How UK Homeowners Are Planning Renovations in 2026
Analysis of 1,254 completed RenoCost renovation estimates shows that just 3.3% were cosmetic-only, while 71.7% included structural work such as internal wall changes, an extension or a loft conversion.
This is RenoCost’s fixed 2026 behavioural research asset: a first-party study of what UK homeowners are actually planning when they sit down to cost a renovation. It covers 26 May to 12 September 2026, uses one deduplicated record per completed calculator session, and separates two very different things throughout — observed user behaviour (which works homeowners selected) and modelled cost estimates (values produced by the RenoCost pricing model, not amounts anyone has spent).
1,254
Completed estimates analysed
26 May to 12 September 2026
3.3%
Cosmetic-only renovation plans
42 of 1,254
71.7%
Included structural work
899 of 1,254
£65,138
Median modelled estimate
Modelled, not actual spending
Key Takeaways
- Just 3.3% of completed RenoCost renovation plans were cosmetic-only (42 of 1,254).
- 71.7% included structural work such as internal wall changes, an extension or a loft conversion (899 of 1,254).
- 43.1% included an extension and 13.6% included a loft conversion.
- A third of plans (33.4%) covered eight or more separate renovation modules.
- The median modelled estimate was £65,138, with a quartile range of £36,893 to £124,440.
- Among RenoCost users, the East of England recorded the highest reliable regional median modelled estimate (£91,254, n=113).
What homeowners are planning
The dominant pattern in 2026 is breadth. Most people using the calculator are not pricing a single room — they are pricing several trades at once, often alongside a change to the building itself. A third of all completed plans (33.4%, 419 of 1,254) included eight or more renovation modules.
33.4%
Included 8+ renovation modules
419 of 1,254
43.1%
Included an extension
540 of 1,254
13.6%
Included a loft conversion
170 of 1,254
For context on how those scopes translate into budgets, see the UK Renovation Cost Index 2026 — the broader benchmark and methodology reference — and the Live RenoCost Statistics page, which updates continuously rather than being fixed to this study period. To see where your own plans sit against this dataset, you can run the RenoCost renovation calculator.
Major versus cosmetic renovation
We classed a plan as cosmetic-only when every module selected was surface-level work — decorating, flooring, plastering, garden or driveway — with no kitchen, bathroom, services, windows or structural element. On that definition, only 42 of 1,254 plans (3.3%) were cosmetic-only. Put simply, most RenoCost users are planning more than a simple cosmetic refresh.
Separately, 899 of 1,254 plans (71.7%) included at least one of internal wall changes, an extension or a loft conversion — work that touches the structure of the property.
Most selected renovation projects
Share of the 1,254 completed plans that included each module. Plans typically include several, so shares do not sum to 100%.
| Renovation module | Plans | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Kitchen | 770 | 61.4% |
| Flooring | 770 | 61.4% |
| Bathroom | 709 | 56.5% |
| Plastering | 702 | 56.0% |
| Decorating | 658 | 52.5% |
| Internal wall changes | 566 | 45.1% |
| Windows | 549 | 43.8% |
| Extension | 540 | 43.1% |
| Rewiring | 518 | 41.3% |
| Replumbing | 437 | 34.8% |
| Garden / landscaping | 225 | 17.9% |
| Loft conversion | 170 | 13.6% |
| Driveway | 153 | 12.2% |
| Garage | 121 | 9.6% |
Common combinations of work
Renovation scope clusters. The kitchen-and-bathroom pairing is close to a default, and a quarter of all plans go further by rewiring and replumbing at the same time — the signature of a whole-house programme rather than a room upgrade.
49.4%
Kitchen and bathroom together
620 of 1,254
26.6%
Kitchen + bathroom + rewire + replumb
333 of 1,254
45.1%
Internal wall changes
566 of 1,254
If you are pricing this kind of programme, our full house refurbishment guide and renovation cost per m² guide cover how scope translates into budget.
Planned renovation budgets
The figures in this section are produced by RenoCost’s calculator pricing model applied to the renovation scope each homeowner selected. They are modelled renovation estimates, not records of actual homeowner spending. Because the distribution is strongly skewed by a minority of very large projects, the median is the more meaningful headline figure.
£65,138
Median modelled estimate
Middle of the distribution
£96,551
Mean modelled estimate
Skewed upward by large projects
£36,893
Lower quartile (Q1)
25% of plans fell below this
£124,440
Upper quartile (Q3)
25% of plans exceeded this
| Modelled estimate threshold | Share of plans above |
|---|---|
| Above £50,000 | 61.2% |
| Above £75,000 | 44.4% |
| Above £100,000 | 32.7% |
| Above £150,000 | 18.6% |
Property type analysis
These shares describe the properties RenoCost users were planning to renovate. They are not UK housing-stock proportions and should not be read as such.
| Property type | Plans (n) | Share | Median modelled estimate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Semi-detached | 437 | 34.8% | £72,334 |
| Detached | 320 | 25.5% | £97,565 |
| Terraced | 274 | 21.9% | £46,614 |
| Bungalow | 146 | 11.6% | £71,318 |
| Flat / apartment | 77 | 6.1% | £26,807 |
The spread between detached properties (£97,565) and flats (£26,807) largely reflects floor area and how often structural work is in scope. Property-specific guidance is in our house renovation cost guide, terraced house guide and detached house guide.
Regional analysis
Postcode-level geography is reliably available from 26 May 2026 onwards, mapped to standard UK regions and countries. Northern Ireland (n=8) is shown for completeness but excluded from ranked comparisons because the sample is too small.
| Region | n | Share | Median | Above £100k | Extension | Loft | Kitchen |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| London | 232 | 18.5% | £69,184 | 39.2% | 33.2% | 14.7% | 71.1% |
| South East | 150 | 12.0% | £75,608 | 34.7% | 42.0% | 19.3% | 60.0% |
| North West | 150 | 12.0% | £57,608 | 26.0% | 44.0% | 10.7% | 66.7% |
| West Midlands | 116 | 9.3% | £57,204 | 25.0% | 46.6% | 6.9% | 53.4% |
| East of England | 113 | 9.0% | £91,254 | 46.9% | 51.3% | 18.6% | 55.8% |
| Scotland | 95 | 7.6% | £66,128 | 32.6% | 52.6% | 16.8% | 54.7% |
| South West | 94 | 7.5% | £66,432 | 34.0% | 31.9% | 9.6% | 63.8% |
| Yorkshire & the Humber | 94 | 7.5% | £72,154 | 31.9% | 50.0% | 18.1% | 57.4% |
| East Midlands | 94 | 7.5% | £54,350 | 25.5% | 41.5% | 10.6% | 54.3% |
| Wales | 54 | 4.3% | £55,116 | 20.4% | 42.6% | 3.7% | 59.3% |
| North East | 42 | 3.3% | £60,259 | 26.2% | 54.8% | 9.5% | 64.3% |
| Northern IrelandExcluded from ranking (n<30) | 8 | 0.6% | £50,148 | 12.5% | 12.5% | 0.0% | 75.0% |
What This Means for Homeowners
Among RenoCost users in the analysed period, the East of England had the highest reliable regional median modelled estimate at £91,254 (n=113), ahead of the South East (£75,608, n=150) and London (£69,184, n=232). Almost half of East of England plans (46.9%) modelled above £100,000.
This should not be read as the East of England having Britain’s highest renovation costs. The region also had the highest extension share in the dataset (51.3%), and extensions raise modelled values sharply — so the regional gap reflects the scope homeowners chose as much as local pricing. The drivers behind genuine regional price differences are set out in why renovation costs vary by region, and the continuously updated regional view lives on UK renovation estimates by region.
Property age analysis (separate dataset)
| Property era | n | Median modelled estimate | Included rewiring | Included replumbing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1900–1930 | 108 | £55,882 | 59.3% | 49.1% |
| 1930–1960 | 78 | £54,586 | 55.1% | 46.2% |
| 1960–1990 | 90 | £46,246 | 56.7% | 48.9% |
| 1990–2010 | 38 | £46,222 | 36.8% | 39.5% |
| 2010 onwardsSample too small for firm conclusions | 10 | £47,884 | 20.0% | 30.0% |
Among the smaller Grade A historical sample, homeowners planning work on pre-1960 properties were more likely to include rewiring and replumbing in scope: 59.3% of 1900–1930 plans included rewiring and 49.1% included replumbing, against 36.8% and 39.5% for 1990–2010 properties. This describes what homeowners chose to include, not a technical assessment of what those homes require.
Methodology
- Primary dataset: 1,254 unique completed RenoCost calculator estimates.
- Reference period: 26 May to 12 September 2026.
- Duplicate calculator submissions were removed by session, keeping one record per completed session.
- Incomplete and abandoned calculator sessions were excluded entirely.
- Geography is only reliably available from 26 May 2026 onwards, which sets the start of the period.
- The data represents RenoCost users. It is not nationally representative of UK homeowners.
- Renovation selections are observed user behaviour, recorded as the homeowner completed the calculator.
- All cost figures are generated by RenoCost’s pricing model from the selected scope and property details.
- Modelled estimates are planning figures, not actual spending, quotes or contract values.
- Sample sizes are shown wherever a figure is broken down, and small samples are flagged or excluded.
- Median is used in prominent copy because the cost distribution is strongly right-skewed.
- The property-age section uses a separate Grade A historical subset (n=324, 11 January to 11 August 2026) and is never merged with the primary dataset.
RenoCost calculator users are self-selecting homeowners actively researching renovation projects. They may therefore be considerably more likely than the general homeowner population to be planning substantial work, and that selection effect should be stated whenever these findings are quoted. Definitions of the modelled cost terms used here are set out in our method glossary.
Limitations
- Planning intent is not construction output. A completed estimate does not confirm work was commissioned, started or finished.
- Cost figures are modelled, so they inherit the assumptions of the RenoCost pricing model rather than observed market transactions.
- The sample is self-selecting and skewed towards homeowners planning larger projects.
- Regional sample sizes vary widely; Northern Ireland (n=8) is excluded from ranked comparisons.
- Regional medians reflect project mix as well as local pricing, so they are not like-for-like cost comparisons.
- Town-level samples were reviewed and judged too small to publish; no town rankings are presented as national claims.
- The reference period spans under four months, so seasonal effects cannot be separated out.
- Property age comes from a smaller, separate historical dataset with its own date range.
Notes for journalists and researchers
These findings are published to be cited. When referencing them, please:
- Attribute to RenoCost and link to this page as the source URL.
- State the sample size (1,254 completed estimates) and the period (26 May to 12 September 2026).
- Describe cost figures as modelled renovation estimates, never as homeowner spending.
- Note that RenoCost users are self-selecting and the data is not nationally representative.
- Keep the 3.3% cosmetic-only and 71.7% structural findings as separate measures.
For the underlying query definitions, additional breakdowns or comment, contact us via the RenoCost contact page.
Related RenoCost research
- UK Renovation Cost Index 2026 — the benchmark and methodology authority for 2026 project costs.
- Live RenoCost Statistics — continuously updated calculator activity, where this fixed study is a point-in-time snapshot.
- UK Renovation Estimates by Region — the live regional breakdown with a two-region comparison tool.
- Why Renovation Costs Vary by Region — the drivers behind regional differences.
- Hidden Costs of Renovation — the line items that push budgets beyond the build quote.