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What a renovation costs in Dubai, with the numbers written down
Real ranges per square metre, per room and per trade, the difference between a finish level and a specification, and the six items that most often take a Dubai renovation budget past where it was meant to land.
What a renovation costs in Dubai
A cosmetic refresh in Dubai — paint, flooring, light fittings and minor joinery — runs AED 400 to 900 per square metre. A mid-range renovation with new kitchen, bathrooms, joinery and lighting runs AED 1,200 to 2,600 per square metre. A high-specification villa renovation with bespoke joinery, stone and structural changes runs AED 2,600 to 6,000 per square metre and upwards. A two-bedroom apartment typically lands between AED 180,000 and 450,000; a four-bedroom villa between AED 600,000 and 2,000,000.
Costs per square metre are useful for a first sanity check and misleading beyond that, because a renovation is not spread evenly across a floor. Kitchens and bathrooms cost several times what a bedroom does per square metre, so two properties of the same size with different numbers of bathrooms are different projects entirely.
The more reliable way to budget is by room and by trade, which is how we quote. Then the square metre figure falls out of it rather than driving it, and you can see which decisions are actually moving the number.
One honest warning before the tables. Any Dubai contractor quoting a villa renovation from photographs and a floor area is guessing. Structure, services, building rules and access change the figure substantially, and a quotation that does not mention them will find them later as variations.
Per roomNot per square metre
Whole-property ranges
Complete renovations in Dubai, including strip-out, civil works, MEP, finishes, joinery and installation. Furniture and appliances are excluded.
| Property | Scope | Typical total |
|---|---|---|
| Studio or 1-bed apartment | Cosmetic refresh | AED 45,000 – 110,000 |
| Studio or 1-bed apartment | Full renovation | AED 110,000 – 260,000 |
| 2-bed apartment | Full renovation | AED 180,000 – 450,000 |
| 3-bed apartment | Full renovation | AED 260,000 – 700,000 |
| 3-bed townhouse | Full renovation | AED 320,000 – 850,000 |
| 4-bed villa | Full renovation | AED 600,000 – 1,400,000 |
| 4-bed villa | High specification | AED 1,400,000 – 2,000,000+ |
| 5-bed villa and above | Full renovation | AED 900,000 – 3,000,000+ |
| Single room refresh | Paint, floor, lighting | AED 12,000 – 35,000 |
The spread within each row is mostly kitchens, bathrooms and joinery. A villa with two bathrooms and a villa with six are the same floor area and very different projects.
Room by room, which is how we quote
Complete rooms in Dubai, supplied and installed. These are the figures that actually build a budget.
| Room | Scope | Typical range |
|---|---|---|
| Kitchen, apartment | Cabinetry, worktop, install | AED 25,000 – 60,000 |
| Kitchen, villa with island | Cabinetry, stone, install | AED 60,000 – 180,000 |
| Butler’s pantry / wet kitchen | Complete | AED 18,000 – 55,000 |
| Guest bathroom | Complete | AED 18,000 – 35,000 |
| Master bathroom | Complete | AED 35,000 – 90,000 |
| Guest cloakroom | Complete | AED 9,000 – 18,000 |
| Bedroom with fitted wardrobes | Complete | AED 18,000 – 40,000 |
| Master bedroom suite | Complete | AED 40,000 – 120,000 |
| Walk-in wardrobe | Fitted out | AED 18,000 – 65,000 |
| Living room | Media wall, lighting, finishes | AED 25,000 – 60,000 |
| Living room, full renovation | Joinery, ceiling, flooring | AED 60,000 – 220,000 |
| Home office | Complete | AED 25,000 – 65,000 |
| Home gym, room conversion | Complete | AED 25,000 – 70,000 |
| Laundry room | Complete | AED 12,000 – 30,000 |
| Entryway with storage | Complete | AED 9,000 – 25,000 |
| Staircase, clad and new balustrade | Per flight | AED 12,000 – 35,000 |
Kitchens and bathrooms are where a budget is decided. Together they are usually 45 to 60 per cent of a residential renovation cost.
Unit rates for the individual trades
Supply and install in Dubai. Useful for pricing a single element or checking a quotation line by line.
| Item | Unit | Typical range |
|---|---|---|
| Strip-out, soft | per sq m | AED 60 – 140 |
| Strip-out to shell | per sq m | AED 120 – 260 |
| Block wall, built and plastered | per sq m | AED 110 – 220 |
| Gypsum partition | per sq m | AED 90 – 130 |
| False ceiling, plain | per sq m | AED 55 – 80 |
| False ceiling, stepped with coves | per sq m | AED 80 – 140 |
| Floor screed | per sq m | AED 55 – 110 |
| Waterproofing with flood test | per sq m | AED 55 – 120 |
| Tiling, supplied and laid | per sq m | AED 90 – 260 |
| Engineered timber flooring | per sq m | AED 180 – 450 |
| Painting, walls and ceiling | per sq m | AED 22 – 55 |
| Bespoke joinery, lacquered | per sq m face | AED 1,700 – 3,500 |
| Kitchen cabinetry, lacquered | per linear m | AED 3,200 – 7,500 |
| Quartz worktop | per sq m | AED 280 – 650 |
| Marble worktop | per sq m | AED 420 – 1,400 |
| Wall panelling | per sq m | AED 450 – 1,100 |
| Frameless shower enclosure | per sq m | AED 280 – 420 |
| Electrical point, added | each | AED 180 – 450 |
| Plumbing point, relocated | each | AED 450 – 1,400 |
| Air conditioning, dedicated unit | each | AED 6,500 – 22,000 |
Rates assume reasonable access and normal working hours. Occupied premises, high floors with a single service lift and night-work restrictions all add to labour.
The six items that move a Dubai renovation past its number
First, moving water. Relocating a WC, a kitchen sink or a shower needs drainage fall to an existing stack, and in an apartment that stack position is usually fixed. The change looks small on a plan and is one of the most expensive things you can ask for.
Second, structural openings. Taking out a wall between a kitchen and a living room requires establishing whether it carries load, then a consultant design, a beam or lintel, propping and an authority approval. Budget AED 3,500 to 12,000 per opening, and more where the approval is involved.
Third, approvals themselves. Owners association or authority permits take two to six weeks and cost real money, and a programme that ignores them is a programme that slips.
Fourth, long-lead materials. Imported tile and sanitaryware run six to ten weeks, stone must be selected and templated, and joinery cannot start until a drawing is approved. Late ordering does not cost more in materials — it costs weeks, and weeks cost money.
Fifth, provisional sums set unrealistically low. A quotation with an allowance of AED 20,000 for sanitaryware against a client who has chosen AED 60,000 of fittings is not cheaper, it is just not finished being priced.
Sixth, changes after first fix. A layout change in week two is free; the same change in week eight involves three trades and a fortnight. We set decision deadlines in the programme so clients know when a choice stops being free.
Six itemsWhere budgets actually break
How to compare two prices honestly
Two quotations for the same villa can differ by forty per cent and both be accurate, because they are pricing different things. The comparison only means something when the specification is the same: board thickness and framing material in partitions, whether wet areas are tanked and flood tested, the stone and its thickness, the hardware brand, and whether approvals and making good are included or excluded.
Look for the exclusions. A low headline figure with a long exclusions list — approvals, waterproofing, making good, debris removal, electrical alterations — is not a lower price, it is a smaller scope. Ask what the provisional sums assume, and whether they match what you have actually chosen.
And ask who is doing the work. A price that depends on subcontracting every trade carries a coordination risk that shows up as delay rather than as cost. We run 25 in-house trades and manufacture joinery in our own workshop, which is why our programmes hold.
Renovation costs: common questions
How much does it cost to renovate an apartment in Dubai?
A two-bedroom apartment typically runs AED 180,000 to 450,000 for a full renovation, or AED 45,000 to 110,000 for a cosmetic refresh of a one-bedroom. Kitchens and bathrooms account for most of the spread.
How much per square metre should I budget?
AED 400 to 900 per square metre for a cosmetic refresh, AED 1,200 to 2,600 for a mid-range full renovation, and AED 2,600 to 6,000 and upwards for high specification. Use it as a sanity check, not as a budget.
What percentage of the budget goes on kitchens and bathrooms?
Usually 45 to 60 per cent of a residential renovation. That is why two properties of the same floor area with different numbers of bathrooms are entirely different projects.
Why do quotations differ so much?
Because they are usually pricing different specifications and different scopes. Compare the exclusions list, the provisional sums, whether wet areas are tanked and tested, and whether approvals and making good are included.
What makes a renovation go over budget?
Moving drainage, structural openings, approvals, long-lead materials ordered late, provisional sums set unrealistically low, and changes made after first fix. Five of those six are avoidable with proper planning.
How long does a renovation take in Dubai?
Three to six weeks for a single room, eight to sixteen weeks for an apartment, and four to seven months for a full villa. Approvals add two to six weeks at the front and cannot be compressed.
Should I budget a contingency?
Yes — ten per cent on a straightforward apartment and fifteen on an older villa where what is behind the walls is unknown. A quotation with no contingency stated has simply moved the risk to you.
Is it cheaper to renovate or to buy already renovated?
Renovating is usually cheaper per square metre than the premium a finished property carries, and you get the layout and specification you want. It costs time and disruption, which is the real trade-off.
Get a real number for your property
Costs cannot be quoted honestly from photographs alone. We survey, establish what the building allows, and price room by room so you can see exactly where the money goes.
