Cladding and render are what most people actually mean when they talk about “doing the outside” of a house — and in 2026 the cost gap between options is enormous. A full re-render of a typical semi runs £4,500–£15,000 depending on the system, while timber or composite cladding on the same elevation can cost £3,000–£15,000+ supplied and fitted. Stripping old pebbledash before you start adds another £4,500–£8,000 on top, and that’s before you’ve decided whether to add insulation underneath either finish.
The right choice depends on more than looks. Render needs the correct substrate and coat system to avoid cracking; cladding needs a ventilated cavity, the right fixings and the correct fire classification depending on building height; and external wall insulation changes the numbers again by adding 80–200 mm to the wall build-up and pushing U-values down to meet Part L. Get any of these wrong and the failure mode is the same — trapped moisture, cracking, or a facade that needs redoing within a decade rather than lasting the 30–50 years it should. This guide brings together our cladding and render library — materials, render systems, real costs per m², planning and fire rules, and the maintenance that keeps either looking good for decades.
Cladding Materials Compared
Material choice sets both the look and the ongoing maintenance bill, and the right answer depends heavily on how much upkeep you’re willing to commit to. Timber cladding compares treated softwood, cedar and larch from £18–£55/m² installed, with maintenance intervals ranging from 3 years for painted softwood to 15+ years for cedar left to weather naturally. Thermowood cladding cost covers the kiln-modified alternative that needs no preservative treatment at all, at roughly £80–£160/m² installed — a premium that buys you 30–50 years of service life with none of the re-staining that softwood demands. Where fire performance is a regulatory requirement rather than a preference, such as on taller buildings or where a planning condition specifies it, fibre cement cladding achieves a non-combustible A2 fire rating for £25–£60/m², with no rot or insect risk to worry about either. And for a brick appearance on a timber-frame or insulated wall that can’t carry a structural outer leaf, brick slips cost £60–£120/m² depending on whether they’re adhesive-fixed or mechanically clipped.
Render Systems Explained
Render performance depends on getting the whole system right, not just the top coat you see. Types of render compares traditional sand-cement at £15–£25/m² against monocouche and silicone thin-coat systems at £20–£55/m², and explains why the modern systems crack far less on insulated substrates than a traditional wet-trade mix does on solid brick. None of that holds up without the groundwork beneath it, though: render beads covers the stop beads, angle beads and fibreglass mesh reinforcement that control movement at every edge and junction — the detail that separates a render finish that lasts decades from one that hairline-cracks and lets water in within a couple of winters.
Cladding & Render Costs per m²
For whole-house budgeting, house cladding cost puts every material side by side — £30–£55/m² for render-based systems up to £80–£150/m² for timber or composite boards, including battens, breather membrane and labour, so you can compare like-for-like rather than just the headline material price. House rendering cost breaks the same job down by house size instead of material, from £2,500–£4,500 for a 1-bed terrace to £7,000–£14,000+ for a 3–4 bed detached, with scaffold hire alone typically adding £1,200–£2,500 and a further 20–35% on top of all these figures in London and the South East.
Planning, Fire Safety & Insulation Rules
Cladding and render aren’t purely cosmetic choices — building height and thermal targets both constrain what you can specify, and the rules have tightened considerably in recent years. Taller residential buildings face combustibility restrictions on the whole external wall build-up that a single-storey extension simply doesn’t, so fire classification is worth checking before you fall in love with a particular finish. Conservation areas and listed buildings add a separate layer of constraint: render colour, texture and even the mix ratio can be a planning condition rather than a preference, so it’s worth confirming with your local authority before a contractor starts hacking off an existing finish. Where you’re adding insulation at the same time as re-cladding or re-rendering — usually the most cost-effective moment to do it — external wall insulation covers the U-values needed for Part L compliance and the render or brick-slip finishes that go over the top, typically £90–£160/m² installed for the complete system.
Maintenance & Removal
Not every cladding or render job is new-build spec — a lot of it is fixing what’s already there rather than starting from scratch. Removing pebbledash cost sets out what it costs to hack off and re-render an existing pebbledash finish: £30–£65/m², or £4,500–£8,000 all-in for a typical three-bed semi, plus the cost of making good any render or brickwork damage the old coating was hiding underneath it. It’s worth budgeting generously for — most of the uncertainty in a quote comes from what the contractor finds once the old coating is off, not from the labour of removing it.
| System | Installed Cost (2026) | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Sand-cement render | £15–£25/m² | Traditional 3-coat |
| Monocouche/silicone render | £20–£55/m² | Lower crack risk |
| Render + external wall insulation | £90–£160/m² | Adds Part L-compliant insulation |
| Fibre cement cladding | £25–£60/m² | A2 fire rating |
| Timber cladding | £18–£55/m² | Species-dependent |
| Thermowood cladding | £80–£160/m² | No preservative treatment needed |
| Brick slips | £60–£120/m² | On EWI or timber frame |
| Pebbledash removal + re-render | £30–£65/m² | Strip and re-coat |
[!tip] Match the System to the Substrate, Not Just the Look A render or cladding system specified for the wrong substrate — solid brick treated like a modern insulated block wall, or vice versa — is the single most common cause of early cracking and damp. Always ask your contractor which system they’re specifying and why it suits your wall build-up, not just which finish you’ve picked from a colour chart.
Where to Start
If you’re comparing cladding against render for a full elevation, start with house cladding cost and house rendering cost side by side to see where your budget lands. If you’re stripping an existing finish first, removing pebbledash cost is the place to start.
