Spain Renovation Cost per m2 2026: Real Reform Budgets

Spanish contractors think in tiers, and the gap between them is where budgets break. A buyer asks for "a full refurbishment" meaning new floors and a new kitchen. The builder prices a reforma integral. The two numbers sit around EUR 40,000 apart on a 90 m2 flat, and nobody notices until the presupuesto arrives.

The bands below are for the Alicante and Murcia coast in mid 2026, for a registered contractor carrying public liability insurance and issuing proper facturas. They exclude IVA, because that is how Spanish quotes are written. They also exclude furniture, appliances beyond the kitchen, and anything outside the four walls.

Tier	EUR per m2 (ex IVA)	90 m2 apartment	Permit route	Weeks on site
Cosmetic refresh	180–320	16,200–28,800	Declaración responsable	3–5
Mid-level reform	420–650	37,800–58,500	Declaración responsable	6–9
Integral reform	780–1,150	70,200–103,500	Obra menor, or obra mayor if you move walls	12–18
Premium integral	1,300–2,200	117,000–198,000	Obra mayor	20–30

Cosmetic refresh, EUR 180 to 320 per m2

Paint throughout, a new floor laid over the existing tiles in laminate or SPC vinyl, interior doors sprayed, new switches and fittings, wet areas resealed and regrouted, kitchen cupboard fronts and worktop swapped while the carcasses stay. On a tired 1990s apartment this is what moves a flat from unlettable to lettable.

It buys nothing behind the plaster: no new pipework, no new cabling, no moved walls, no new windows, no reworked bathroom layout. If the shower tray leaks or the consumer unit is a 1980s fuse board, a cosmetic refresh papers over a problem you will pay for later.

Mid-level reform, EUR 420 to 650 per m2

Kitchen and bathrooms stripped back and rebuilt, floors lifted and relaid throughout, a new consumer unit with new circuits to the wet rooms, ducted or split air conditioning, new interior carpentry. This is the right tier for stock built after about 1995, where the structure and the risers are sound and only the fittings have aged.

It stops short of a full rewire to current REBT standard, of replumbing the vertical risers, and of changing the distribution. New windows sit on a separate line: budget EUR 450 to 700 per m2 of opening for thermal-break aluminium or good PVC with double glazing, which on a two-bedroom flat carrying 9 to 10 m2 of opening comes to EUR 4,000 to 7,000.

Integral reform, EUR 780 to 1,150 per m2

Everything back to the shell. Strip-out, new plumbing in multilayer or PEX, a full rewire with a new boletín, new distribution where walls are non-structural, new windows, insulation on the exterior-facing walls, a heat pump or aerothermal system, new kitchen and bathrooms with mid-range Spanish and Italian finishes. Twelve to eighteen weeks on site for 90 m2, and that assumes the trades turn up in the order they promised.

The top of this band buys larger-format porcelain, better sanitaryware and a proper ventilation strategy. The bottom of it buys competent work with catalogue finishes, and both are honest reforms.

Premium integral, EUR 1,300 to 2,200 per m2

Structural change. Opening a load-bearing wall with a steel or concrete beam, adding an ensuite where none existed, underfloor heating, microcement, bespoke joinery, KNX or comparable home automation, exterior terraces rebuilt with proper waterproofing. Above EUR 2,200 per m2 you are into architect-led work where the finish schedule, not the square meters, drives the number. Pools, landscaping and boundary walls sit outside all of this.

What shifts the number: access, age and salt

Two identical 90 m2 flats, same town, same finish schedule, can differ by EUR 12,000 on an integral quote. The variables are boring and predictable.

A fifth-floor apartment with no lift adds roughly 10 to 20% to the labour and waste lines. Everything comes down by hand, including some eleven tonnes of rubble in barrows, and everything goes back up the same way. A ground-floor unit with a skip outside the door is the cheapest job on the street. Old-town streets in Villajoyosa, Denia and the Torrevieja centre often have no skip access at all, which means sacas, a small van and multiple trips.

Coastal exposure costs money too. Within about 500 m of the water, aluminium carpentry should be marine-grade anodised or properly lacquered and the fixings stainless, which adds roughly 5% to the carpentry line and is not optional if you want the windows to still work in 2036. Buildings from the 1970s and earlier bring lead or galvanised plumbing, wiring with no earth, and floor slabs that are rarely level, all of which inflate the strip-out.

Most Spanish trades also shut for August, which catches foreign owners every year. A job starting in early July does not run continuously to September, so plan around the gap.

Before you commit to a tier, check what reformed stock in the same town actually sells for. Our square meter price tracker for the Costa Blanca sets that baseline.

The line items that never appear in the builder's quote

Take a EUR 80,000 works quote on a full apartment reform. Here is what leaves your account.

Line item	Rule of thumb	On EUR 80,000 of works
IVA on the works	10% reduced rate on residential renovation, 21% if the contractor's materials exceed 40% of the base	8,000
Proyecto and dirección de obra (obra mayor)	6–10% of the PEM, plus 21% IVA on the fee	7,260
ICIO, the municipal construction tax	3–4% of the declared budget, capped at 4% by state law	2,800
Licence fee (tasa urbanística)	0.5–1.5%, or a fixed municipal scale	640
Gestión de residuos	EUR 30–45 per tonne, 8–14 tonnes on a 90 m2 strip-out, plus a refundable deposit	450
Boletín eléctrico and new energy certificate	Fixed	300
Contingency	10–15% of works, IVA included	10,560
All-in		≈ 110,000

That is 37% above the headline figure, and this example carries a full obra mayor project fee. Strip that line out and a job running on a declaración responsable lands nearer 28%. As a working rule, multiply the builder's ex-IVA number by 1.3 for the declaración responsable route and by 1.4 once a licencia de obra mayor is involved.

IVA is 10%, or it is 21%. Article 91 of the Ley del IVA gives the reduced 10% rate on renovation of a dwelling when the buyer is a private individual using it privately, the building was completed at least two years earlier, and the materials the contractor supplies do not exceed 40% of the taxable base. Blow through that 40% threshold, which a kitchen-heavy job easily can, and the whole invoice goes to 21%. Professional fees from an architect or aparejador are always 21%. Ask your contractor in writing which rate they intend to apply and why.

ICIO is not the licence fee. They are two separate charges from the same ayuntamiento, both calculated on your declared budget, so declare it honestly. Ayuntamientos in Torrevieja, Orihuela and Pilar de la Horadada revise a declared figure upward using their own module tables, and the difference arrives later as a complementary assessment.

The community has a say, and it takes time. Under the Ley de Propiedad Horizontal you may reform freely inside your own flat, but you must notify the president in writing first, and anything touching the facade, a terrace enclosure, an extraction duct or a common riser needs a vote at a junta. If the next junta is three months away, that is three months you cannot compress.

Contingency is not padding. On anything built before 1990, hold 15%. Fibrocemento downpipes containing asbestos have to be removed by a firm on the RERA register, which adds EUR 2,000 to 6,000 and a fortnight of paperwork. Galvanised risers that hold until the first pressure test are the other common surprise.

The same per m2 logic drives a ground-up build. Our self-build budget guide for 2026 covers that side.

What the numbers do to an investment case

Reform maths only works if the exit or the rent supports it. Take a live listing: WG-13, a 76 m2 apartment in Alfaz del Pi at EUR 149,000. That is EUR 1,961 per m2, well below the reformed comparable in the same area.

A mid-level reform at EUR 520 per m2 is EUR 39,520 ex IVA. Apply the 1.3 multiplier and the all-in works cost is roughly EUR 51,400. Purchase costs on a resale in the Comunitat Valenciana run about 12% once ITP, notary, registry and legal fees are counted, as our total cost of buying guide sets out, so the acquisition lands near EUR 166,900. Total capital in: approximately EUR 218,300, or EUR 2,872 per m2.

Let the flat at EUR 1,000 a month on a long-term contract and the contracted rent is EUR 12,000, a gross yield of 5.5% on all-in capital. Budget one vacant month and you collect EUR 11,000, which pulls the gross figure to 5.0%. Running costs then take their share: IBI around EUR 400, community fees EUR 900, insurance EUR 250, a maintenance reserve of EUR 600, and letting management at 8% of collected rent, EUR 880. That is EUR 3,030 of costs against EUR 11,000 of rent, leaving EUR 7,970 and a net yield of 3.7% before tax.

Tax then splits the audience by country of residence. An EU-resident owner deducts those expenses and pays 19% on the net figure under Modelo 210, keeping roughly EUR 6,456, a 3.0% return on capital. A UK-resident owner cannot deduct expenses post-Brexit and pays 24% on the EUR 11,000 collected, so about EUR 5,330 survives, or 2.4%. Same flat, same reform, roughly EUR 1,130 a year of difference driven by nothing but residence. The mechanics sit in our Modelo 210 guide, and the wider yield picture in the Costa Blanca long-term rental yields data.

At 2026 prices a reform on this coast is rarely a flip play. It buys a better home for less money, or lifts a rental out of the bottom band. If you need a 20% margin on resale within eighteen months, this market will not hand it to you.

Where the opportunity is genuinely open is the 1985 to 2000 apartment stock in Torrevieja, Guardamar, Los Alcázares and San Pedro del Pinatar, where entry prices are low enough that even a cosmetic tier moves the property into a better rental band. We hold 126 sale listings in Torrevieja alone. On the northern side, much of the deepest premium reform stock sits in Javea, Moraira and Benissa, where Wesna holds no listings at all and cannot help you buy. Our north-coast inventory runs through Denia, Calpe, Polop, Alfaz del Pi and La Nucia, including WES-2080, a four-bedroom 169 m2 house in La Nucia at EUR 465,000.

What would break the thesis

The comparable ceiling. Your reformed flat is worth what the best flat in that block sells for, plus a modest premium. If the top sale in the building over the last two years was EUR 165,000, putting EUR 51,400 of works into a EUR 149,000 purchase does not create a EUR 200,000 asset. Pull the last three sales in the building through a valuer, or check the asking-price spread in the Idealista price reports, before you commit.

Contractor capacity. Good reform teams on this coast are booked three to six months out in 2026. A firm that can start next Monday in high season is usually free for a reason, so ask for two addresses of finished work you can visit, and check the company is current with the Seguridad Social and carries decennial or at least civil liability cover.

Licence delay. An obra mayor file in some Alicante and Murcia ayuntamientos takes eight to twenty weeks from submission to resolution. Where the seller allows it, start that clock before completion rather than after.

Cost drift. INE recorded Spanish house prices up around 13% year on year in early 2026, and material and labour costs have moved with them. Treat a quote older than 60 days as a starting point, not a price.

Currency. A 4% move against the euro on a EUR 110,000 reform is EUR 4,400 out of your pocket, more than the ICIO and licence bill combined. If you are funding from sterling, our guide to transferring money to Spain from the UK covers forward contracts.

Tax treatment of the spend. Agencia Tributaria distinguishes mejoras from reparaciones. Only improvements and extensions increase your acquisition value for future capital gains tax; repainting and repairs do not. Keep every factura with your NIE and the property address on it, filed for the whole holding period.

Common questions

Is EUR 850 per m2 realistic for a full reform in 2026?

Yes, for a competent integral reform with mid-range finishes on the Alicante and Murcia coast, excluding IVA and fees. Below EUR 700 per m2 you are usually looking at a partial job relabelled, or a quote that omits the electrical and plumbing renewal.

Do I pay 10% or 21% IVA on a reform?

The reduced 10% rate applies when the property is at least two years old, you are a private individual using it privately, and the contractor's materials stay under 40% of the taxable base. Cross that threshold and the entire invoice goes to 21%. Architect and aparejador fees are always 21%.

Do I need a licence to replace a kitchen and bathroom?

Usually a declaración responsable rather than a full licence, provided you do not move structural walls, alter the facade or touch common risers. You still pay ICIO on the declared budget and still notify the community in writing. Rules vary by ayuntamiento, so confirm with the local urbanismo office.

Can I offset the reform against capital gains tax when I sell?

Only the part that qualifies as a mejora, meaning an improvement or extension that increases the property's value or extends its life. Routine repairs and repainting do not count. You need the original facturas showing IVA, your NIE and the property address to make the claim stand up.

Next steps

Send us the reference and floor plan of the property you are weighing up and we will return a costed reform band within three working days. Our renovation service page sets out how that works.