Home Renovations London
Transform your London property with expertly managed home renovations, from single-room refurbishments to complete house overhauls.
Home renovation builders in London
Alstruct renovates houses across London, from a new kitchen and bathroom to a complete strip-out and rebuild of the interior. Most of our renovations are Victorian and Edwardian terraces, 1930s semis and period cottages, often combined with a rear extension or a loft conversion so the whole house is finished in one programme.
Every renovation is priced as a fixed, itemised written quote after a site visit, built under a JCT contract and covered by our 10-year workmanship warranty. We are CHAS Elite, Constructionline Gold and Federation of Master Builders (FMB) members, with £10 million public liability insurance.
At a glance: A full renovation of a typical two-storey London terrace costs £100,000–£220,000 for the construction work, a partial renovation (rewire, new heating, replastering and a bathroom) £45,000–£100,000, and a renovation combined with a rear or side extension £150,000–£350,000, before VAT and professional fees. A full house renovation takes 20–32 weeks on site. Internal work rarely needs planning permission, but building regulations apply to structural changes, rewiring, heating and new bathrooms. Full breakdown: Victorian terrace renovation cost guide.
Types of renovation we carry out
Full house renovation
A complete strip-out back to the brickwork and joists, then structural alterations, a full rewire and replumb, new heating, replastering, new kitchen and bathrooms, joinery and decoration. The right choice for a house that has not been updated for decades or a newly bought period home.
Partial renovation
The services and fabric without the full strip-out: rewiring, a new heating system, replastering and a new bathroom, with the layout kept as it is.
Layout changes and opening up
Removing or moving internal walls with steel beams to an engineer's design, to create an open-plan kitchen and living space or a better bedroom layout. See our guide to removing a load-bearing wall.
Kitchen and bathroom renovations
New kitchens and bathrooms with the plumbing, electrics, tiling and making good around them, as part of a wider renovation or on their own.
Renovation with an extension or loft
A full renovation combined with a house extension or loft conversion, so the strip-out, structure and services are done once.
Joinery and finishes
Fitted wardrobes, shelving, panelling, doors, skirting and staircases built for the house. See joinery and carpentry.
What a home renovation costs in London
These are the ranges from our 2026 renovation guide for a typical two-storey London terrace of 80–130 m². They cover the construction work only, before VAT at 20%; allow a further 15–20% for professional fees, planning and party wall costs on a full renovation.
| Scope | Typical London cost | What it includes | Time on site |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cosmetic refresh | £15,000–£40,000 | Decoration, flooring, new bathroom, kitchen update | 4–10 weeks |
| Partial renovation | £45,000–£100,000 | The above plus replastering, rewire and new heating | 12–20 weeks |
| Full renovation | £100,000–£220,000 | Complete strip-out and rebuild of the interior | 20–32 weeks |
| Full renovation with extension | £150,000–£350,000 | The above plus a rear or side extension | 24–36 weeks |
Indicative London ranges for 2026, construction only, excluding VAT and professional fees. Your quote is a fixed price for your house and your specification.
Scope moves the price more than anything else, then specification. Per square metre, a mid-range renovation is roughly £700–£1,100 and a full structural renovation £1,200–£2,000. In a period house the hidden items add up: a full rewire of a three-bedroom Victorian terrace is typically £10,000–£16,000 and a full new heating system £8,000–£15,000. Our Victorian terrace renovation cost guide sets out every line.
A fixed price, not a range
Get a fixed-price quote for your renovation
We visit, walk through the house with you and send an itemised quote on a JCT contract, with our 10-year workmanship warranty on the finished work.
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How a renovation runs with Alstruct
- Site visit and brief. We walk through the house with you, look at the structure, services and any damp, and agree what the renovation needs to achieve and the budget.
- Design, drawings and approvals. Where walls move or the outside changes, the drawings and structural calculations come first, then building regulations, any planning application and party wall notices.
- Fixed-price quote and JCT contract. An itemised quotation broken down by trade, on the JCT Minor Works Building Contract, with a defined programme and a clear process for any changes.
- Strip-out and structure. The house is protected, stripped out and opened up; steels, underpinning or repairs to the structure go in first.
- First fix. New wiring, plumbing, heating and drainage are run while the walls and floors are open.
- Plastering and second fix. Replastering, then kitchens, bathrooms, joinery, flooring, sockets and fittings.
- Decoration, snagging and sign-off. Decoration, a snagging walk-round with you, building control completion and electrical certificates.
- Handover and warranty. Our 10-year workmanship warranty starts at practical completion and passes to a new owner if you sell. The wording is in our terms and warranty.
Renovating a period home
Victorian and Edwardian houses need a different approach from newer ones. Original lead pipes, old wiring and cast iron soil stacks have to be replaced; rising and penetrating damp has to be diagnosed and treated, often with lime-based materials, before new plaster goes on; and lintels, roof timbers and foundations on London clay need checking. At Limehouse Cottage the lower walls were damp-proofed and tanked before replastering, and the original floorboards were kept, sanded and finished.
Period features are worth keeping where they can be saved: cornicing and ceiling roses, fireplaces, sash windows, timber floors and encaustic hall tiles. Our renovation guide gives typical repair and restoration costs for each.
Planning, building regulations and neighbours
Most internal renovation work needs no planning permission. You need it, or listed building consent, for a listed building, for external changes in a conservation area or under an Article 4 direction, and for extensions or loft conversions beyond permitted development. Our guides to conservation areas and permitted development in London cover the detail.
Building regulations apply to structural alterations, rewiring, new heating, new bathrooms and replacement windows, and we manage the inspections and certificates. Work on or near a shared wall, such as cutting in steels or underpinning, usually needs party wall notices; see our party wall agreement cost guide.
What is included
- Site visit and consultation
- Structural engineering calculations where walls move
- Building regulations approval and inspections
- Planning or listed building applications where required
- Party wall notices prepared and served
- Protection, strip-out and site preparation
- Structural alterations, steelwork and underpinning
- Damp treatment and replastering
- Full rewiring, plumbing and heating
- Kitchen and bathroom installation
- Joinery, flooring, tiling and decoration
- Snagging, completion certificates and handover
- 10-year workmanship warranty
Recent renovation projects
Each of these is a published case study with photographs taken after handover; more are in our projects portfolio.
Areas we cover
We renovate houses across London, including period terraces in Islington, Hackney, Clapham, Wimbledon, Hammersmith and Hampstead, and family homes in South Woodford, Wanstead, Walthamstow and Barnet. See all areas.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does a full house renovation cost in London in 2026?
A full renovation of a typical two-storey London terrace costs £100,000–£220,000 for the construction work, before VAT and professional fees. A cosmetic refresh is £15,000–£40,000, a partial renovation with a rewire, new heating and replastering £45,000–£100,000, and a full renovation combined with a rear or side extension £150,000–£350,000. Per square metre, allow roughly £700–£1,100 for a mid-range renovation and £1,200–£2,000 for a full structural renovation.
How long does a full house renovation take?
A full house renovation typically takes 20–32 weeks on site and a partial renovation 12–20 weeks. A kitchen renovation takes 6–10 weeks and a bathroom 3–6 weeks. Allow time before that for design, structural calculations and, where needed, planning permission or party wall notices.
Do I need planning permission to renovate my house?
Most internal renovation work does not need planning permission. You will need it, or listed building consent, if the house is listed, if you change the outside of a house in a conservation area or an Article 4 area, or if the renovation includes an extension or loft conversion beyond permitted development. Building regulations approval applies separately to structural alterations, rewiring, new heating and new bathrooms.
Can we live in the house during a renovation?
For a kitchen or bathroom renovation, usually yes. For a full renovation with structural work, a rewire and new plumbing, most families move out for at least part of the programme, because the house will be without power, water or heating at times. We plan the sequence with you before the start.
Do you renovate period and listed properties?
Yes. Most of our renovations are Victorian and Edwardian terraces, 1930s semis and period cottages, such as Archway Victorian Terrace and Limehouse Cottage in E14. We keep original features where they can be saved, deal with damp properly before new finishes go on, and work with a conservation architect where a listed building needs one.
Can a renovation be combined with an extension or loft conversion?
Yes, and it is often the most efficient way to do it, because the strip-out, structural work and services are done once. Most of our published projects combine a full renovation with a rear extension, a side extension or a loft conversion under one JCT contract.