Cost per square metre is the most useful single figure for early-stage renovation budgeting. It lets you quickly test whether a project is financially viable before committing to architectural fees, surveys, or detailed specification. It is not a substitute for a formal tender, but it is a reliable sense-check.
The figures below are based on 2026 UK market rates including materials and labour, but excluding VAT (which is currently 20% on most renovation work, a significant addition for budget planning), professional fees, and structural engineer costs.1
What Affects Cost Per m²
Before looking at the figures, it is worth understanding what drives variation. A £1,200/m² kitchen renovation and a £1,200/m² full whole-house refurbishment are very different propositions, the kitchen includes expensive fittings concentrated in a small area; the whole-house rate covers much more floor area but with lower fitting density.
Key variables:
Finish level, the single largest driver. A budget bathroom at £4,500 in a 5m² space is £900/m²; the same space with floor-to-ceiling stone tiles, freestanding bath, and designer sanitaryware can reach £6,000–£9,000 (£1,200–£1,800/m²).
Extent of strip-out, a light cosmetic refurbishment (painting, new kitchen doors, new flooring) costs a fraction of a full gut-out to structure.
Services condition, if the electrical and plumbing installation needs full replacement, expect an additional £45–£75/m² of floor area for a whole-house rewire and replumb.
Structural complexity, removing load-bearing walls, adding RSJ steel beams, or underpinning adds £3,000–£15,000 per structural alteration, which is then spread across the floor area in the per-m² calculation.
Regional location, London rates typically run 20–35% above the South East, and 35–55% above the Midlands and North of England.
Renovation Cost Per m² by Finish Level
The table below uses gross internal floor area (GIFA), the total floor area of all floors within the external walls, measured to the internal face.2
| Finish Level | What Is Included | £/m² (GIFA) South East excl. London | £/m² (GIFA) London |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cosmetic / light refurbishment | Decoration, new flooring, new kitchen doors/worktops, bathroom re-seal. No structural work, no rewiring. | £650–£900 | £800–£1,150 |
| Standard refurbishment | Full redecoration, new flooring throughout, complete bathroom(s), complete kitchen (mid-range), partial rewire and replumb. | £950–£1,350 | £1,200–£1,700 |
| Full renovation (budget/mid spec) | Complete gut-out, full rewire and replumb, new boiler, full plastering, new kitchen and bathroom(s), new windows, flooring throughout. | £1,100–£1,600 | £1,400–£2,000 |
| Full renovation (mid/high spec) | As above with higher-specification finishes: stone worktops, tiled bathrooms, engineered timber floors, underfloor heating, bespoke joinery. | £1,500–£2,200 | £1,900–£2,800 |
| High specification | Bespoke kitchen, marble or large-format stone throughout, designer sanitary ware, smart home systems, significant architectural alteration. | £2,000–£3,000+ | £2,500–£4,000+ |
What These Figures Include and Exclude
Included in the £/m² rates above
- All labour (via main contractor or self-managed trades)
- Materials for the specified finish level
- Sanitary ware (bathrooms), fitted furniture (kitchen), and appliances at the stated specification level
- Floor finishes throughout
- Internal decoration (paint, minor plaster repairs)
- New internal doors and ironmongery at standard specification
Excluded (add separately)
| Item | Typical Cost | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| VAT | +20% on most works | Listed building alterations have been standard-rated since 1 October 2012 |
| Architectural fees | £3,000–£15,000 | Higher for complex projects with planning |
| Structural engineer fees | £800–£3,5003 | Per structural element; more for complex schemes |
| Party wall surveyor | £700–£2,500 | Where the Party Wall etc. Act 1996 applies |
| Building Regulations fees | £400–£1,500 | Depends on scope; full plans vs building notice |
| Planning application fees | £548 (householder)4 | From 1 April 2026; prior approval for a larger home extension is £249 |
| New windows and external doors | £1,200–£4,500/window | Excluded from most refurb rates; highly variable |
| Roof repairs or re-roofing | £4,000–£18,000 | Highly dependent on size and material |
| External landscaping | £3,000–£20,000+ | Not included in floor area calculation |
| Contingency | 15–20% of construction cost | Higher for period properties and structural unknowns |
The planning fees are the Planning Portal’s England schedule from 1 April 2026: £548 for a householder application and £249 for prior approval of a larger home extension.4 Approved alterations to listed dwellings have been standard-rated for VAT since 1 October 2012, when the zero rate was withdrawn.5
Structural Uplifts
Structural alterations are typically costed as discrete items rather than folded into a per-m² rate, because they do not scale with floor area in the same way:
| Structural Item | Typical Cost Range (2026) |
|---|---|
| Remove non-load-bearing stud wall | £300–£600 |
| Remove load-bearing wall, install RSJ up to 3m span | £2,500–£4,500 |
| Remove load-bearing wall, install RSJ 3–6m span | £4,000–£8,500 |
| Knock through chimney breast (ground floor) | £1,200–£2,500 |
| New opening in solid brick external wall | £1,500–£4,000 |
| Underpin single bay (1.2m) | £3,000–£6,500 |
These are before structural engineer fees and Building Control fees, which are additional.
Regional Multipliers
Using South East (excluding London) as a baseline of 1.0:
| Region | Approximate Multiplier |
|---|---|
| Inner London | 1.30–1.45 |
| Outer London | 1.15–1.30 |
| South East | 1.00 |
| South West | 0.90–1.00 |
| East of England | 0.90–1.00 |
| East Midlands | 0.80–0.90 |
| West Midlands | 0.80–0.90 |
| Yorkshire / Humber | 0.75–0.85 |
| North West | 0.78–0.88 |
| North East | 0.72–0.82 |
These are indicative. Labour rates in major regional cities (Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds) typically sit at the upper end of their regional range.
Worked Example: Three-Bedroom Victorian Terrace, South East
Property: 1890s terrace, 105m² GIFA over two storeys plus cellar (cellar excluded from GIFA for this calculation)
Scope: Full gut renovation including structural opening to create open-plan kitchen-diner, full rewire, replumb, new boiler, new kitchen, two bathrooms, engineered wood floors throughout, new windows, plastering, and decoration. Mid to high specification.
| Element | Cost |
|---|---|
| Construction cost (105m² at £1,750/m²) | £183,750 |
| Structural alteration (steel beam, opening) | £5,500 |
| New windows x 8 | £20,000 |
| Roof repairs | £6,500 |
| VAT at 20% | £43,150 |
| Architectural fees | £9,000 |
| Structural engineer | £2,500 |
| Building Control | £1,200 |
| Contingency (15%) | £27,562 |
| Total | £299,162 |
This is not an unusual budget for a full renovation of a Victorian terrace in the South East at above-average specification. The per-m² rate of £1,750/m² on the construction cost alone is reasonable for mid-to-high spec; the real total per m² including all fees and contingency is approximately £2,850/m².
Using £/m² Figures Sensibly
Per-m² figures are most useful for:
- Quickly testing whether a project has a realistic budget before incurring professional fees
- Comparing the rough cost of different scope options (e.g. extension vs loft conversion)
- Setting a contingency level (period properties: 15–20%; modern stock: 10–15%)
They should not be used to:
- Accept or reject a contractor’s tender (always get itemised quotes)
- Set a fixed budget for a contract without allowing for contingency
- Compare against costs from five or more years ago without inflation adjustment (construction output price inflation peaked at 10.5% in May 2022 and was 9.7% in the year to December 2022, then slowed to 2.6% in 2023, 3.0% in 2024 and 2.7% in 2025, ONS)6789
The most reliable approach is to use per-m² figures for initial viability testing, commission a detailed specification once the project is confirmed viable, and obtain a minimum of three competitive tenders on that specification before committing to a contract.
References (9)
Figures in this note were checked against the sources below on 7 September 2026. Superscript numbers in the text point to them. Every source the site cites, by topic.
- 1technicalvery strongHM Revenue & Customs (GOV.UK), guidance.RN-4W7T33Sets the three UK VAT rates: standard 20% on most goods and services, reduced 5% on some goods and services such as children's car seats and home energy, and zero 0% on zero-rated goods such as most food and children's clothes. The standard rate rose to 20% on 4 January 2011 from 17.5%. Some supplies are exempt rather than rated, including postage stamps and financial and property transactions. This is the reference for converting a merchant's ex-VAT trade quote into the figure a homeowner actually pays.
- 2technicalstrongRoyal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, a standard.RN-WL5GJTThe RICS Code of Measuring Practice, 6th edition, May 2015. Defines the area measurement bases: gross external area, gross internal area, net internal area, and how each is taken. This is the reason a cost per square metre has to say which area it is per: the same house measured GIA and GEA gives two different figures, and comparing a rate on one with an area on the other is a common and expensive mistake.
- 3costsupplier figureSBS Structural and Architectural Design.RN-OXEAC5A price, true at 2026-09. SBS Structural and Architectural Design publishing its own price guidance for this work. A trade supplier writing about what it charges is evidence of the market rate and not a quotation, and the cost book treats it as one figure among several rather than on its own
- 4technicalvery strongPlanning Portal, guidance.RN-M2KUCTThe Planning Portal's consolidated guide to planning application fees in England from 1 April 2026, built from the 2012 fees regulations as amended and MHCLG's annual indexation. More usable than the regulations themselves because it puts each application type next to its current fee and its definition. The statutory amounts are in the regulations; this is the readable index to them.
- 5technicalvery strongHM Revenue & Customs, guidance.RN-KBNHMBHMRC's main VAT notice for building work, last updated 26 August 2026. Sets out that construction of a new building and work to an existing building is normally standard rated at 20%, with exceptions: 0% for new qualifying dwellings and for housing association conversions of non-residential buildings, and 5% for a 'changed number of dwellings' conversion (section 7) and for renovation or alteration of a dwelling not lived in during the 2 years immediately before work starts (section 8, conditions at 8.1.2 and 8.3). Cites the law: VAT Act 1994 section 30 and Schedule 8 Group 5 for zero rating, section 29A and Schedule 7A Groups 6 and 7 for the reduced rate. Also explains the developer input tax block on goods that are not building materials (VAT (Input Tax) Order 1992 articles 2 and 6) and points self builders to the DIY housebuilders refund scheme.
- 6technicalvery strongOffice for National Statistics, a data sheet.RN-53CLY1The ONS construction output bulletin for December 2022, with new orders and the Construction Output Price Indices for Q4 2022. The OPI series is one of the indices used here to bring an old price to the present, and this bulletin is the published quarter rather than a summary of it.
- 7technicalvery strongOffice for National Statistics, a data sheet.RN-PE68P2ONS Construction Statistics, Great Britain, 2023: the annual compendium covering output value, new orders by sector, the number of firms, total employment and the Construction Output Price Indices. The background picture behind any statement about how busy the industry is, which is what actually moves domestic prices more than material costs do.
- 8technicalvery strongOffice for National Statistics, a data sheet.RN-E7ODEIThe ONS construction output bulletin for December 2024, with new orders and the Construction Output Price Indices for Q4 2024. Used as a dated point on the OPI series, including the housing repair and maintenance index, which is the right index for renovation work rather than for new build.
- 9technicalvery strongOffice for National Statistics, a data sheet.RN-22BTPBThe ONS construction output bulletin for December 2025, with new orders and the Construction Output Price Indices for Q4 2025. The most recent published quarter of the series, and therefore the end point when a historic price is brought forward.
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VAT rates, GOV.UK, accessed 7 September 2026. gov.uk
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Code of measuring practice, 6th edition (RICS guidance note, May 2015), Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, accessed 7 September 2026. rics.org
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Structural Engineer Cost London 2026 | Fees from £400 (Fixed Price), SBS Structural and Architectural Design, accessed 21 September 2026. Priced at 2026-09, so no calibration is needed. sbsstructures.co.uk
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A guide to fees for Planning Applications in England, from 1 April 2026, Planning Portal, accessed 7 September 2026. ecab.planningportal.co.uk
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Buildings and construction (VAT Notice 708), HM Revenue & Customs (GOV.UK), accessed 7 September 2026. gov.uk
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Construction output in Great Britain: December 2022, new orders and Construction Output Price Indices, October to December 2022, Office for National Statistics, accessed 7 September 2026. ons.gov.uk
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Construction statistics, Great Britain: 2023, Office for National Statistics, accessed 7 September 2026. ons.gov.uk
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Construction output in Great Britain: December 2024, new orders and Construction Output Price Indices, October to December 2024, Office for National Statistics, accessed 7 September 2026. ons.gov.uk
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Construction output in Great Britain: December 2025, new orders and Construction Output Price Indices, October to December 2025, Office for National Statistics, accessed 7 September 2026. ons.gov.uk
