How to plan a house renovation in Manchester: The right order of work, budget, permissions and a full checklist

By the team at Ivanov Renovation & Construction Group, family builders in Manchester. Updated October 2026.

Step 1: Check the house before you choose a kitchen

Walk round with a notebook and a torch. You are looking for anything that lets water in or makes the house unsafe. These jobs come before everything else, because they can ruin new work.

Older Manchester homes need this check most. A Victorian terrace in Levenshulme or Cheetham Hill has solid brick walls and, often, its original plaster. A 1930s semi in Prestwich may still have old wiring behind neat walls. Neither is a problem, as long as you find it before the decorating.

Step 2: Sort needs from wants

Now split your list in two. Needs protect the house. Wants make it yours.

• Needs: a sound roof, dry walls, safe wiring, working heating and plumbing.
• Wants: a new kitchen, a better bathroom, an extra bedroom, new floors and fresh paint.

Spend on the needs first, then fit the wants to what is left. If the budget will not stretch to everything, do whole stages rather than half of every room. A full house renovation done in the right stages costs less than the same work done twice.

Step 3: Check for asbestos before anyone drills

This step is missed more than any other. The Health and Safety Executive says asbestos can be found in any building built before the year 2000. It is safe while it is sealed and left alone. It becomes dangerous when it is drilled, sanded or broken.

In houses it is most often found in:

• Textured coatings on ceilings and walls.
• Old vinyl floor tiles and the glue beneath them.
• Garage and shed roofs made of cement sheet.
• Boxing around pipes and panels near old boilers.
• Soffit boards under the edge of the roof.

If you suspect it, do not touch it. Have a sample tested first. Some asbestos work can only be done by a licensed contractor. The HSE asbestos pages explain where it hides and what to do.

Step 4: Set the budget in three pots

• Pot one: the work itself, from strip-out to the last coat of paint.
• Pot two: surprises. Keep a share of the budget back. One pound in every ten is a common rule of thumb, and more for an older house.
• Pot three: living costs. Storage, meals while the kitchen is out, and rent if you move out.

What a good quote includes

• ✅A written list of the work, room by room.
• ✅Who supplies the kitchen, bathroom suite, tiles and flooring.
• ✅Making good: plaster, skirting boards and paint after each trade.
• ✅Skips and waste removal.
• ✅Building control fees and certificates.
• ✅How extra work is priced and agreed.
• ✅Payments tied to stages of the job.

A cheap quote that leaves out the plastering or the decorating is not cheap. Compare what is included, not only the figure at the bottom.

Step 5: Get the order of work right

This is where most money is saved or wasted. The rule is simple: wet, messy and structural work first, clean finishes last.

1. Strip out. Old kitchens, bathrooms, carpets and loose plaster go.
2. Structural work. Walls come out, steel beams go in, and any extension or loft conversion is built.
3. Make the house weathertight. Roof repairs, windows and outside doors.
4. Damp treatment and floor repairs.
5. First fix. New cables, pipes and heating runs go into the walls and floors.
6. Plastering, then time for it to dry.
7. Second fix. Sockets, switches, radiators and doors. The kitchen and bathrooms are fitted.
8. Tiling.
9. Decorating: ceilings, walls and woodwork.
10. Flooring and carpets, then a final touch-up and a deep clean.

Step 6: Find out which permissions you need

Most indoor work needs no planning application. A lot of it does need building regulations approval. GOV.UK lists these common jobs:

• Replacing a fuse box and the electrics connected to it.
• Fitting a bathroom where plumbing is involved.
• Changing electrics near a bath or shower.
• Replacing windows and doors.
• Replacing a roof covering.
• Installing or replacing a heating system.
• Adding extra radiators.

Structural changes, such as removing a load-bearing wall, need approval too.

Two ways to get sign-off

• Use an installer registered with a competent person scheme. They certify their own work, tell the council for you and send you a certificate.
• Or apply to building control, through your council or a registered private approver, and have the work inspected.

Keep every certificate. Without them, selling the house later becomes harder. See building regulations approval and competent person schemes on GOV.UK.

Gas work

Anyone who works on a gas boiler, hob or fire must be on the Gas Safe Register. Ask to see the engineer's ID card and check the register yourself.

Planning, neighbours and special cases

Extensions, loft conversions and changes to the outside may need planning permission. Our guide to choosing between an extension and a loft conversion sets out the limits. Work on a wall you share with a neighbour comes under the Party Wall Act. Flats, listed buildings and conservation areas have their own rules, so ask your council early. Approvals take time.

Step 7: Choose your builder with ten questions

1. Can I see photos of finished jobs like mine?
2. Where can I read reviews from past customers?
3. Who will be on site each day, and who do I call with questions?
4. Which trades are your own team, and which do you bring in?
5. Who does the gas and electrical work, and what are they registered with?
6. Are you insured, and can I see the certificate?
7. What exactly is in the quote, and what is not?
8. Who deals with building control?
9. How do you price extra work that we find along the way?
10. When can you start, and how will you keep me updated?

Clear, quick answers are a good sign. So is a builder who tells you when something you want is not a good idea. You are welcome to ask us all ten. You can also read what our customers say on Google and see our recent work on Facebook.

Step 8: Decide every room before work starts

Changes made on paper are free. Changes made after the plasterer has left are not.

• Kitchen: where the sink, cooker and fridge go, and how many sockets you need above the worktop. See kitchen renovation.
• Bathroom: bath, shower or both, where the extractor fan vents, and which walls are tiled. See bathroom renovation.
• Living rooms: the TV position, sockets, lighting and radiators.
• Bedrooms: the bed position first, then sockets and switches either side of it.
• Hall, stairs and landing: these take the most wear, so choose tough flooring and paint.
• Roof: thinking about solar panels? Plan them while the scaffold is up for roof repairs.
• Outside: leave driveways, patios and garden walls until the heavy deliveries have finished.

Step 9: Stay at home or move out?

There is no right answer. Decide before the job is priced, because it changes how the work is planned.

Seven mistakes that cost the most

• Decorating before the damp is cured.
• Choosing the kitchen before the wiring and plumbing are planned.
• Laying floors before the plastering.
• Keeping no money back for surprises.
• Skipping building control, then finding out when you sell.
• Changing your mind halfway through a room.
• Picking the lowest quote without checking what it leaves out.

Your renovation checklist

• ✅Roof, damp, wiring, heating, plaster, floors and windows checked.
• ✅Needs and wants listed in two columns.
• ✅Asbestos considered if the house was built before 2000.
• ✅Budget split into three pots.
• ✅Order of work agreed.
• ✅Permissions and certificates listed.
• ✅Ten questions asked, and reviews read.
• ✅Every room decided on paper.
• ✅Stay or move out decided.
• ✅Written quote received, with everything included.

Ticked them all? You are ready. We renovate homes across Manchester, Radcliffe, Bury, Bolton and the North West, with every trade in one family team. Send us a few photos and tell us what you have in mind. Your quote is free.

Common questions

• What order should a house renovation be done in?

  Strip out first, then structural work, then roof and windows, damp and floor repairs, first-fix wiring and plumbing, plastering, second fix with the kitchen and bathrooms, tiling, decorating and finally flooring.

• Do I need planning permission to renovate the inside of my house?

  Usually not. Most indoor work needs no planning application. Much of it does need building regulations approval, including new electrics, heating, windows and structural changes. Flats and listed buildings have extra rules.

• How much should I keep back for unexpected costs?

  There is no fixed rule. Around a tenth of the budget is a common starting point, and more for an older house or one that has not been touched for decades.

• Should I rewire before or after plastering?

  Before. New cables are set into the walls and under the floors, so the wiring and pipework go in first and the plaster covers them.

• Can I live in the house during a full renovation?

  For one or two rooms, most people stay. For a full rewire, replaster and new heating at once, many families move out for the dustiest weeks. Decide before the job is priced.