Renovating a Victorian or Edwardian terrace in East London, to a standard you would be happy to live with for the next twenty years, generally costs between £80,000 and £300,000. A full bathroom starts from around £20,000. A kitchen from around £30,000. A side return with a new kitchen sits between £120,000 and £180,000. A whole-house refurbishment starts from roughly £150,000. Those are honest ranges, not a price list. The rest of this piece is about where the numbers come from, and what moves them.
We have written it because most renovation cost guides are close to useless. They quote a figure per square metre with no specification attached, or a headline total that turns out to describe a much smaller job than the one you have in mind. A number you cannot check is not information. It is decoration. So we have tried to give you ranges you can actually reason with, and we have told you what sits inside them.
What you are actually paying for
A renovation price is mostly labour, then materials, then the things people forget: the skip runs, the scaffold, the building control fees, the making-good after the trades have gone. On a period house, labour is the larger share, because the work is slower and more skilled than dropping units into a new-build shell. A wall that is not straight, a floor that is not level, and a ceiling held up by a hundred-year-old lath all take time to do properly, and time is the thing you are buying.
The materials figure moves more than any other line, because it is the one you control. The same bathroom can cost £20,000 or £40,000 depending only on the tile, the brassware and the sanitaryware. When we give a range, we are pricing a sensible middle. When you choose the specification, the number finds its place in that range, and sometimes moves beyond it. That is not a surprise cost. It is a choice, made with the price in front of you.
Costs by project type
The figures below are for work in East and North London terraces, done to the standard we work to, at 2026 prices. They exclude professional fees — architect, structural engineer, party wall surveyor, and planning permission — which are third-party costs that sit outside a builder's scope. Read them as the shape of a budget, not a quotation. The time side of the same projects — how long each one actually takes on site, and what living through it involves — is in our guide to how long a renovation actually takes.
A bathroom
A full bathroom refit in a period house — strip out, first fix, tiling, sanitaryware, second fix and making-good — typically runs from around £20,000, and more usually £25,000 to £35,000 once you are into good tile and brassware. The range is wide because a bathroom is almost all finish, and finish is where taste lives. Re-routing soil pipes or moving the room costs more than replacing what is already there.
A kitchen
A kitchen, supplied and fitted, generally starts around £30,000 and runs to £60,000 or beyond. The cabinetry is the swing: a good trade kitchen and a bespoke, hand-built one can differ by a factor of three for the same footprint. Add the knock-through, the steel and the replastering that usually come with a new kitchen, and you are into the internal remodelling numbers below.
Internal remodelling
Internal remodelling — a knock-through, a steel beam, a chimney breast removed, a hallway rethought — commonly costs between £25,000 and £70,000 depending on how much structure moves and how much reinstatement follows. This is often the most cost-effective way to get the space you want, because the room you are after is sometimes already inside the house, and no one has to build anything new to find it.
A loft conversion
A loft conversion on a typical terrace runs from around £60,000 to £100,000, depending on the dormer, the staircase, and whether it needs a bathroom. The staircase is frequently the hardest part on a narrow Victorian plan, and where the cost and the cleverness concentrate.
An extension
A side return infill or rear extension with a new kitchen, built to our standard, is typically £120,000 to £180,000, depending on the glazing, the kitchen itself and the finishes. Wraparounds run beyond that, toward £200,000 and up. On site, expect 14 to 20 weeks for a side return or rear extension, longer for a wraparound. We have written separately on extending a Victorian terrace if you want the detail.
A whole-house renovation
A full refurbishment of a three- or four-bedroom terrace — everything, room by room, finished completely — generally starts around £150,000 and runs to £300,000 or more. Where a house lands in that range depends on its size, its condition when we start, and the specification you choose. A house that needs rewiring, replumbing, new heating and structural attention before a single nice thing can go in it will cost more than one that only needs the nice things.
Period restoration
Standalone restoration work — a front elevation, sash windows, brickwork and repointing, a tiled path — starts from around £25,000 and rises with the scope of the frontage. A full external restoration of a terrace, done conservation-correctly, commonly sits between £40,000 and £90,000. This is careful, specialist work, and it is priced for the care rather than the speed.
Why a period house costs more than a new build
Much of what makes these houses worth living in is also what makes them cost more to renovate. Solid walls with no cavity. Lath-and-plaster ceilings that come down in sheets. Joist ends buried in damp brick. Services fitted by three different generations of tradesmen, none of whom spoke to the others. None of this is a defect to be alarmed by. It is simply the reality of a hundred-and-thirty-year-old building, and a fair price accounts for it rather than pretending it away. We have written about what hides behind the walls of a terrace, because the honest answer to "why is this more expensive than I expected" is usually in there.
Where the number moves
Three things move a renovation budget more than any others. The first is specification — the tile, the kitchen, the brassware, the ironmongery. This is within your control and should be priced with the choices in front of you, not decided later. The second is structure — what the house needs before it can have what you want. This is discovered, not chosen, and a good builder investigates it before quoting rather than after starting. The third is access and logistics — a house on a red route, a party wall on both sides, a basement with no rear access. London adds cost here that a detached house in the countryside never sees.
The cheapest quote is rarely the cheapest job
If one quote is markedly lower than the others, the usual reason is not generosity. It is a smaller scope, a lower specification, or a builder's allowance that will rise the moment you choose what you actually want. On a period house, work that is not genuinely unforeseen — old services, lath and plaster, joist ends — is sometimes left out of the price so it can come back as a variation once you are committed and the alternative is a half-finished house. We have written a full guide to reading a builder's quote, because the gaps in a quote tell you more than the total does.
How we price
We quote a written scope and a fixed price. Materials are agreed before they are ordered, changes are agreed before they are made, and the price you sign is the price you pay. That is only possible because we investigate the house before we quote it, rather than discovering it at your expense once the work has started. It is also why we charge what we charge: the certainty has to be built into the number, and it cannot be if the number is a guess.
The first consultation is free and lasts about an hour. If the room you want is already inside the house, we will tell you, even though we would be paid more to build the extension. Saying no to the wrong project early is the only way of saying yes to the right one properly.
Common questions about renovation costs
How much does a house renovation cost in East London?
Between roughly £80,000 and £300,000 for a terrace, done to a good and lasting standard. A bathroom starts from around £20,000, a kitchen from around £30,000, a side return with a kitchen from £120,000, and a whole-house refurbishment from roughly £150,000. The figure for a specific house comes as a written scope and a fixed price.
Why do Victorian and Edwardian houses cost more to renovate?
Because they carry conditions a new build does not — solid walls, lath and plaster, old joist ends, dated services, settlement and damp — and much of the value is in doing the hidden work correctly rather than covering it over. Conservation Area rules and party wall agreements can add to the scope as well.
How much does a side return extension cost?
Typically £120,000 to £180,000 with a new kitchen, depending on glazing, kitchen and finishes, with wraparounds running beyond that. Allow 14 to 20 weeks on site for a side return or rear extension.
Do you charge for a quote?
No. The first consultation, up to an hour, is free and without obligation. If we are not the right fit, we will say so, and we usually know someone who is.