How much does it cost to renovate a property on the Costa Blanca?

There's no honest one-line figure, and anyone who gives you one down the phone is guessing. The cost depends on the scope (full or partial), the starting condition of the home (above all the wiring, plumbing and any salt damage on the coast), the finishes you choose and whether the layout or structure is touched. A real price comes from a site visit and a fixed written quote, line by line — not from a price per square metre.

Why won't you just tell me a price per square metre?

Because it misleads more than it informs. Two identical-sized homes can cost completely different amounts to renovate: one needs only finishes, the other needs the wiring, plumbing and windows redone and the salt damage put right. A headline price per square metre is either wrong for your home or a low hook designed to be pushed up once the work starts.

Does the coast make a renovation more expensive?

It changes what you should spend on, more than the headline figure. On the front line the salt air attacks aluminium, fittings and air-conditioning units, so marine-grade materials aren't a luxury — they're what stops you redoing the job in three years. Damp and ventilation also need doing properly. Skimp on those to save money by the sea and you pay twice.

Can I get a fixed price that won't change halfway through?

Yes — that's how it should work. A quote priced line by line, agreed in writing before anything starts, that only changes if you ask for something new (a change of finish, an extra), priced in writing before it's done. Reasonable technical surprises are the builder's risk, not yours. A quote that creeps up 'because things came up' was usually a quote made badly on purpose.

Are there grants that bring the real cost down?

If the work improves the home's energy efficiency — new windows, insulation, aerothermal heating or efficient air conditioning — it can qualify for grants, an income-tax deduction and the CAE discount. These aren't automatic and some must be applied for before the work starts, so it's worth planning for them early. We can tell you what your job might qualify for.

I'm still buying. Can you look at a property before I commit?

Yes, and it's one of the best things you can do. Before you buy, we can visit and give you an honest read on what a renovation would involve — the state of the services, any structural or salt issues, what's realistic — so you go in with your eyes open instead of discovering the cost after completion.

How much does it cost to renovate on the Costa Blanca?

You’ve searched “cost to renovate on the Costa Blanca”, you’ve seen ten pages each with a different price per square metre, and you’re no clearer than when you started. That’s normal. This guide won’t give you another made-up number — it’ll explain why that number doesn’t exist and, more usefully, how to know what your renovation will actually cost so nobody can catch you out.

Why price per square metre lies

The price per square metre is the most-asked and least-useful figure there is, because two homes of the same size can cost completely different amounts to renovate.

Picture two 90 m² apartments in the same coastal town. The first has sound wiring and plumbing and just needs new finishes. The second needs the electrics and plumbing redone, a wall removed, the windows changed and the salt damage on the façade put right. They’re the same size. They’re nowhere near the same cost. A single “per m²” figure applied to both can only be wrong for one of them — usually yours.

So when someone quotes you a firm price down the phone without seeing the property, they’re doing one of two things: guessing, or setting a low hook to win you and pushing it up once the work has started. Both end the same way.

What really drives the cost

These are the factors that actually move the price. Once you know which ones apply to your home, you’ll understand what your renovation costs — and spot anyone trying it on.

1. The scope: full or in parts. A full renovation is a different animal from just redoing the bathroom. And, counter-intuitively, doing everything at once usually costs less per unit than doing it piecemeal, because the trades follow on from each other without repeating set-ups and protection.

2. The starting condition (what you can’t see). This moves the cost more than anything, and it’s the hardest to judge from the living room. Old wiring with no per-circuit protection, decades-old plumbing, damp, and — on the coast — salt that’s already got into frames and fittings. It has to be seen before the work, not discovered once it’s under way.

3. The coast itself. On the front line, the salt air punishes aluminium, fittings and air-conditioning units. Choosing marine-grade materials and sorting the ventilation properly isn’t optional here — it’s the difference between a renovation that lasts and one you redo in a few years.

4. Structure and layout. Opening the kitchen onto the living room, taking down walls, adding a bathroom — none of that costs the same as leaving the layout alone. Load-bearing walls mean reinforcement and a licence, and that shows in the quote.

5. The finishes you choose. This is where you hold the wheel. The same bathroom with a standard porcelain tile or a large-format imported one; the same kitchen with a laminate worktop or natural stone — similar work, very different number. That’s why the quote is built on the finishes you choose.

6. Installations and their certificates. A proper renovation leaves the electrics with a signed certificate and the air conditioning with its own. That’s not an optional extra — it’s what makes the home safe and legal, and what opens the door to grants.

What weighs most in each job

Full renovation. The state of the services and how much the layout is touched drive the number. It’s also where each euro goes furthest, because everything is done at once.
Bathroom. The plumbing (moving waste pipes, redoing tubing) and the choice of sanitaryware, taps and tiling. Small room, a lot of installation per square metre.
Kitchen. The electrics (a modern kitchen wants proper power and new circuits), the plumbing, the extraction, and the units, which are often the biggest single line.
Installations. Priced by metres of installation, power and equipment, plus the certificates that make them legal.

How an honest quote is built

A good renovation quote isn’t a number — it’s a list. Line by line, with what each item includes and excludes: demolition, building work, plumbing, electrics, climate, joinery, finishes.

That breakdown is what protects you, for two reasons. First, you can actually compare firms, because you see what each one includes and what it’s quietly left out to make the total look lower. Second, the price you sign is the price you pay: a proper quote is fixed line by line and only changes if you ask for something new.

The signs of a trap quote

Learn to smell these and you’ll dodge most of the disasters:

A total that’s suspiciously low. It’s almost always the one that doubles halfway through.
No breakdown. A round “turnkey” figure with no line items is a blank cheque.
“We’ll sort that out as we go.” Translation: I’ll charge you for it once you can’t back out.
Pressure to pay cash or without an invoice. Illegal, and it leaves you with no guarantee and no access to grants.
Nobody has seen your property. A firm price with no site visit is guesswork.

Where to save sensibly — and where not

You can trim a budget without wrecking the renovation, if you know where to touch.

Where you can: on what’s visible and easy to change later — finishes, units, the odd luxury. A simpler tile, more restrained kitchen fronts, holding off on a non-urgent area.

Where you never should: on what’s behind the walls. Electrics, plumbing, insulation, and — by the sea — marine-grade materials. Saving there is the classic false economy: cheap to do during the work, ruinous to redo once the floors and tiling are in.

Managing it from another country

Most of the owners asking this question aren’t in Spain. The good news: the cost drivers above don’t change because you’re abroad — and a firm that quotes transparently is exactly the kind you can run a job with remotely. We’ve written a full guide on doing it safely from another country: renovating a Spanish property from abroad. If you’re renovating to rent, see reforms for holiday lets; and for the money that comes back off the price, what grants foreign owners can claim. And if you haven’t bought yet, read what to check before buying a property to renovate first.

So what will yours cost?

The honest answer: it depends on your home, which is why it has to be seen. That’s not a dodge — it’s the opposite. It’s the only way to give you a number you can trust and that won’t move later.

We come to your property, measure, listen to how you want to live in it, and give you a fixed written quote, line by line, within a day or two. No charge for the visit, no obligation. The number you sign is the number you pay, with the delivery date in the contract — which, when you’re managing this from abroad, is exactly the certainty you want.