How Much Does It Cost to Renovate a Villa in Mallorca?
Key takeaways
- The largest single variable is whether the electrical and plumbing installations are being replaced.
- Structure is the second, and it cannot be priced properly until somebody has looked.
- Access decides more than people expect: a plot a lorry cannot reach changes every delivery.
- Two quotes are only comparable if they were written against the same written scope.
There is no single figure, and anyone offering one without seeing the property is guessing. What there is, reliably, is a short list of things that move the number a great deal and a longer list of things that barely move it at all. Knowing which is which is worth more than a price per square metre, because it tells you where your decisions actually matter.
The four things that move the number most
In rough order of impact on a villa of any size.
Whether the services are being replaced
This is the step change. Renewing the electrical installation and the plumbing means opening walls, floors and ceilings throughout the property, so finishes come off in every room rather than only the rooms being changed. A project that was a kitchen and two bathrooms becomes a project that touches the whole house.
It also explains most of the gap between competing quotes. A price that assumes the installations stay and a price that assumes they go are not two prices for the same job. Ask every company to state its assumption in writing, and the numbers become comparable immediately.
What the structure turns out to be
Removing a wall to open a kitchen into a living room is a different piece of work depending on whether that wall is holding the floor above it up, and on older property the answer is not reliably visible. That is why structural work is priced after a survey rather than before one, and why a figure quoted over the phone will move.
How the property is reached
A villa on an open plot with a gate is one thing. A property on a lane no lorry can enter, or a plot below road level where material arrives by crane, is another, and the difference is charged on every delivery rather than once. It is the most commonly forgotten line in a quote written by somebody who has not visited.
The specification, which matters less than people think
Choosing a more expensive tile or a better tap changes the total by less than the three items above. It feels like the main decision because it is the one you enjoy making, and it is usually the one with the least leverage on the final number.
What makes two quotes impossible to compare
- One includes the electrical installation and the other assumes it stays.
- One has allowed for structural work and the other has not been told about it.
- One prices making good after the services and the other stops at first fix.
- They assume different access, so one carries crane or hand-carrying time.
- One includes the technical team and the permissions and the other leaves them with you.
- One has a contingency stated and the other has it hidden in the rates.
- They were given different descriptions of the job in the first place.
The fix for all seven is the same and it costs nothing: write the scope down once, give the identical document to every company, and ask each of them to list what they have excluded. Differences that remain after that are differences about the company rather than about the job.
| Scope | What it usually contains | Where the uncertainty sits |
|---|---|---|
| Cosmetic | Decoration, floor finishes, occasionally a kitchen | Very little; this is the most predictable scope |
| Renovation | Layout changes, kitchen, bathrooms, some services | What is behind the walls that are being opened |
| Full refurbishment | Back to structure, everything renewed inside | Least guessing, most decisions needed before pricing |
| Refurbishment plus structure | The above, with openings, beams or a new level | The survey, and what it finds under the finishes |
Where to get an actual figure
From companies that have seen the property, against a scope you have written down. That is the only kind of number that means anything, and getting several of them costs nothing. The cost guide covers the ranges and what sits inside them; the villa renovation page covers what the work involves.
Is there a price per square metre for Mallorca?
Figures like that circulate and they are close to useless on an individual property, because the range within any one of them is wider than the gap between them. A villa needing its services replaced and one that does not can differ by more than the entire finishes budget.
Why did the price change once work started?
Almost always because something was assumed rather than established. The most common are the electrical installation, what a wall was carrying, and damp with no obvious source. All three are findable before the price rather than after it.
Should I take the cheapest quote?
Only once you know it is pricing the same job. The cheapest quote is frequently the one that has excluded the most, and the exclusions are where the surprises live. Compare what each includes before comparing totals.
How much contingency is sensible?
Enough that a normal discovery does not stop the work, and it depends heavily on how much investigation happened first. A property that has been opened up and surveyed needs less of one than a property nobody has looked behind.
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