does a full house refurbishment take in London?
Programmes are measured in months rather than weeks, and the design and consent stage often takes as long as the site work. Drying times after screed and plaster, party wall notice periods and lead times on joinery and glazing are the three things most likely to extend a programme.
Can we live in the house during a full refurbishment?
Usually not while services are being replaced and floors are open. Some clients move out for the structural and first-fix phase and return for finishes; on larger houses a floor can sometimes be sealed off and separately serviced.
In what order should the work be done?
Strip-out, then structure and fabric, then first fix services, then plaster and screed, then second fix and finishes, then commissioning and snagging. Bringing finishes forward to see progress sooner is the most common and most expensive mistake.
How is a refurbishment priced?
We price from a written scope after a survey rather than from a rate alone. For early budgeting, our quotation tool models whole-property work from an indicative £420 per m² at standard specification, before property, area and urgency factors and VAT.