Tools

Renovation budget calculator, from figures you type.

Each job has a low and a high figure in pounds. Empty jobs are skipped. Contingency is applied to the total, and 20% VAT is added only if you ask for it. The pounds come from you.

Published 13 October 2026. The contingency box starts at 10%.

Use the calculator Cost guides

Add up the allowances

Roof covering

A published band is on the new roof cost page. Type the allowance you want to use. The roofing list is where you phone.

Boiler or other heating

A published band is on the boiler cost page. Work on a gas appliance needs a Gas Safe registered engineer. The plumbing and heating list shows a qualification only when the record already has it.

Rewire or other electrical work

A published band is on the house rewire cost page. The electrical list is where you phone.

Windows and doors

Type both figures yourself. The windows and doors list is where you phone.

Damp treatment

A published band is on the damp treatment cost page. The damp proofing list is where you phone.

Carpentry and joinery

Type both figures yourself. The carpentry and joinery list is where you phone.

Plastering

Type both figures yourself. The plastering list is where you phone.

Painting and decorating

Type both figures yourself. The painting and decorating list is where you phone.

Building, extension or conversion

Type both figures yourself. The building list is where you phone.

Gardening and landscaping

Type both figures yourself. The gardening and landscaping list is where you phone.

Percent, from 0 to 40. Applied to the total of the allowances you typed. Starts at 10.

VAT

Total

The total appears here. Nothing you type is uploaded.

Assumptions, units and limits

This page adds. It does not look up a price. Where a cost guide is linked, that guide names a published band, a source and a date. Copy a figure across only after you have read it, and treat it as your allowance, not as a quote from this site.

£1,000 to £2,000, plus a second allowance of £500 to £500, with 10% contingency and VAT already included, totals £1,650 to £2,750.

  • Leave both boxes empty to skip a job. If you fill one, fill the other. The low figure has to be at or below the high figure.
  • Contingency runs from 0 to 40 percent and is applied to the sum of the allowances. The box starts at 10.
  • VAT at 20%, when you choose it, is applied after the contingency. Some energy-saving work can be charged at a reduced rate. This page does not choose that rate.
  • Each allowance is limited to £2,000,000.
  • Amounts are in pounds, for the United Kingdom lists. The Malta directory uses euro, so this total does not apply there.

Phone the trade that does the work

The total is the allowances you typed. It is not a quote from Local Trades UK and not a price a builder has given you. Open the list for the trade, for London, Manchester, Birmingham, Leeds or Bristol, and phone the business yourself. There is no account. This site does not pass the job on, and it does not promise a reply.

Get contact details asks for a city and a trade. The form leaves out your name, your phone number and a description of the job.

Questions about this total

Where do the prices come from?

From the figures you type. This site does not fill them in. Where a cost guide exists, the form links to it so you can read the published band, the source and the date, then type your own allowance.

Is the total a builder's quote?

No. It is the total of your allowances, after the contingency and the VAT choice you select. The price for the work comes from the business you phone.

Does this page decide the VAT rate?

No. You choose to keep the figures as typed, or to add 20%. Some energy-saving work can be charged at a reduced rate. This page does not decide which rate applies.