PROPERTY INVESTMENT CALCULATOR
Estimate refurbishment costs and understand how improvement works affect the total capital required for a property investment.
The purchase price is only the starting point for a refurbishment investment. Labour, materials, professional fees, contingency, finance and holding costs can all increase the amount of capital required before the property is ready to rent or sell.
Illustrative example
For a three-bedroom terraced house, enter manual allowances of £8,000 for a kitchen, £5,000 for a bathroom, £3,000 for decoration, £2,000 for flooring and £4,000 for electrical work. Base works total £22,000. At 10% contingency, the estimated budget is £24,200. If the works increase by £4,000 and you keep 10% contingency, the budget becomes £28,600, an increase of £4,400.
What it measures: an indicative works budget from the selected categories and contingency. It excludes contractor quotations, VAT-specific treatment, planning or building-control costs, finance, holding costs, timing and unknown defects. Use manual allowances where you have better information, and revise the figures as quotes and investigations arrive.
Kitchens and bathrooms; decoration and flooring; electrical and plumbing work; windows and doors; roofing and structural work; external works; professional fees; contingency; and finance and holding costs.
The investment case should also consider the property’s value after works, achievable rent, finance structure, total cash invested and the return generated once the project is complete.