A three bedroom house is the most common refurbishment we price in Letchworth, and the honest answer is that the cost can range from under £20,000 to well over £100,000. That spread is not vagueness. It reflects how different two jobs on the same size of house can be, so this guide breaks the numbers down by scope and explains what pushes a quote up or down.
Prices in Letchworth, Hitchin and Baldock sit a little above the national average because of labour costs and the age of the housing stock. Many local homes are 1920s to 1950s Garden City properties or 1960s and 70s semis, and both come with their own quirks. As a rough guide for 2026, most three bedroom refurbishments fall into one of three bands.
These figures include labour, materials and normal waste removal, but exclude VAT where a contractor is VAT registered, and exclude extensions or loft conversions, which are priced separately. Treat them as planning ranges, not quotes.
Homeowners often assume the kitchen and bathroom dominate the bill, and they are certainly significant. A fitted kitchen with mid-range units, worktops and appliances usually lands between £8,000 and £18,000 installed, and a family bathroom between £5,000 and £12,000. But the less visible work often adds up to more than both combined.
A full rewire of a three bedroom house typically costs £4,500 to £7,500 and involves chasing walls, which then need making good and replastering. A new gas combi boiler with some radiator replacement is often £3,500 to £6,000. Replastering a whole house runs to £6,000 to £12,000 depending on whether it is a skim over sound walls or hacking off blown plaster back to brick. Add flooring, decorating, new doors and skirting, and a modest looking job quickly reaches £50,000.
The Garden City housing that makes Letchworth attractive also makes refurbishment less predictable. Lath and plaster ceilings, solid walls with no cavity, original timber sash windows and old lead or iron pipework are common, and each adds cost compared with a newer house. Once ceilings come down or floorboards lift, it is normal to find something that needs sorting, so we advise clients to hold back a contingency of 10 to 15 per cent.
Some properties in the Letchworth Garden City conservation area are also subject to the Letchworth Garden City Heritage Foundation scheme of management. External changes such as new windows, render or roofing materials may need approval, which can restrict the products you can use and affect the budget. Structural changes such as removing a chimney breast or opening up the kitchen and dining room will need Building Regulations approval and usually a structural engineer, typically adding £600 to £1,500 in fees before any steelwork.
The biggest saving is deciding the full scope before work starts rather than adding jobs once the trades are on site. Changes mid-project mean revisiting work that has already been finished, and that is where budgets drift. Get a written, itemised quote so you can see exactly what is included and what is a provisional sum.
Sequence matters too. If you plan to have the whole house done over several years, do the messy first fix work such as rewiring and plumbing before you decorate or fit a new kitchen, or you will end up paying to disturb finishes you have already bought. Living elsewhere for a full refurbishment usually shortens the programme by several weeks, which often offsets the cost of temporary accommodation.
A light refresh usually takes 3 to 6 weeks, a mid-range refurbishment 8 to 12 weeks, and a full strip-out 3 to 5 months. Timescales stretch if structural work, planning or heritage approvals are involved.
Refurbishing existing space is almost always cheaper per square metre than extending, as extensions require foundations, roofs and new external walls. Many Letchworth homeowners refurbish first and add a rear or side extension later once the budget allows.
Internal refurbishment generally does not need planning permission, but structural work needs Building Regulations sign-off, and external changes may need approval from the Heritage Foundation in the Garden City area. A good builder will check this before quoting.
Tell Glenn about your job and we’ll get back to you with a clear, no-obligation quote.