Renovation Cost in 2025
How much does it cost to renovated a 4-room BTO unit? Or a 3-bedder resale condo?
This is the top question for every homeowner before their renovation journey.
While the right answer is “it depends”, we know it isn’t helpful. On top of that, we see many misleading prices online that either lowball to attract homeowners, or inflate to “justify” the overly high prices.
Today, we will share the real (and fair) renovation cost estimates for 2025. Refer here for the full details.
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There are 3 main factors driving your renovation costs:
(A) Type of Renovator
(B) Actual Scope of work
(C) GST
Depending on your selection, your costs will vary materially.
A) Type of Renovator: The tradeoff in design flair vs the cost
Generally, we deem 20% to be a fair margin for IDs to earn. The variance then depends on this design flair.
Some IDs can design, some really can’t. It is only fair that those who can are rewarded for their innate abilities.
There are other factors, eg experience, workmanship, proj management. These are important regardless of profile.
Only this intangible design flair, in our opinion, can justify going above the 25% margin. These boutique IDs serve a niche of customers that value the design output above all else (~10% of population).
And of course we exclude those that charge boutique prices, but can’t deliver the standards.
Hence, the ID’s profile will affect your cost. if you are looking for an boutique ID to deliver a “youtube-level home”, the costing will not be the same as that of a mid-tier or budget-friendly ID contractor.
B) Scope of work: Are the works in the quotations the same?
Our estimates cover the two most common scenarios:
Full Overhaul
“Kitchen & 2 Toilets” (K2T) projects — Redoing of kitchen & 2 bathrooms, and general carpentry / works around the house
For new launch condos or BTOs with OCS (Optional Component Scheme), many furnishings like floor/doors are already done. Do refer to the “K2T” group as well. We use it as an equivalent.
Side note, from experience, 80% of quotations received will not be apple-to-apple, resulting in differences in pricing.
It doesn’t mean that this ID is “very expensive” or “very cheap”. Homeowners just need to spend time to carefully compare the works based on the quotations.
C) GST: Don’t forget the 9%
Some renovation firms charge GST, while others don’t.
We’re talking about a significant 9% difference in your overall reno cost. As shared previously, we think this creates an uneven and unfair playing field for IDs & homeowners.
The prices here don’t include GST, so if your chosen firm is GST-registered, remember to factor that in.
Source: Deconstruct (May’25)
Just a quick heads up, all these numbers are meant to give you a ballpark figure. Your final renovation cost will still depend on the factors we shared earlier.
At the end of the day, pricing should be reasonable, IDs should be upfront, responsible, and committed to getting the job done right, and we believe that this structure created is fair for both IDs and homeowenrs.
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