home-refurbishment

The kitchen is the priciest room to renovate in most UK homes — so planning pays. Run through this checklist before you sign anything: Fix your budget first. A modest replacement kitchen starts around £8,000–£12,000 fitted; bespoke designs climb past £25,000. Decide your ceiling before visiting showrooms. Keep the layout if you can. Moving the sink, cooker or boiler means new plumbing, gas and electrics — often thousands extra. Book trades in the right order. Rip-out, first-fix electrics and plumbing, plastering, second-fix, then fitting. Good kitchen fitters are often booked 6–10 weeks out. Check electrics and gas. In the UK, notifiable electrical work needs a registered electrician, and gas work must be done by a Gas Safe engineer. Plan for life without a kitchen. A microwave, kettle and washing-up bowl get most families through 2–3 weeks. More practical planning advice for UK renovations: Home Refurbishment UK .

A bathroom renovation is one of the most disruptive — and most rewarding — projects in a UK home. But what should you actually budget? For a standard family bathroom , most UK homeowners spend somewhere between £4,000 and £8,000 including labour and materials. A simple refresh (new suite, taps, keeping the layout) can come in around £2,500–£4,500, while a full rip-out with moved plumbing often reaches £8,000–£12,000 or more. Three things move the price most: Scope — moving soil pipes or plumbing positions adds days of labour. Tile area — fully tiled walls cost far more than half-tiled or panelled finishes. Location — London and the South East typically run 20–30% above the North and Midlands. Whatever your budget, add a 10–15% contingency . Behind the tiles, installers regularly find rotten floorboards, tired pipework or poor waterproofing. For a full room-by-room breakdown with timelines and a planning checklist, read our detailed UK bathroom renovation guide .