Residential
House renovation and refurbishment in London
A whole-house job is a sequencing problem before it is a building problem. One crew, one programme and one price covering structure, services, kitchen, bathrooms and finishes.
- Fixed-price contract
- Principal contractor, CDM 2015
- In-house crew
Updated October 2026
A house renovation in London strips a property back and rebuilds it: structural alterations, rewiring, replumbing, new kitchen and bathrooms, insulation, joinery and decoration. A full refurbishment is run as one contract in a fixed sequence. MO Team runs it from survey to handover with one site manager, and its own team does the main trades.
What a full refurbishment covers
A property refurbishment is for a house that needs everything at once: a buyer taking on a tired Victorian terrace, a landlord bringing a flat up to a lettable standard, or a family finally doing the whole thing rather than one room a year. It usually means opening walls and ceilings, replacing the electrics and the plumbing, altering the layout, and finishing every room. Done as separate jobs over several years it costs more, because each trade disturbs the last one's work. Done once it is cheaper per room and quicker per week. The house renovation cost guide sets out typical London prices per square metre and per property, from published sources.
The order is the entire job. We survey the house, agree the layout, get the structural and approval work moving, then run strip-out, structure, first fix, plaster, second fix and decoration in that sequence, with one site manager holding the programme. Getting it out of order is where money goes: plastering before the drainage is tested, or fitting a kitchen before the floor build-up is settled. On London stock there are specific traps. Victorian terraces hide failed damp courses, undersized joists and cloth-covered wiring behind plaster that looks sound. Artexed ceilings and old floor tiles in a pre-2000 house can contain asbestos, which is a survey and a licensed removal rather than a surprise on day two. In a conservation area or under an Article 4 direction, replacing windows and front doors is controlled even though the work is inside. A flat adds a freeholder, a licence to alter, and building management rules on hours, lifts and waste.
One crew is what makes a fixed price on a refurbishment mean anything. Our own team does the main trades, on one programme, so when the strip-out reveals something, the variation is priced and agreed before the next trade is stood down. You get one contract, weekly updates whether or not there is news, and a handover pack rather than a hunt for certificates six months later.
What a house renovation includes
The scope below is the usual shape of a whole-house refurbishment. Every line is named and priced in the specification before anything starts.
What is in the price
How it runs
- 01
Survey and schedule
We walk the house room by room, record what is there, test what we can, and write a schedule of work that says what happens in each space. This is where the budget conversation is honest rather than optimistic.
- You receive
- A room-by-room schedule of work and a budget range
- 02
Approvals and fixed price
Layout changes agreed and, where structural, designed by the engineer engaged for the job, building control lodged, party wall notices served where the Act applies, and a written specification priced line by line. Nothing is ordered until you have accepted it.
- You receive
- Submitted applications and a fixed-price contract
- 03
Strip-out and structure
Protection up, then strip-out, asbestos removal where the survey found it, structural openings and floor work. Everything uncovered is priced as a variation before it is built.
- You receive
- A stripped and structurally complete shell, inspected
- 04
First fix, plaster and second fix
Electrics, plumbing, heating and drainage in, insulation and boarding, then plastering. Kitchen, bathrooms, joinery and floor finishes follow in the order that stops one trade damaging another.
- You receive
- A finished house ready for decoration, with test certificates
- 05
Decoration, snagging and handover
Decoration, a joint snagging walk rather than a list handed over, and the certificate pack assembled as a set.
- You receive
- Completion certificate, electrical and gas certificates, manufacturers' warranties
Regulations that apply to a refurbishment
Related
Further reading
Common questions
Straight answers.
Not answered here?
Tell us what you are planning. We read every enquiry ourselves.
Ask us directly07424 445105It is driven by floor area, how much structure moves, and whether the services are replaced or patched. A cosmetic refresh and a full refurbishment of the same house are different projects with different numbers. Our cost guides break down where the money goes room by room. We give a range after the first walk-round and a fixed price once the schedule of work is agreed.
For a small flat with sound services and no structural change, it can cover a great deal. For a three-bed house needing a rewire, a replumb, a kitchen, two bathrooms and structural work, it will not. The useful question is which rooms and which systems the budget reaches. Tell us the figure early and we will tell you what it buys before you commission drawings.
The parts you cannot see. A full rewire and replumb, structural openings with steels, drainage alterations and floor build-ups usually account for more than the kitchen and bathrooms that people budget for first. Fittings are easy to price and easy to change; buried services are neither, which is why they belong in the fixed price rather than in a provisional sum.
Internal work rarely needs planning permission, but Building Regulations apply regardless. Permission does come into it if you change the external appearance, convert the house into flats, or alter a listed building. In a conservation area or under an Article 4 direction, window replacement and front elevation changes are controlled. We confirm the position for your address before pricing.
It depends on the size of the house and whether it is empty or occupied, so we give you a programme with the quote. Occupied work is slower because the sequence has to keep a kitchen, a bathroom and a bedroom usable at every stage rather than following the fastest order.
Often yes, and it costs time rather than quality. We phase the work floor by floor, keep one bathroom and a working kitchen at all times, and seal the working areas. Expect the water and power to go off on named days. Where a full rewire and a replumb happen at once, most households find a few weeks away cheaper than the extra weeks on the programme.
Yes. We build from your architect's or designer's drawings and price against them, and a structural engineer is engaged where the job needs one. It suits projects where the design is settled before a contractor is chosen, and we raise anything that will be difficult or costly to build before the price is agreed.
Both change what is possible and how long consent takes. A listed building needs listed building consent for internal alterations as well as external ones, and unauthorised work is an offence rather than a planning breach. In a conservation area, windows, doors, roof materials and front elevations are controlled. We establish the designation for the address at the survey and build the consent period into the programme.
Renovating a whole house?
Send the address, the floor plans if you have them, and what you want each room to become. We will come back with a realistic scope and range.