PROPERTY RENOVATION TIMELINES LONDON • GUIDE
How Long Does a Renovation Take?
Timing & What to Expect
The honest answer is that timeline depends more on what happens before the job starts. Here's a realistic breakdown by project type, and what actually stretches a timeline beyond what the build itself would suggest.
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Timeline by project type
Timeline by project type
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Painting and decorating — a touch-up or single room typically takes a day or two; a full interior repaint of an average flat runs 3-8 working days; adding exterior work extends this considerably and depends heavily on weather.
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Bathroom refresh (paint, regrout, new silicone) — 2-3 days.
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Bathroom refit (new suite, same layout) — 5-7 working days.
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Bathroom full renovation (layout changed, replumbed) — 1-3 weeks, depending on scope and what's found once work starts.
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Kitchen reface (new doors, worktop, no layout change) — a few days to a week.
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Kitchen refit (full new kitchen, same footprint) — 1-3 weeks.
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Kitchen full renovation (structural wall removed, layout changed) — 3-7 weeks once building work starts, not counting the planning and structural sign-off stages before it.
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Whole-house renovation — realistically 2-4 months for a full property, longer if multiple structural changes are involved.
What actually adds time before work starts
Planning permission, where required, typically takes around eight weeks for a straightforward householder application, though it can run longer.
Listed building consent follows a similar four-to-eight-week window, but with less certainty of approval, which can mean redesigning and resubmitting.
Structural engineer sign-off, needed for most wall removals, takes days to a couple of weeks depending on the complexity of the calculation and how quickly drawings can be produced.
Building control approval runs alongside the structural engineering process and is required for most projects involving a structural wall, new drainage, or significant electrical work.
Party wall agreements, where a shared wall is involved, can be resolved in a couple of weeks if a neighbour responds promptly — or considerably longer if a surveyor needs to mediate terms. This is one of the most commonly underestimated delays on structural projects in shared-freehold or terraced properties.
Added together, it's entirely realistic for the pre-build process on a full structural renovation to take as long as the physical build itself, sometimes longer.
Conservation areas in London
If your property sits within a conservation area, it's worth checking before you fix a budget or a timeline, not after. Permitted development rights are often reduced or removed entirely, meaning exterior work that would otherwise be automatic can need a full planning application — with the cost and wait that comes with it. Some conservation areas go further still with an Article 4 direction, which removes those rights for specific work like window replacements. London has well over a thousand conservation areas, and coverage varies hugely street by street, so it's worth checking your specific address rather than assuming based on the wider area — our conservation areas map covers every borough and lets you search by postcode.
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Choosing what to spend money on
Since labour is roughly fixed within a tier, fittings are really the only decision that changes your total:
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Bath — acrylic from £150–£300; freestanding stone or copper go for £2,000 or more
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Taps — basic sets from £100; designer taps often past £1,000
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Tiles — standard ceramic is the most cost-effective to buy and fit; porcelain or Moroccan cement cost more in both materials and labour time
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Toilets and basins — wall-hung units cost more to fitbut save space in smaller bathrooms which might be needed in Fulham.
Worth being honest with yourself about how long you're staying: if you're going to be in the property for the next 10+ years, spending a bit more upfront on the bath and taps tends to pay for itself — better fittings age better, functionally and visually. If it's a shorter hold or a rental, mid-range fittings almost always make more financial sense.
Tell us your budget and expectations when you enquire and we'll help you pick the fittings accordingly rather than defaulting to whatever's easiest for us to fit.
What extends a timeline once work has started
Hidden problems — damp, old pipework, uneven floors, or old electrics that don't meet current standards are common enough in older properties that most contractors build a contingency fund of 10-20% into a schedule, not just budget. An EICR (Electrical Installation Condition Report) carried out before work starts can flag wiring issues early rather than mid-renovation, when they cost more time to resolve.
Access — narrow stairwells, restricted parking for a skip, or a steep, narrow street like the ones common in Hampstead can all add days that have nothing to do with the work itself
Lead times on materials — bespoke cabinetry, certain tiles, and specific appliances can have order lead times of several weeks, which is worth checking before you fix a start date around them
Weather, for any exterior work — repainting, rendering, or roofing stages can't proceed in the wrong conditions, and this is genuinely unpredictable more than a few days out
A realistic way to plan
Work backwards from any hard deadline — a house sale, a tenancy start date, a family event — and build in the planning and consent stages first, since those are the parts you have least control over. The build itself is usually the most predictable part of the whole process; it's everything before it that varies.
FAQ
Common questions
on renovation timelines.
Can I speed up a planning application?
Not directly, though a well-prepared application with clear drawings and a specification that anticipates likely questions tends to move through more smoothly than one that gets queried and has to go back and forth.
Does a fixed quote include a guaranteed finish date?
A reputable contractor will give you a realistic estimate, but genuine unknowns — what's behind old tiling, how a neighbour responds to a party wall notice — mean a guaranteed date is rarely honest for anything beyond a straightforward refresh.
Is it faster to do a full renovation in one go rather than in stages?
Almost always, yes — remobilising trades for a second phase later usually costs more in both time and money than sequencing everything into one continuous project from the start.