What Nobody Tells You Before Renovating a House in London
You've seen the Instagram reels. Sledgehammer through a wall, dust cloud, cut to gleaming kitchen island, upbeat music. Twelve seconds, job done.
Real life is not twelve seconds. Real life involves a skip permit, a nervous conversation with your neighbour about the party wall, and a moment around week six where you genuinely wonder if your living room will ever have a ceiling again.
The good news: it always does. And the homeowners who go in with realistic expectations — rather than reel-length ones — are the ones who come out the other side actually happy with their renovation, extension, or loft conversion. So here's the honest version, from a team that's done this more times than we can count across Fulham, Hammersmith, Chelsea, and the rest of London.
"How much will it actually cost?"
For a full house renovation in London, budgets generally break down like this:
- Cosmetic refresh (new flooring, redecoration, kitchen and bathroom refresh, no structural change): £20,000–£60,000
- Mid-range full renovation (strip-out, refit, some layout changes): £80,000–£180,000
- High-specification renovation (structural reconfiguration, bespoke joinery, full systems replacement): £180,000–£400,000
- Luxury full renovation (architectural changes, high-end stone, basement works, smart home integration): £400,000+
If you're planning a kitchen extension — currently the most-searched renovation project in London, and for good reason, since it's usually the single biggest lifestyle upgrade for the money — expect kitchens and bathrooms combined to eat up 30–40% of your total budget. That's not a bad thing. It's the room you'll actually live in.
West London specifically carries what everyone in the trade calls "the London premium" — higher labour rates, parking and skip permit costs, and the joys of period properties deciding to reveal their secrets mid-project (that suspicious Victorian brickwork behind the chimney breast is never just decorative). Budget an extra 25–40% versus national averages, and you won't be caught out.
"How long is this actually going to take?"
A typical full house refurbishment in London runs 4–8 months. Add basement works or major structural steels, and you're looking at 9–14 months. If planning permission is involved — which it usually is for a house extension or loft conversion in a conservation area — tack on another 8–12 weeks before a single tool touches your house.
Here's the thing nobody says out loud: the timeline isn't the enemy. The renovations that go badly aren't the long ones — they're the ones where nobody told the homeowner it would take this long in the first place.
"Do I actually need planning permission?"
Probably, if you're in West London. Large parts of Fulham, Hammersmith, Chelsea, Kensington, and Richmond sit inside conservation areas, which quietly removes a lot of the "permitted development" rights you'd otherwise get automatically. That roof you wanted to raise for a loft conversion? That side return you wanted to build out for a kitchen extension? Both very possible — just with a planning application attached, not a guaranteed rubber stamp.
This is the single biggest reason to hire builders who actually know the borough, not just the build. A contractor who's navigated Hammersmith & Fulham's planning department before will tell you what's realistic before you fall in love with a design that was never going to get approved.
"What's actually worth doing?"
According to the latest UK-wide renovation data, 25% of Londoners are planning an extension this year — more than any other region in the country. Practical, not flashy: Londoners aren't chasing statement features, they're chasing square footage. Makes sense. In a city where moving house costs a small fortune in stamp duty and agent fees, extending the house you already have is usually the better financial move.
The most popular projects we see, in order:
- Kitchen extensions — the most-searched renovation term in London, and the one that changes daily life the most
- Full house renovations — for period properties that need everything from rewiring to replastering
- Loft conversions — turning dead roof space into a real bedroom or office
- Basement conversions — increasingly common in Chelsea, Kensington, and Belgravia, where garden space is precious and downward is the only way to grow
The one thing that actually predicts a good renovation
It's not the budget. It's not even the design. It's whether your builder tells you the truth before you've signed anything — the honest cost, the honest timeline, the honest answer on planning.
We've been doing full house renovations, kitchen extensions, loft conversions, and basement conversions across Fulham, Hammersmith, Chelsea, Kensington, Putney, and the rest of West and Central London for over 15 years. We're FMB-registered, we use JCT contracts on every job, and we'd genuinely rather lose a quote than tell you what you want to hear instead of what's true.
If you're thinking about a renovation, extension, or conversion anywhere in London, get in touch for a free consultation. No sledgehammer reels, no vague estimates — just a straight answer on what your project actually involves.
Call us on 020 7118 6155, or visit dominantconstruction.co.uk to see recent projects across London.