What does a luxury renovation budget in Barcelona consist of?
The budget splits into eight chapters: demolition and preparation, building services, partitions and ceilings, flooring, joinery, kitchen and bathrooms, lighting and automation, and appliances. BCN YARD's reference for the Signature tier starts at 3,000 €/m² excluding VAT, which means from 360,000 € for a 120 m² apartment. The exact figure comes in the estimate, after the site visit and measurements.
The same 120 m² costs from 240,000 € at Luxury and from 120,000 € at Premium, excluding VAT. In our estimates, VAT on renovating a resale home is usually 21%, so Signature on 120 m² comes to from 435,600 € including tax. The 21% applies because in our renovations materials usually exceed 40% of the taxable base; when they do not, renovating a private individual's home is taxed at 10% (Law 37/1992, art. 91). Furniture, decor and the interior design project are not in these numbers; more on that below. All figures are a starting point for the conversation, not an offer.
Which budget chapter is the most expensive?
Usually building services and made-to-measure joinery. In a 100–130 m² apartment each of these two groups takes, in practice, between a fifth and a quarter of the budget. That is an industry rule of thumb rather than a norm, and the shares in your own estimate will differ.
Services: electrics with separate circuits for appliances and lighting, plumbing, climate control with heat recovery, ventilation and low-voltage networks. Once the finishes go on they are invisible, so they are where corners get cut most often and where fixing a mistake costs the most. Joinery: floor-to-ceiling hidden doors, built-in wardrobes, slatted wall panels, walk-in dressing rooms. These are custom pieces, and a joinery workshop needs weeks, not days.
The kitchen with appliances and the bathrooms come next. A bathroom in a luxury project can easily cost as much as two standard ones: concealed cisterns, large-format tile or stone, underfloor heating, a dedicated extractor and a linear drain.
What gets more expensive when moving from Luxury to Signature?
What you cannot see in a photograph, and everything made to the measurements of your particular apartment. The difference lies in the scope of work; the price of the tile is secondary.
Services: zoned climate control, heat recovery, spare capacity in the electrical panel. Partitions and ceilings: double-stud walls with mineral wool in bedrooms and the study, shadow gaps, concealed access hatches. Flooring: herringbone solid-wood parquet or boards with a thick wear layer, natural stone, a moisture reading of the screed before laying. Joinery: designed and built from site measurements instead of picked from a catalogue. Lighting: several scenes, dimming, a lux calculation room by room. Quality control: sign-off after every phase rather than one at the end.
If you are unsure where to put the money, start with what ends up inside the wall and the floor. A wood panel or a light fitting can be replaced in five years; a pipe behind a marble wall cannot.
What is usually left out of the estimate and paid separately?
Most often billed separately: furniture, decor and soft furnishings, decorative light fittings, the design project and its professional sign-offs, the licence and council fees, utility connections and power upgrades, and VAT. The amount of the fees and the licence timeline depend on the municipality and are confirmed with the ayuntamiento or a gestor.
The project is signed by independent specialists, and their fee is usually a separate line. Built-in appliances are included in some estimates and not in others. Lift protection and common areas, the deposit and working schedule required by the comunidad de propietarios, waste removal, on-site storage of materials: check each item in writing.
Before you sign, ask one question: what exactly does the contractor mean by "turnkey". If the answer is "everything except furniture", ask for the list of lines in writing. We cover the typical omissions in our article on hidden costs.
How much contingency should you budget?
Usually 10–15% on top of the estimate, and the upper end for an older building. The contingency is not the same thing as provisional sums, and it does not replace them.
Problems tend to hide where you cannot look before demolition: timber floors in a 1900 building, old risers, wiring without an earth, cracks in load-bearing walls, damp behind a cladding. In an Eixample apartment with old hydraulic tile and high ceilings this is routine, not an exception.
The contingency is spent with your approval: the contractor shows you the finding, names the price and waits for your decision. If the estimate does not describe this procedure, add it to the contract. Whatever is not spent stays with you. For lines that cannot be priced in advance, such as stone or light fittings, read our article on provisional sums.
How do you compare two luxury renovation estimates?
Line by line and on the same scope of work, not by the bottom figure. Two estimates of 380,000 and 310,000 € often describe different apartments.
Check five things. Units and quantities: m², linear metres, items, not "package of works". Materials: names, grades, thicknesses, rather than "client's choice" with no allowance. Provisional sums: how many there are and for what, because that is where the total grows. Scope of services: how many circuits, what capacity, whether ventilation is included. Payment schedule: whether it is tied to completed phases.
Red flags: a single "turnkey renovation" line, no site visit or measurements before a price, a large deposit before work starts, and a vague "unforeseen costs" clause with no approval procedure.
How does BCN YARD prepare an estimate?
We start with a site visit and measurements, then price by chapter and show you what each number is made of. We run projects in Russian and Spanish, one person is responsible for the project, and the work is done by our own crew and trusted subcontractors. Payment follows the contract, in stages.
If you live outside Spain, the first conversation can be a video call and the measurements can be taken on a day that suits you. We answer every enquiry within an hour. You can choose between Premium, Luxury and Signature once you have seen the estimate by chapter: that shows where each tier adds cost and what you get in return.
Frequently asked questions
How much does a luxury renovation of a 120 m² apartment cost without furniture?
BCN YARD's reference for the Signature tier starts at 3,000 €/m² excluding VAT, which is from 360,000 € for 120 m². With the 21% VAT we usually apply to resale-home renovation in our estimates, that is from 435,600 €. The exact figure comes from the estimate after the site visit and measurements, broken down by chapter.
Which chapter of the estimate is the most expensive in a luxury renovation?
Usually building services and made-to-measure joinery: in a 100–130 m² apartment each group takes, in practice, between a fifth and a quarter of the budget. The kitchen with appliances and the bathrooms follow. This is an industry rule of thumb; in a real estimate the split depends on the building, the layout and the materials, so read the lines and not just the total.
What is usually left out of the estimate and paid separately?
Most often furniture, decor, soft furnishings, decorative light fittings, the project and its professional sign-offs, the licence and council fees, utility connections and power upgrades, and VAT. Fees and licence timelines depend on the municipality and are confirmed with the ayuntamiento or a gestor. Ask for the list of lines covered by "turnkey" in writing.
How much contingency should you budget?
Usually 10–15% on top of the estimate, and the upper end for an old building, because floors, risers and wiring only show themselves after demolition. Agree in writing that the contingency is spent only after the contractor has shown you the finding and named the price, and that whatever is left over stays with you.