If you're considering renovating your home, there's a lot to think about. We spoke to Holly Herbert from webuyanyhouse.co.uk to find out what you need to know about house renovation costs.
What is the cost of renovating a house?
The cost of renovating is difficult as it will depend on the level you’re looking at – you can renovate a kitchen to a high standard for around £7,000, but a bathroom can be somewhere around the £5,000 mark – that can be dramatically lowered if you’re not replacing the whole room, though. If you’re looking to build an extension, it depends on the size and the material – putting up a glass conservatory is much cheaper than building a full new room and having to wire it, for example.
What factors affect the cost of renovating a house?
The factors that affect the cost can include:
The condition of the property – if there’s damp uncovered during the work, this will add more to the job and end up increasing the cost, as well as if there’s any evidence of subsidence.
Materials will also play a part – replacing kitchen worktops with laminate is much cheaper than marble.
It can also be lowered if you’re able to do some yourself – some homeowners will rip out the old room to save labourers a job, and lower the price.
What is the average cost of renovating a 3-bedroom house?
The average cost of renovating a 3-bed will differ depending on location and quality, as well as the factor of who you know playing in that can often keep costs a bit lower.
I know someone who recently had their bathroom redone and had it almost 2k cheaper due to a family relation and doing a lot of the footwork themselves, as well as accepting it to be done between other jobs so it took longer. Realistically, for a full house reno, I’d aim a guess at around £50,000 but this could vary massively.
What sort of labour costs can I expect?
It’s all about doing research. Get three or four quotes and see how they compare, if one is drastically lower it’s usually a sign to avoid that company, so look at the more consistent ones.
A plasterer will generally cost more for a day than a bricklayer, but they will also be done faster, so it’s a difficult comparison to make. The rule of thumb is to put 15-20 per cent of the cost into the labour of the final job, but again, can be very different depending on who you’re working with.
What are the additional costs of renovating a house?
Decorating should be taken into consideration, as people will sometimes forget that. You’ll likely end up getting new furniture for certain rooms too – renovating is generally the building work and installation, and doesn’t refer to the furnishing of the place.
How long does it take to renovate a house?
Again, this depends on the amount of damage previously. If the house was in a relatively good state of repair, just needs updating, it will probably be faster than one that has been fire or water damaged. It also depends on the labourers at hand – if there are material delivery delays or shortages that can cause setbacks, and especially now with the risk of having to isolate which can put work back for two weeks, timing is difficult to pin down. You can also run into delays if you need planning permission and have to wait for that to come back.
What are the benefits of renovating my house?
You can increase your house value dramatically, with features like an extra bedroom adding 20 per cent, and a new kitchen or bathroom up to 10 per cent depending on the quality.
It can also massively improve quality of life, especially for someone who was struggling physically and had changes made to suit them – getting rid of baths for walk-in showers, ramps instead of stairs at the front and rear, etc.