Painting and Decorating Cost in London: 2027 Price Guide
•9 min read
Painting and decorating in London in 2027 typically costs £350 to £700 to redecorate a standard bedroom, £600 to £1,200 for a living room or kitchen, and £2,500 to £6,000 to redecorate a full three-bedroom house throughout. Exterior painting and decorating on a standard semi-detached house typically costs £1,200 to £3,500. This guide sets out realistic 2027 cost bands for interior rooms, whole-property repaints, exterior work and wallpaper, and explains why preparation, not paint, is usually what actually moves the price.
Painting and decorating cost in London by job type
Painting and decorating cost is usually priced by room, and the biggest variable is how much preparation the surfaces need rather than the paint itself. A standard bedroom with sound, previously painted plaster typically costs £350 to £700 to redecorate, covering two coats of emulsion on walls and ceiling plus woodwork. A living room or kitchen, usually larger and often needing more cutting-in around fitted units or a fireplace, typically costs £600 to £1,200. A hallway or staircase, often with higher ceilings and more awkward access, typically costs £500 to £1,100.
A full three-bedroom house redecorated throughout, walls, ceilings and woodwork in every room plus hallway and staircase, typically costs £2,500 to £6,000. A one or two-bedroom flat redecorated throughout typically costs £1,600 to £3,800, scaling down from the house figure with fewer rooms but often similar hallway and access considerations. Exterior painting and decorating typically costs £1,200 to £3,500 for a standard semi-detached house, depending on render condition and how much scaffold or tower access the property needs.
London painting and decorating cost guide (2027)
Item
Typical range
Notes
Bedroom redecoration (sound plaster, two coats)
£350–£700
Living room or kitchen redecoration
£600–£1,200
Hallway and staircase redecoration (higher ceilings)
£500–£1,100
Full 1–2 bed flat redecoration throughout
£1,600–£3,800
Full 3-bed house redecoration throughout
£2,500–£6,000
Plaster repair and re-skim, added to decorating (per room)
£300–£800
Common where original plaster has cracked or blown
Exterior painting and decorating, standard semi-detached house
£1,200–£3,500
Woodwork strip and repaint (doors, skirting, staircase, per property)
£600–£1,800
Wallpaper hanging, standard paper (per room, supply and fit)
£350–£650
Feature wallpaper wall (single wall, supply and fit)
£150–£320
Figures are general London market guidance only, not a fixed Lian Construction quote. Preparation needed, ceiling height and access all affect the final price.
Why preparation, not paint, drives the price
Price is driven mainly by three things: how much preparation the surfaces need, how much area there is to cover, and access. A room with sound, previously painted plaster that just needs a colour change costs a lot less than one where ceilings have cracked, walls are blown in patches, or old wallpaper has to come off first. Re-skimming adds material cost and drying time before any paint goes on, typically a week per coat of skim in normal conditions, so jobs involving plaster repair are quoted as combined plastering and decorating work rather than decoration priced on its own.
Colour change and paint system also move the price more than people expect. A like-for-like refresh in a similar tone to what's already on the wall usually needs two coats, while going from a dark or strongly pigmented existing colour to white or a pale neutral typically needs a stain-blocking undercoat and an extra topcoat to get even coverage. Woodwork is priced separately from walls and ceilings for the same reason: skirting, doors and staircases with thick, yellowed layers of old gloss need sanding back and a proper primer and undercoat sequence rather than a straight top coat over old gloss, which never bonds well and tends to fail within a year or two of a rushed repaint.
Whole-house and whole-flat repaints
A full house repaint scales with the number of rooms, ceiling height and how much woodwork is involved rather than floor area alone, which is why the room-by-room figures above are a more reliable starting point than a flat per-square-metre rate. A typical three-bedroom house, including hallway and staircase, sits at £2,500 to £6,000, with the higher end reflecting a full woodwork strip, a significant colour change requiring stain-blocking, or plaster repair needed in several rooms rather than just one or two.
A one or two-bedroom flat redecorated throughout typically costs £1,600 to £3,800. Flats often have fewer rooms than a comparable house but can carry similar fixed costs for hallway, staircase within the flat if there is one, and access considerations, particularly in a purpose-built block where materials need to come up in a lift or up several flights of stairs, which is worth factoring into the quote alongside the smaller overall floor area.
Exterior painting and decorating cost
Exterior painting and decorating on a standard semi-detached house typically costs £1,200 to £3,500, and the largest single variable within that range is access rather than the paint itself. A property reachable from a tower scaffold or podium steps costs less to access than one needing full scaffold to a front and rear elevation, and scaffold licensing on a public pavement or road can itself add lead time before painting starts, since the local council typically needs several weeks' notice to issue a licence.
Substrate condition also affects exterior cost directly. Sound, previously painted render or masonry needs cleaning and a straightforward repaint, while peeling, chalking or cracked render needs preparation, and in some cases minor render repair, before paint goes on. Masonry paint and render paint need dry, reasonably mild conditions to cure properly, so exterior work is more weather-dependent than interior decorating and is worth building some contingency into if it's booked over autumn or winter rather than assuming a fixed number of days regardless of forecast.
Wallpaper hanging cost
Hanging standard wallpaper across a full room typically costs £350 to £650 supplied and fitted, depending on room size, pattern repeat and wall condition, and is generally quoted alongside decorating rather than as a wholly separate job, since walls being papered need the same preparation, a sound, flat, previously stripped surface, as walls being painted. A feature wallpaper wall, one wall papered with the rest of the room painted, typically costs £150 to £320, a popular option where a bolder pattern or texture is wanted without the cost and commitment of papering the whole room.
Pattern repeat matters more to wallpaper cost than most people expect. A plain or small-repeat paper hangs relatively quickly with minimal waste, while a large-repeat pattern needs careful matching at every join, which uses more paper and takes longer to hang neatly, both of which add to the price beyond the paper's own cost per roll.
What pushes decorating cost up or down
Cost drivers that increase the budget
Plaster that needs repair or re-skimming before decoration, common in older London properties where original plaster has cracked or blown near window reveals and chimney breasts, adds both material cost and drying time. High ceilings, cornicing and coving in period properties take longer to cut in cleanly and often need scaffold towers rather than a stepladder. A significant colour change from dark to pale needs a stain-blocking undercoat and an extra topcoat. Old wallpaper or artex that needs stripping rather than painted over adds a preparation stage, and artex applied before the early 1980s needs checking for asbestos content before it's disturbed.
Ways to keep decorating costs under control
A like-for-like colour refresh on sound, previously painted plaster keeps a job toward the lower end of its cost band, since it avoids both plaster repair and a stain-blocking coat. Getting plaster and woodwork condition assessed honestly at quote stage, rather than assuming every room just needs two coats of paint, avoids a price that has to be revised once the work is under way. Sequencing decorating properly within a wider renovation, after first-fix trades and flooring subfloor work but before delicate finished flooring goes down, avoids redoing finished decoration because of mess from other trades.
Painting and decorating timeline in London
A single room redecoration with sound plaster typically takes one to two days, covering preparation, two coats on walls and ceiling, and woodwork. Where plaster needs repair or re-skimming first, drying time adds roughly a week per coat of skim in normal conditions before a mist coat can go on, so a room needing plaster work typically takes closer to two weeks from start to a finished, decorated room rather than two days.
A full three-bedroom house redecoration throughout typically takes one to two weeks where plaster is sound, longer where several rooms need repair work first. Exterior painting and decorating is more weather-dependent, since render and masonry paint need dry, reasonably mild conditions to cure properly, so it's sensible to build contingency into an exterior job booked over autumn or winter rather than assuming a fixed number of days regardless of forecast.
Questions
Frequently asked questions
How much does painting and decorating cost in London in 2027?
A standard bedroom typically costs £350 to £700 to redecorate, a living room or kitchen typically costs £600 to £1,200, and a full three-bedroom house redecorated throughout typically costs £2,500 to £6,000. Exterior painting and decorating on a standard semi-detached house typically costs £1,200 to £3,500. The right figure depends heavily on how much preparation the surfaces need before paint goes on.
Why does decorating sometimes involve plaster repair as well as painting?
Much of London's older housing carries plaster that's cracked or blown near window reveals and chimney breasts after decades of settlement and previous repairs. Painting over unsound plaster doesn't hold, so plaster repair and decorating are usually priced and carried out together rather than treated as separate jobs.
How much does it cost to redecorate a whole flat compared to a house?
A one or two-bedroom flat redecorated throughout typically costs £1,600 to £3,800, against £2,500 to £6,000 for a full three-bedroom house. Flats have fewer rooms but often carry similar fixed access costs, particularly in a block where materials need to come up in a lift or up several flights of stairs.
How much does wallpaper hanging cost compared to painting?
Hanging standard wallpaper across a full room typically costs £350 to £650 supplied and fitted, broadly similar to or a little more than painting the same room, depending on pattern repeat. A feature wallpaper wall, with the rest of the room painted, typically costs £150 to £320.
Do I need planning permission to repaint the exterior of my house?
Straightforward like-for-like exterior repainting usually doesn't need planning permission. This can change if the property sits in a conservation area, where a change to masonry paint colour or render finish can require permission even for what looks like routine maintenance, so it's worth checking with your local council before committing to a different exterior colour.
How long does it take for new plaster to dry before it can be painted?
As a general rule, allow around a week of drying time per coat of skim in normal conditions, so a single skim coat needs roughly a week before a mist coat goes on, longer in cold weather or poorly ventilated rooms. Painting too early is one of the most common causes of a poor finish, since trapped moisture shows up later as flashing or a patchy sheen.
Will you strip old woodchip wallpaper or artex before decorating?
This depends on what's underneath. Straightforward woodchip usually comes off with steam and scraping as part of preparation, which we factor into the quote once we've seen it. Artex is different: if it needs removing entirely rather than skimming over, we check it isn't a pre-1980s asbestos-containing type before disturbing it.
Can you redecorate a rental property between tenants quickly?
Yes. We prioritise scheduling for rental redecoration and can combine minor plaster repairs into the same visit to avoid a second trip, which matters given how much of London's older rental housing is due some preparation work alongside a straightforward repaint.
Can Lian Construction give me a fixed quote for painting and decorating?
Yes. We inspect walls, ceilings and woodwork before quoting rather than pricing from a description or photos alone, since two rooms of identical size can need very different amounts of preparation, and we give a clear scope so the figures in this guide can be replaced with a price specific to your property.
Get a free, no-obligation quote from Lian Construction
Send the site address, photos if available, and a short description of the work. Lian Construction surveys London properties in Kingston upon Thames and across all boroughs, then provides a clear written quote before any work starts.