This article discusses apartment renovation costs in Athens, along with permits, taxes and professional fees. It explains the levels of renovation available and outlines approaches to making savings.
As a headline summary, a full architect-designed renovation of an Athens apartment may cost between €700 and €1,200 per square metre in 2026. A lighter cosmetic refresh may cost between €400 and €600 per square metre, while a design-led renovation with layout changes and custom joinery can exceed €1,300 per square metre.
Fineline Studio is an ARB- and TEE-registered architecture practice based in Athens. View our recent residential projects, or contact us for a free introductory consultation to discuss your project.
Renovating is often cheaper than buying newer stock in better condition, and it allows you to keep the generous rooms, high ceilings and solid concrete frames that older Athens buildings offer. Renovation budgets have risen in recent years, however, as material and labour costs continue to climb. A quote from two or three years ago no longer describes today’s market.
Apartment renovation costs in 2026
While many factors affect the cost of a renovation, the most important are the size of the apartment and the depth of the intervention. Size correlates directly with total cost, so begin by confirming the floor area you intend to renovate.
The age of the building matters almost as much. Most Athens apartments were built between the 1960s and 1980s, and behind their walls you will reliably find aged wiring, corroded steel plumbing, no insulation and single glazing. This is why the realistic budget for a pre-1990 apartment starts at full-renovation level.
All guideline prices below are for construction only. They do not include VAT or professional fees.
Cosmetic refresh
A cosmetic refresh in Athens will usually cost between €400 and €600 per square metre. This covers painting, floor sanding or new floating floors, new internal doors and light fittings, with the existing installations retained. It is appropriate only where the wiring and plumbing are genuinely sound.
Full renovation
A full renovation will usually cost between €700 and €1,200 per square metre. This is the level most buyers of older apartments actually need: complete replacement of electrical and plumbing installations, new bathrooms and kitchen, new floors, window upgrades, heating and cooling, and plastering and painting throughout.
Design-led renovation
For a renovation involving layout changes, custom joinery and higher-grade materials, expect €1,200 to €1,600+ per square metre. Removing or relocating partitions, opening the kitchen to the living space and reclaiming corridor area can transform an old plan. Any intervention in the structural frame requires an engineer’s approval and adds cost where it is permitted at all.
What will your renovation include?
Kitchens and bathrooms are the most expensive rooms per square metre, and their number and specification will move the total significantly.
Kitchens
Expect to pay an additional €8,000 to €25,000 for a new kitchen. €8,000 will typically cover a well-made standard kitchen with mid-range appliances, while custom joinery, stone worktops and integrated appliances sit at the upper end.
Bathrooms
The cost of a fully rebuilt bathroom begins at around €5,000 to €12,000, including demolition, waterproofing, new plumbing, tiling and fixtures. Waterproofing is the item never to economise on.
Consultant fees for a renovation
Architects
An architect designs the renovation, prepares the drawings and specification that allow contractors to price accurately, handles the permit process and supervises the works. Detailed documentation is what makes quotes comparable and protects you from the mid-project “we assumed you meant…” conversations.
An architect can also propose alternatives that reduce cost. Sometimes reorganising the existing plan achieves more than an expensive intervention, and knowing which moves are inexpensive and which quietly consume the budget is precisely what design fees buy.
Contact us for a free introductory consultation to discuss your renovation.
Other consultants
Depending on the project, a civil engineer, mechanical engineer or energy assessor may also be required, particularly for structural checks, permit documentation and the energy performance certificate. The cost of all professional services will typically be 10 to 15% on top of the construction cost. See our guide to architects’ fees in Greece for more detail.
Additional costs
Permits
Most apartment renovations proceed under a small-scale works approval (έγκριση εργασιών μικρής κλίμακας). Renovations involving layout changes or structural work may require a fuller permit, with additional documentation and engineering studies. Unauthorised past modifications must usually be legalised before other approvals can proceed, which carries its own cost and timeline.
Building consents
In a polykatoikia, works affecting shared elements, the facade or external cooling units may require the consent of the building administrator or co-owners. This is better discovered before the design is finalised.
EFKA contributions
Social insurance contributions for construction labour are a legal obligation of the owner. They are calculated against notional labour for each type of work and are a genuine line item that owners rarely anticipate.
VAT
Renovation works attract VAT at the prevailing rate. The treatment of labour and materials can differ, and reduced rates have applied to certain categories of work in recent years, so confirm the current position with your accountant before finalising a budget.
Major item costs
Windows
Windows are a significant cost, and the bigger the opening, the greater the cost per square metre of the unit. Alongside insulation, however, they are the intervention that most changes how an Athens apartment feels in both August and January, and what it costs to run.
Heating and cooling
Cooling matters as much as heating in Athens. Planning unit and duct positions early avoids ugly retrofits, and a renovation is the right moment to consider heat-pump systems, which pair well with an upgraded envelope.
Site constraints
Costs increase with difficult access. An apartment on the fifth floor of a building with a small lift, or none, means every bag of demolition waste and every board of plasterboard is carried by hand, and contractors price accordingly. Central Athens parking restrictions and skip permits add further cost.
General specification
Your selected finishes, including tiles, timber floors, sanitaryware and lighting, can substantially affect the total. Simple, well-chosen standard products deliver most of the effect of bespoke items at a fraction of the price, and a good specification mixes the two deliberately: custom where you touch it daily, standard where you do not.
Renovation costs as a percentage
The following gives an approximate breakdown of a typical full-renovation budget:
- Construction, materials and labour: 70%
- Architect and engineers: 10 to 12%
- Permits and administration: 2 to 3%
- EFKA contributions: 3 to 5%
- Contingency: 10 to 15%
VAT applies in addition to the above.
How an architect can help with budgeting
An architect will consider all of the issues affecting your renovation costs before they occur. Opening up key areas during the survey, checking for unauthorised modifications and confirming the condition of installations means the budget is set with knowledge rather than hope. Complete drawings help contractors price accurately and reduce provisional sums, and independent supervision during the works is what holds price, programme and quality together, particularly if you live abroad.
Renovation and added value
A well-executed renovation in Athens reliably increases both sale value and rental income, and the energy-upgrade component reduces running costs permanently. Subsidy programmes such as Exoikonomo periodically support insulation, windows and heating upgrades; eligibility changes per cycle and is worth checking before you fix your scope.
Ten renovation cost considerations
- What is the goal of your renovation: your own home, or an investment?
- What is your realistic total budget, including fees and VAT?
- How old is the building, and when were the installations last replaced?
- Are there unauthorised modifications that need legalising?
- Do the works need co-owners’ consent?
- Which elements deserve custom work, and which can be standard?
- Do you have a contingency of at least 15%?
- Have you checked subsidy eligibility before fixing the scope?
- Who will supervise the works, especially if you are abroad?
- What is your timeframe, and does it avoid decision-making on site?
Fineline Studio designs and delivers renovations across Athens. Contact us for a free introductory consultation, or view our recent residential projects.