Partial and Half-House Refurbishments in London: What to Expect

There are several good reasons to refurbish a house in phases rather than all at once:

**Budget**: A full house refurbishment in London can cost £100,000–£300,000+. Phasing the work allows costs to be spread over time.

**Liveability**: A full house refurbishment typically requires the occupants to move out for 3–6 months. A phased approach allows families to remain in part of the house while work proceeds in another section.

**Priority**: Some areas of the house need immediate attention while others can wait. A ground floor that has an outdated kitchen, dark layout, and poor M&E systems might be the urgent priority, while the upstairs bedrooms are functional and can wait.

**Risk management**: Phasing allows lessons learned in Phase 1 to be applied in Phase 2, reducing the risk of specification errors or contractor performance issues affecting the entire property.

The most common partial refurbishment packages in London are:

**Ground floor refurbishment (most common)** Typically covering: kitchen, dining room, living room, hallway, ground floor WC. Often combined with a rear extension or structural alterations to open up the ground floor layout. This is the highest-return partial refurbishment in most London terraced and semi-detached houses.

Typical scope: Strip out, structural alterations (if required), new kitchen, new flooring throughout ground floor, replastering and decoration, new electrics and lighting, new heating and radiators, new ground floor WC.

Typical cost (without extension): £35,000–£80,000 depending on size and specification.

**Kitchen and bathroom package** Combining a kitchen renovation with one or two bathroom renovations is a common phased approach for recently purchased properties that need both but where the budget does not stretch to a full refurbishment. Kitchen and bathrooms are the highest-value improvements from a resale perspective.

Typical cost: £25,000–£60,000 for kitchen plus two bathrooms at mid-range specification.

**First floor refurbishment** Covering bedrooms and bathrooms, often combined with a loft conversion to create additional bedroom space. First floor work typically includes: bathroom renovation, bedroom decoration and flooring, en-suite creation if space allows, window replacement, and sometimes structural opening for an en-suite access.

Typical cost: £20,000–£50,000 depending on bathroom specification and scope.

**Investment property refurbishment** For landlords, a targeted refurbishment focuses on durability, compliance, and kerb appeal rather than high specification. The scope typically covers: repainting, new flooring, updated kitchen and bathroom, EICR and gas safety compliance works, new boiler if required, and decoration throughout.

Typical cost: £15,000–£40,000 for a 2–3 bedroom London flat.

The biggest risk in a partial refurbishment is scoping the works incompletely — either doing too little in the first phase (leaving things that will need redoing when Phase 2 starts) or failing to account for the interface between phases.

Key interface questions to resolve before starting Phase 1:

**Services**: If you are refurbishing the ground floor only, do the upstairs bathrooms share the same soil stack or water supply? If you are rewiring the ground floor, does the wiring route through first-floor voids that will need to be opened again in Phase 2?

**Finishes**: If you are laying new flooring on the ground floor, does it terminate at the foot of the stairs in a way that will work with whatever you choose to do upstairs later?

**Heating**: If you are replacing the boiler and heating system on Phase 1, is the system sized and routed for the eventual full-house specification?

**Structural**: If Phase 1 includes structural alterations (opening walls), are Phase 2 structural elements accounted for — particularly any ground-to-first-floor penetrations for new services?

A good contractor or design-and-build team will help you map out these interfaces before Phase 1 starts, so you avoid expensive repetition work in Phase 2.

Many London families undertake partial refurbishments while living in the property — using the phased approach specifically to avoid the need to move out. Managing this requires coordination and clear rules:

**Dust and debris management**: Even a ground floor refurbishment generates significant dust that penetrates throughout the house. Temporary door seals, HEPA-filter dust extractors, and daily cleaning of work zones are essential for a liveable construction site.

**Contractor access hours**: Confirm working hours before the project starts. Standard London residential construction hours are 8am–6pm Monday to Friday, 8am–1pm Saturday, no noisy works on Sundays or bank holidays. Discuss whether the site will be secured daily and what access arrangements apply.

**Kitchen planning**: If the kitchen is being refurbished, plan alternative cooking and washing arrangements. A temporary kitchen (electric hotplate, microwave, and sink in another room) allows the family to remain on-site during a 4–6 week kitchen renovation without full disruption.

**Children and pets**: Be realistic about living in an active construction site with children or pets. Some families find a partial relocation (staying with family, or renting a short-let nearby for the noisiest weeks) is worth the cost to reduce stress.

- **Ground floor refurbishment only (mid-range)**: £35,000–£80,000 - **Kitchen + 2 bathrooms (mid-range)**: £25,000–£60,000 - **First floor only (bedrooms + bathrooms, no structural work)**: £20,000–£50,000 - **Investment property targeted refurbishment**: £15,000–£40,000 - **Ground floor refurbishment + rear extension (combined)**: £80,000–£160,000

All costs include project management, materials, and labour at London contractor rates. They exclude professional fees (architect, structural engineer, planning if required) and VAT (if applicable based on whether the works qualify for reduced rate VAT).