Office Refurbishment Costs

What small office works actually cost

Almost every published fit-out cost guide is written for whole floors and seven-figure budgets. If you are refurbishing one floor, building a couple of meeting rooms or redecorating 2,000 square feet, those numbers tell you very little — and they tell you nothing about why a small job costs more per square foot than a large one.

This page sets out what small office refurbishment and fit-out work costs in London in 2026, where the money actually goes on a job of that size, and what the headline rates leave out. Figures are market ranges from published 2026 cost guides, not Beem quotes — sources are listed at the bottom. Every building is different, which is why we survey before we price.

The headline rates

London, 2026, per square foot of usable floor area.

Refurbishment — construction works only

Light or cosmetic — £35 to £75 per sq ft
Mid-range — £75 to £125 per sq ft
High specification — £125 to £200+ per sq ft

Full fit-out — all-in project cost

Low specification — around £148 per sq ft
Medium specification — around £243 per sq ft
High specification — around £359 per sq ft

Why those two sets of numbers look so different

They are measuring different things. The refurbishment ranges are construction works only. The fit-out figures are all-in project costs — they include furniture, AV and IT, professional fees and contingency, which together often account for a third of the total. Comparing one against the other is the most common budgeting mistake we see.

On a small job the distinction matters even more, because the fixed costs of running a project do not scale down. Site set-up, supervision, welfare, skips, permits and insurance cost much the same on a £15,000 job as on a £150,000 one. That is the real reason cost per square foot rises as the area falls, and why a 500 sq ft meeting room suite will never price at the same rate as a 10,000 sq ft floor.

What that means at 1,000 to 5,000 sq ft

A straight redecoration with minor making good sits below the bottom of the light refurbishment range. A light refurbishment of a 1,000 sq ft floor — decoration, flooring, some lighting and small power — lands in the tens of thousands. A mid-range refurbishment of 2,000 sq ft, with partitioning and ceiling and lighting alterations, is a materially bigger number.

The honest answer is that the range is wide because the variables are large: how much of the existing fit-out can stay, what the landlord will allow, whether you need out-of-hours working, and the lead time on anything specified.

Our Work

Breaking it down

Partitioning and meeting rooms

Partitioning is usually priced per linear metre rather than per square foot. Standard single-glazed systems start at around £300 per linear metre; double-glazed and higher-performance acoustic systems run to roughly double that and beyond. Doors are quoted separately, and a high-specification door set can cost as much as three or four metres of standard partitioning — which is why two doors can move a small quote more than you would expect.

As a rule of thumb, a 4m by 3m meeting room built into the corner of a floor needs about seven linear metres of partition plus a door. Add the ceiling, lighting and air conditioning alterations that come with enclosing a space and you have the real cost of a meeting room, which is rarely the partition alone. See office partitioning and meeting rooms for how the specification affects it.

Where the money goes

Mechanical and electrical work is the item people underestimate most — on a refurbishment it typically accounts for 25 to 40 per cent of the total. Lighting, small power, data and air conditioning all have to follow the new layout, and on an older building the existing installation often dictates what is possible.

After M&E, the costs that move a small job are access and out-of-hours premiums, strip-out and waste removal, and making good — the unglamorous work of leaving the parts you did not touch looking as though you did. If the programme is tight, add the cost of working evenings and weekends; see short programme fit out.

What the rates exclude

Published rates almost never include furniture (budget roughly £500 to £800 per person for basic, £800 to £1,500 mid-range, £1,500 to £2,500 and up for premium), professional fees, VAT, landlord consent and licence to alter costs, or your eventual dilapidations liability. That last one is worth pricing at the start, not at lease end: what you install now is usually what you will be asked to remove later. Refurbishment spend may also attract capital allowances, which is worth checking with your accountant before you commit.

Sources

Fit-out rates: Cushman & Wakefield UK Office Fit Out Cost Guide, 2026 edition. Refurbishment ranges and the M&E percentage: SJP Interiors office refurbishment price guide, 2026. Partitioning rates: Excel Business Environments office partitioning cost guide, 2026. Figures checked November 2026 and indicative only — they are market ranges, not a quotation.