Very vaguely - how much would it cost to do up this property

[WindUpBird]

3 bed 1960s terrace in an unglamorous bit of Kent. Photo to give an idea of how dated it is. Avocado bathroom, 1960s kitchen and what looks like polystyrene ceiling tiles - so ceilings will need replacing? Is there likely to be asbestos under those tiles?
I think it’s on at far too high a price and the estate agent reckons it needs £20k of work - would you agree?? To me it would seem a lot more. I could potentially live with the terrible kitchen & bathroom for a couple of years but dodgy ceilings and carpets would need to be replaced asap
I just have no idea if all of this would cost £30k or £10k or more?!

I did up my house which was as bad as this, I paid much less than prices quoted here but I project managed everything myself and negotiated the cost on mybuilder.com

the costliest parts for me was the electric rewiring and the gas one (plus new boiler)
Everything else doable but had to research and negotiate like a maniac 😬

Yes, that kitchen is probably original and rather lovely. But I don't think you'll have much change from £100k.

The price of work has gone up significantly in the last three years. I would say 80 to 100k depending on hidden issues.

My kitchen is smaller than yours and based on quotes including using DIY kitchens is likely to come in at around £8-10k. That is with us pulling the kitchen & floor out, us repainting and making good, basic gloss handless kitchen units, laminate worktops and laminate flooring and only a tiny amount of electrical work (I'm splashing out on a sink and tap but that's only adding £300 to the overall cost).

Not sure where people plucking 200k are getting that idea from.

There will be things you need help with but there's a lot you can do with 30k of you are careful. Also it doesn't all need to be done at once.

We’re coming to the end of renovating a 5 bed, 3 reception room house. Total seems to date is just under 60k.

We’ve fixed a collapsed drain, had electrical work chasing in light switches and new circuit for cooker and kitchen as moved it plus some other bits including car charger, half hearted refurb of main bathroom , en-suite completely redone, knocked small utility into small toilet and made a new shower room moving all the plumbing, new boiler in different place after removal of water tank and cupboard plus 16 new radiators, stripped textured wallpaper in most rooms and painted every room except one, second hand kitchen installed in the new kitchen, sorted flooring in all rooms apart from 2, 2 new external doors and a bay window turned into another external door plus a couple of other windows triple glazed, removed fitted furniture, insulated a kitchen wall, tiled utility room and new worktop, installed wood burner and had a couple of large trees topped and some more garden clearance plus gates on driveway.

That was with people coming in to do the work in the south west and I have project managed it.

Rewiring, plumbing, windows, new bathroom, kitchen, plastering, flooring throughout £75k - £150k depending on finish.

I’m nearing the end of doing a 3-bed 1930s terrace in a similar condition to yours (outer London). I’d say total will all - entire house - come in around 200k. However, that includes a fairly jazzy rear extension and generally mid (and occasionally high) end finishes. We were lucky that electrics didn’t need a rewire (replaced in 1990/2000s) and no asbestos.

I’d guess if you’re looking at a relatively basic decor/kitchen/bathroom job, no extensions, maybe 50-60k? And it looks generally liveable, so you can take your time.

But that is a guess that assumes there are no major issues uncovered or structural work needed. Of course, it is very hard to know what you’ll actually need until you buy and start work!

20k seems a bit barmy, though.

Do not listen to anyone who hasn’t done renovation work in the last 2 years. Prices are insane - 50/60% up on where they were 3 years ago - and going nowhere.

I looked at a very good condution 1959 house a couple of years ago. Was just 80s-dated. Very glad I had a plumbing and electrical survey done: £10k for new electrics and £15 for whole new boiler/radiators + replastering as the whole house needed to be chased out.

Once you scratch the surface of old houses you realise all sorts needs doing and better to do it at once. Under those polystyrene tiles will likely be no insulation!

My house was this! I haven't read the full thread but I'm over £20k now and I've 'only'
Taken down wallpaper and polystyrene tiles in 3 bedrooms and had them plasterboarded and skimmed.
New wiring
New radiators in 4 rooms
New bathroom

Downstairs still a shocker and my 'vintage' kitchen will have to stay a while as I've spent everything I had. It's hard to live in with 3 kids and a full time job!

I would've had another £40k and that's what I'd banked on sorting the house, but Liz Truss/ Kwasi Kwarteng happened as I moved to the UK and the pound dropped through the floor which wiped out £40k I'd worked abroad for years to save- Woo!

Never trust a preacher or an estate agent.

Yep agreed.

I fully renovated my old flat 7 years ago for under £20k
That included boiler, electrics, plastering, bathroom, kitchen (a nice one!) Flooring thoughout, and full redecoration (inc kelly hoppen wallpaper - oh la la) and 2 x fitted wardrobes andddd a new front door.

Summer 22 we redid our kitchen (& small utility) changed the boiler, refloored the downstairs and did a bit of decorating - it mid finish and was a whopping 60K. The small extension we wanted would have pushed it to over 100k!?!?

I like to think i am quite knowledgeable about renovations and initially had costed the project at 25k and had 30k as contingency. In the end we did add a few extra bits in which added 4-5k but i was stunned original project was 55k. My builder basically said i costed it fine and it would have cost me about that in summer 21 when we orginally planned the work prices have just gone up a lot🤦‍♀️

£150k -£200k because once you start ripping things out, a lot more will need fixing and replacing. There will be a lot of unseen and hidden damage needing attention and the EA is talking shit.

That was my exact kitchen when I moved into my current house! It was horrendous so relieved when I could afford to replace it.
My house was in very bad condition originally- before we could move in we had to have the house rewired and have a boiler and radiators put in. Every single wall and ceiling was covered in wood chip wallpaper.
There was nothing sinister lurking underneath all of this though it still has cost plenty to do. You could always get a good survey done before buying to minimise the risk of this too.
I suppose it depends how much disposable income you have to afford the renovations and how tolerant you are to living in a less than ideal house which means you could get the work done gradually.

Oh wow I would have thought you'd need to strip everything back tk the bones, new electrics, plumbing/heating, plaster, ceilings, kitchen, bathrooms, extension? Any outside rendering?
I think you'll be looking at £200k +
You won't even get a new kitchen for £20k!!!

If you got a full survey would that tell you what's needed. We had a full survey done and the guy was in the loft and everything. Didn't lift carpets though.
That was 20 years ago - don't know if it's the same now. It would cost a lot now I expect but could save you thousands.

It cost me £600-800 in an unfashionable town in the south east just to get two artex ceilings skimmed and that was mates rates - the labour is in grinding all the lumps off so they can plaster it. The agent wants to get it sold, they don't care about the cost of renovations.

You might have to learn how to get handy if you buy it - there will be loads you can do yourself with the help of YouTube.

Those kitchen cabinets are really fashionable and sought after these days - id restore them and make a feature of them. Or carefully take them out and sell them. You'd get a few hundred quid potentially.

Don’t believe anything an estate agent tells you; get estimates from a recommended local builder, then make your offer based on that.

We did renovations last year on a similar property in Kent. Ended up almost bankrupting ourselves, as 'cosmetic job' turned into complete overhaul, as once you start, everything needs doing: electric- that means destroying all the walls, as new cables need to be run (our electrician charged £7.5k for the whole house and that was 'mates rates' arrangement), central heating- again, all the new pipes, radiators, bathroom, kitchen, roof.
With the extension at the back it came to over £200k.
You better pay quantity surveyor, who can advise on pricing.
Also, be careful about the old plaster- some of it is only held by the old layers and layers of wallpaper- as soon as you start scraping wallpaper, the plaster will come off, too.
Renovation = hell. Not recommended for everyone - let alone, a single female (I am assuming, sorry) with limited funds and knowledge.

There's a chance that it may have lead water pipes (unless it's already been replumbed) and asbestos.

Half way through a renovation of 1930s 2 bed terraced house in zone 3 London. Previous owner had lived in it for 40yrs

it will end up being between 60-70k
Howdens kitchen, Homebase bathroom, new electrics & boiler.
took down 1 wall to create open plan kitchen & put up another to create separate lounge/office/3rd bedroom
replaced a couple of windows (2k)
painting it white
garden reno 8k
reckon 3 months max for entire job

an extension would have added 40k

i thought I could do it under 50 but no chance - walls & ceiling’s v crumbly underneath so needed more work than originally anticipated

your EA is either a shark or very inexperienced to suggest 20k

£35k for new kitchen, bathroom, carpets and replacing ceiling. New windows = another £7-£8k, rewiring = another £10k.

That estate agent must think you're a right mug, £20k! £200k is a bit steep, unless you're planning an extension, but from experience £100k is the likely ball park.

Of course you will get a new kitchen in that small space for well under £20k. Don't be ridiculous. You're looking at £12-13k for an Ikea/Howdens kitchen that size.