The four intervention bands
| Intervention | Indicative cost per m2 | Typical content |
|---|---|---|
| Light (refresh) | EUR 300 - 500 | Painting, overlaid floors, spot repairs |
| Medium | EUR 500 - 800 | Bathroom and kitchen refits, partial services, windows |
| Full | EUR 900 - 1,300 | Internal demolitions, complete services, all finishes |
| Heavy or premium | EUR 1,400 - 2,500 and above | Structural works, redesigned layout, high-end finishes, automation |
As always in this cluster, the figures exclude professional costs (typically 10-15 per cent in renovation, covering design, works supervision and permits), VAT and furnishings. And in renovation more than anywhere else a robust contingency must be added: 10-15 per cent, because the existing building reveals itself through demolition.
Where the cost forms: the three items in charge
Services are the first item of a full renovation: completely redoing the electrical and plumbing-heating systems in an apartment is worth EUR 250-400 per m2 on its own, which is why the cost nearly doubles between a medium and a full intervention. Saving on services by keeping the existing ones is legitimate in a medium intervention, but it moves the property into another category of outcome.
Bathrooms and kitchen concentrate the highest cost per square metre in the home: plumbing works, tiling, sanitaryware and taps make every bathroom a EUR 8,000-15,000 project depending on level.
Finishes are the most elastic item: between a standard floor and a premium one, between a standard window and a top-of-range one, the budget can vary by 50 per cent for the same works. It is the lever with which the estimate is tuned, upwards or downwards; the upper end is covered in the article on the cost of premium finishes.
Apartment, whole house, historic building
The apartment is the most frequent case and the one with the best market references: the article on apartment renovation costs develops an example bill of quantities for an 80 m2 unit, item by item. Its bands are the best documented in the segment.
The whole house adds envelope and structural packages to the apartment scope: roof, facades, external insulation, possible strengthening. The bands rise and so does the variance; the picture is in the article on the cost of a full house renovation.
The historic or listed building is a world of its own: specialist trades, imposed materials, heritage authority approvals. Costs start where ordinary ones end, as the article on renovating a historic building shows. And those adding volume rather than transforming it will find bands and constraints in the article on extension and vertical addition costs.
Worked example: full renovation of a 90 m2 apartment
| Item | Calculation | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Full renovation | 90 m2 × EUR 1,100 | EUR 99,000 |
| Professional fees (12%) | 99,000 × 0.12 | EUR 11,900 |
| Contingencies (12%) | 99,000 × 0.12 | EUR 11,900 |
| Indicative total (excluding VAT) | EUR 122,800 |
The real total exceeds the area-times-rate product by about a quarter, exactly as in new construction. The outcome is then affected by the tax deductions in force, which in Italy change year by year with the budget law: they must be checked at design stage and treated as a financial variable, not as a guaranteed discount.
Living through the works, and the timelines
Two practical variables complete a renovation budget. The occupied site: renovating while living in the home is feasible only for light interventions or by phases; in a full renovation, attempts at cohabitation stretch the programme and inflate costs (protection, double handling, fragmented trades), to the point that a temporary rental for a few months often proves cheaper than the site premium. Timelines: a medium intervention on an apartment takes 6-10 weeks, a full one 3-5 months, to which the time for building permits before site opening must be added. Every extra week has an indirect cost (rents, mortgages on two properties, removals) that belongs to the operation's budget even if no contractor quotes it.
Note: the figures shown are 2026 orders of magnitude for the Italian market, for guidance only. Every project requires a specific estimate based on a bill of quantities and up-to-date regional price books; the tax deductions in force must be checked at the project date.