How much does a flat renovation cost in 2026?
Real ranges per square metre, the weight of each item and a local example, broken down. So you can do the sums calmly before booking a visit.
No beating about the bush: a full renovation in Málaga runs today between €500 and €900/m² excl. VAT depending on quality. If you’re wondering what an 80 m² flat renovation costs, that’s between €40,000 and €72,000, realistically. If yours is a partial renovation — floors, paint and electrics, without touching bathrooms or kitchen — we’re talking about roughly €120–175/m².
These figures are indicative, they come from recent jobs in Málaga and around, and they include the labour and materials of the renovation itself (loose furniture and appliances are separate). Anyone who gives you a prettier number without having set foot in your flat is telling you half the story. Even so, the ranges serve what matters: knowing which league your project plays in before you sit down to negotiate.
| Scope of the renovation | What it includes | Indicative price |
|---|---|---|
| Partial (floors, paint and electrics) | New floor, complete repaint and renewed electrical installation. Without touching bathrooms, kitchen or layout. | 120 – 175 €/m² |
| Full · essential | Complete functional renovation with proven standard materials: services, bathroom, kitchen, floors and paint. | 480 – 550 €/m² |
| Full · mid-range | Renewed services, complete bathroom and kitchen, floors, joinery and paint with better finishes. | 600 – 720 €/m² |
| Full · premium | Bespoke design and high efficiency: layout changes, large-format porcelain, bespoke joinery and lighting by project. | from 800 €/m² |
Indicative 2026 prices for the Málaga area, VAT not included. Each home is quoted after a visit: the real condition of the services can move these figures in either direction.
How much a flat renovation costs, item by item
The total is less daunting when you see how it’s split. These are the typical weights of a full-renovation budget.
- Bathrooms and kitchen · ~40% of the total. The two expensive rooms: they concentrate plumbing, tiling, sanitaryware, units and appliances. They have their own guides if you want to fine-tune: how much a bathroom renovation costs and how much a kitchen renovation costs.
- Services · 15–20%. New electrics, plumbing and climate. It’s the item that shows least in photos and shows most over the next twenty years.
- Floors and joinery · ~20%. Continuous flooring throughout the home, doors, wardrobes and windows if the external joinery calls for it.
- Paint and finishes · ~10%. Smoothing the walls, paint, finishes and lighting. The final stretch, where a job is either finished well or finished in a hurry.
- A cushion for the unforeseen · 5–10%. Nobody knows what’s behind a wall until it’s opened. Setting this margin aside from the start is the difference between a fright and a calm decision.
This split explains a rule we repeat a lot: cutting back on services to spend on finishes is building the house from the roof down. What you can’t see is the first thing that has to be right.
What makes your renovation cost more (or less)
In a full renovation, the budget is decided on four very concrete fronts — and they can move the final figure €20,000 up or down:
- The real state of the services. If the electrics and plumbing are original — usual in flats built before the nineties — they have to be renewed entirely. Reusing an old installation “because it works” is a saving you pay for later.
- Height and access. A third floor with no lift or a building on a pedestrian street push up demolition and getting materials upstairs. It seems a detail; in a full renovation it’s many thousands of kilos moving every day.
- Layout changes. Moving the kitchen or joining two rooms means demolition, new ducting and sometimes reinforcements. It often pays off — the home moves up a category — but it has to be counted from the start.
- The quality. This is the factor you control entirely. Between a decent ceramic and a large-format porcelain, or between a standard kitchen and a bespoke one, the jump shows in the total. Our job is to tell you where it’s worth investing and where it will never be noticed.
A 1970s flat in Carretera de Cádiz: the figures
To bring the theory down to earth, a typical case of the kind we see most: a full renovation of 75 m² in a 1970s flat in Carretera de Cádiz — it could just as easily be Cruz de Humilladero or Ciudad Jardín — with original services, a long corridor and a closed kitchen.
The work: new electrical and plumbing installations, kitchen opened to the living room by taking down a partition, a complete bathroom, continuous flooring throughout, new interior joinery, wall smoothing and paint. Mid-range quality with two well-chosen indulgences: large-format porcelain in the bathroom and a sintered-stone worktop.
Result, as a reference: around €45,000 plus VAT (≈€600/m²) and 10 weeks of work. With an itemised fixed price agreed before starting and the contingency cushion set from day one. That’s how we understand a full renovation: no round numbers thrown into the air.
How to read a renovation quote
You’re going to receive several. Before deciding on the total, look at this:
- Be wary of a fixed price without a visit. Nobody can seriously set what it costs to renovate a flat they haven’t seen. A quote closed over the phone usually reopens halfway through the job, which is the worst moment.
- Look for the “to be defined” items. Every line not measured or priced is a future rise with a signed permit. A serious quote measures: metres of tiling, light points, units of sanitaryware.
- Check what happens with the unforeseen. Ask how it’s handled: the reasonable thing is for it to be documented, priced separately and for you to decide before anyone touches anything.
- Clarify the VAT. The document should say whether it’s included and at what rate. A 10% that appears at the end changes the picture quite a bit.
- Demand a timeline and guarantee in writing. Start date, estimated duration by phases and a work guarantee in the contract. What isn’t written doesn’t exist.
If a quote passes these five filters, you can compare it with peace of mind. Ours are made to pass them: it’s what our clients say in their reviews (4.9★ on Google) when they talk about jobs that ended up costing what was signed.
Frequently asked questions
Why is there so much difference between quotes?
Almost always because they’re not quoting the same thing. One includes new services and another takes the existing ones as good; one measures the tiling and another puts “complete bathroom” with no detail. Before comparing figures, compare items: if one quote is 30% cheaper, look for what’s missing. That’s usually where the explanation is.
Is it better to renovate in phases or all at once?
If you can, all at once. Renovating in phases means repeating demolition, protection, rubble and trades coming and going, and in the end the sum works out dearer than a single well-planned job. Phasing only pays off when the available budget doesn’t stretch to the full renovation and there are areas that can wait.
How long does it take to renovate a whole flat?
As a reference, a full renovation of 70–90 m² usually takes between 8 and 14 weeks of work, depending on the scope of demolition and services. Materials with long lead times (kitchen units, bespoke joinery) are ordered before starting so the job doesn’t stall halfway.
What VAT applies when renovating a home?
On most home renovations more than two years old, the reduced 10% VAT applies, provided the conditions set by the tax authority are met (among them, that the cost of materials doesn’t exceed 40% of the total). We check it with you case by case and the quote always sets it out in writing.
Do I need a licence to renovate my flat?
Yes: depending on the scope, it’ll be a prior notification or a works licence with Málaga City Council (or the relevant town’s). It’s a formality we handle along with the technical documentation; you don’t have to deal with anything.
Want your flat’s figure, not the statistic’s? We visit, measure and give you an itemised quote at a fixed price.
Let’s talk about your renovation.
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