A lot of people have quietly stepped back from renovation projects over the last couple of years, and I understand why. Costs have gone up, trades have got harder to find, materials take longer, and the profit you’d have considered normal a few years ago takes a lot more work to achieve now. And if you’re watching from the outside, it’s easy to wonder whether the whole thing still stacks up.
It does. But not in quite the same way it did a few years ago. And that distinction is worth understanding before you decide whether this is still worth doing.
What’s genuinely changed
Build costs are higher — that’s real and it’s not going away. I was talking to a developer recently who was pretty stressed about materials. Timber has gone up around 20% on where it was a couple of years ago, and plasterboard by around 35%, and those are just two of the materials. Labour costs more as well, and finding reliable tradespeople has got harder because the good ones are busy and booked out. If you’re pricing a project using figures from a few years ago, the numbers aren’t going to stack the way you think they will. This isn’t a reason not to renovate — it’s a reason to cost it properly before you buy.
Stamp duty on investment properties went up in 2024, which adds to the initial cost before you’ve even started. EPC requirements have added another layer of consideration, particularly for properties you’re planning to hold and let. There are more things to check, more boxes to tick, more steps in the process that didn’t used to be there. None of it is impossible — but it adds to the work, and you need to account for it.
What hasn’t changed
The fundamental logic is identical to what it’s always been. You find a property that needs work and is priced accordingly because most buyers won’t take it on. You do the work properly. You either sell at a profit or hold and refinance at the improved value. That still works. It will always work as long as there are properties that need improving and buyers or tenants who want them improved.
What also hasn’t changed is the way most renovation projects go wrong. They go wrong because the property was bought at too high a price in the first place, or because the project wasn’t managed properly once it started, or both. That’s not a new problem. It’s always been the thing that separates the projects that produce a good return from the ones that don’t. The way the market has changed now just makes it harder to paper over those mistakes.
What I’d do differently now
I’d look harder for a motivated seller — and it’s worth being clear about what I mean by that, because there’s a difference between a motivated seller and a distressed one. I’m not looking to take advantage of anyone. A motivated seller has a genuine reason to want to move and is prepared to be reasonable on price to make it happen. That’s a fair deal for both sides. A distressed seller is a different situation, and one I’d rather not be part of. So motivated, yes — distressed, no.
And once I’ve found the right seller, I’d negotiate more carefully on the price rather than just accepting the first number on the table. The buy price has always been the most important number in a renovation — I’ve said that for years — and it’s more important than ever now because the stamp duty increase has to come out of somewhere, and that somewhere is the profit.
I’d also be very clear on my expected sales price before I buy, not after. Proper research, comparable evidence, knowing exactly who the buyer is going to be and what they’ll pay. Getting that wrong doesn’t just cost you money — it costs you time, and in renovation, time is money too.
On the contractor side, I’d get prices tied up properly before work starts so there are no arbitrary extras added in once you’re in. Any variation to an agreed price needs a proper reason, not just ‘it turned out to be more complicated.’ And I’d build in a contingency — a real one — and leave it alone unless something genuinely unexpected turns up. Because in this market, that contingency is what stands between you and a project that doesn’t stack.
I’d also be more deliberate about the scope of work. Every decision on a project should answer one question: will this add more value than it costs? Sometimes the answer is obviously yes — a bathroom that’s genuinely falling apart needs replacing. Sometimes the answer is obviously no — ripping out perfectly sound kitchen units because they’re a bit dated is expensive and pointless when a refresh would produce the same result for a fraction of the cost. Getting that judgment right has always been important. It’s just more important now.
Why I’m still doing it
I’m still doing renovation projects because when I buy the right property at the right price and run the project properly, it still produces a solid return. Not every project, not everywhere, and not without thinking carefully about the numbers before I commit. But it works. Reliably enough, when the discipline is applied, that it makes complete sense to carry on.
The people who’ve stepped back tend to be the ones who were doing it a bit casually — relying on rising values to bail out sloppy numbers, not costing properly, not having a proper system for managing trades and decisions. When the room for error shrank, the casual approach stopped producing results. That’s not renovation stopping working. That’s one way of doing renovation stopping working.
Anyone wondering whether to start, or whether to carry on, the answer is the same: it depends entirely on whether you’re prepared to put in the time and effort to do it properly. Things are harder than they were, but it’s still doable. The profits might be a bit harder to make, but they are still profits. Sticking to the fundamentals is what makes the difference — but if you think about it, it always has been.
Here’s to successful property renovating.
Peter Jones
Author, property investor and ex-Chartered Surveyor
P.S By the way, I’ve completely rewritten and updated my course for 2026, The Successful Property Renovator’s Workshop — a comprehensive guide to renovating properties properly and profitably, based on my own experience across well over 150 projects over thirty years.
thepropertyteacher.co.uk/the-successful-property-renovators-workshop
