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What Is the Cheapest Way to Renovate a House?

The cheapest renovation route focuses on cosmetic refresh — full decoration, replacement carpet/flooring, modern light fittings — without rewiring, replumbing or structural changes. Cost: £400–£800/m² in London (£40,000–£80,000 on a 100m² house). The next tier up replaces the kitchen and bathroom but keeps existing layouts, around £900–£1,400/m². Saving money on a renovation means keeping layouts and infrastructure; cost rises sharply when MEP is replaced.

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Cheapest renovation: cosmetic refresh

The cheapest renovation tier is a full cosmetic refresh: full redecoration (mist coat plus two top coats on walls and ceilings, gloss or eggshell on woodwork); replacement flooring (engineered laminate £25–£40/m² installed, mid-range carpet £35–£55/m²); modern light fittings and switch covers; new internal door handles (or new doors at £150–£400 each); replacement of any worn fittings (taps, shower head, basin sealants); deep clean and remedial work to existing finishes. No structural change, no MEP replacement, no kitchen or bathroom replacement. Cost £400–£800/m² in London. On a 100m² terrace: £40,000–£80,000. Ideal for a property that has been well-maintained but looks dated.

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Where to save vs where not to

Worth saving on: paint (Dulux Trade or Crown Trade matches Farrow & Ball performance at a third the price); engineered wood floor (mid-range Karndean or Quick-Step matches premium oak appearance); internal doors (oak veneer Howdens range at £180 each looks similar to solid oak at £600); tile (porcelain copies of Italian stone at a quarter the price); kitchen carcasses (Howdens or IKEA at half the cost of premium ranges with comparable build quality). Not worth saving on: electrical work (use a registered electrician — building regs require certification); plumbing (water leaks are expensive); structural work (always use a qualified structural engineer); roofing (cheap roofs leak); insulation (the long-term energy savings repay premium spec quickly).

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Cheap renovation pitfalls to avoid

Avoid these common cheap-renovation mistakes. (1) Skipping the survey — a £350 RICS condition report can identify issues that cost £15,000 to fix later. (2) DIY rewire — illegal without certification, will fail building control, will cause issues on sale and lender refusal. Use a registered electrician (NICEIC, NAPIT, ELECSA). (3) Cheap kitchen on bad infrastructure — fitting a £2,000 IKEA kitchen onto rotten floor or wet wall is throwing money away; resolve the substrate first. (4) Painting over damp — damp will come back through any paint. Treat the cause first (ventilation, gutters, missing damp proof course). (5) Single tradesman doing everything — generalist tradesmen rarely deliver good results across plumbing, electrics, plastering, joinery. Use specialists for each trade.

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Full House Renovations full guide →

What's the absolute cheapest renovation I can do?

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Full redecoration plus replacement flooring is the cheapest meaningful renovation tier — £400–£800/m² in London. It transforms how a tired house looks without touching kitchen, bathroom or services. On a 100m² house, expect £40,000–£80,000. Lower than that, and you're patching individual rooms, not renovating.

Should I do a renovation in stages to save money?

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Staged renovation lets you spread cost over years but typically increases total spend by 15–25% due to repeated setup costs (scaffold, skip, professional fees, contractor mobilisation). It works well if cash flow is the main constraint. Builderr quotes staged scopes if that's what you need.

Can I save money by managing the renovation myself?

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Project management is real work — typical contracts assume 10–18% of contract value for management. Self-managing can save this, but only if you have time, construction knowledge and the ability to chase trades. Most self-managed renovations overrun by 30–50% on time and 15–30% on cost. Hire a contractor with a fixed price if you can.

Is it cheaper to renovate or move?

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Compare moving costs to renovation costs. Moving costs: stamp duty (5–12% of new property price), estate agent fees (1.5–2.5% of sale), legal fees (£3,000–£8,000), removals (£2,000–£5,000). On a £600,000 home, moving costs £35,000–£60,000 — before any home improvement on the new property. A £100,000 renovation that adds £150,000 in value often beats moving on the maths.

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