RenovationStartthe renovation reality check

Renovation cost index

What happened to renovation prices, from the official statistics: housing repair and maintenance is up 15.9% since 2020, but only 1.2% in the last year. Update an old quote to today, and see why renovating tracked a calmer path than the new-build headlines.

Update an old renovation quote

Got a quote or budget from an earlier year? Convert it along the official price index for housing repair and maintenance.

£

£30,000 from 2020 is roughly this much in 2026:

£34,770

+15.9% on the housing repair and maintenance index

The index, year by year

Index 100 = the 2020 average. The renovation series is housing repair and maintenance; all construction (dominated by new build) is the number most cost headlines quote, and it ran almost twice as hot.

YearHousing repair & maintenanceAll repair & maintenanceAll construction
2020100.0100.0100.0
2021102.8103.5104.0
2022109.0111.8114.0
2023112.3116.9120.6
2024113.6119.5123.6
2025115.1122.2127.0
2026 (to Mar)115.9122.3127.2

The gap is the story: since 2020 renovation prices rose 15.9% while all construction rose 27.2%. The 2021-2022 materials squeeze hit new build hardest; repair and maintenance is more labour than materials, and labour rates moved in smaller steps. The last year was the calmest since then, at +1.2% for housing repair and maintenance.

What this means for your project

An expired quote from a year ago is a starting point, not a fossil: at +1.2% a year, asking the same builder to re-confirm is reasonable. A quote from 2021 or 2022 is a different matter; convert it above before you compare it with new ones, then sanity-check the numbers with the cost calculator or run a new quote through the quote check. Regional differences stay on top of all of this: renovation costs by region.

Source and method

Data: ONS Construction output price indices (OPIs), covering Great Britain, published quarterly (latest period March 2026, next release 13 August 2026). ONS publishes the series at base 2015 = 100; I rebase to 2020 = 100 and use annual averages of the monthly figures, with 2026 covering January to March. No estimates, no smoothing. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

Frequently asked questions

How much have renovation prices risen since 2020?

Housing repair and maintenance output prices in Great Britain are up about 15.9% since 2020 (ONS, through March 2026). New build rose much faster: all construction is up about 27.2% over the same period.

Are renovation prices still rising in 2026?

Barely: the housing repair and maintenance index stands 1.2% above a year earlier (March 2026). That is the flattest year since the 2021-2022 jump, so a quote that expired last year should not come back dramatically higher.

Where do these numbers come from?

From the ONS Construction Output Price Indices: official statistics covering Great Britain, published quarterly, base 2015 = 100. I rebase them to 2020 = 100 and take annual averages of the monthly figures; the method and source values are documented and every update follows the ONS release.

Why is this index different from building cost headlines?

Most headlines track new build or all construction, which rose almost twice as fast since 2020. Repair and maintenance of homes, which is what a renovation is, followed a calmer path. Use the series that matches your project.