Renovation cost in Dubai is not one number, it is a range that moves with the size of the property, the depth of the work and how much of the buried services you disturb. Below are the ranges we see across Jumeirah Village Circle, Jumeirah Village Triangle, Motor City, Mudon, Damac Lagoons and Arabian Ranches, plus the costs that never appear on the first quote and later become the argument.
What drives the price before anything else
Three things set your budget: area in square feet, whether you are touching wet areas, and whether you are moving anything mechanical or electrical. A cosmetic refresh of a two-bedroom apartment in JVC and a full strip-out of the same unit can differ by four times, even though the floor plan is identical.
The second driver is finish level. Standard ceramic tiling, off-the-shelf sanitary ware and factory kitchen units sit at one end. Large-format porcelain, imported stone, bespoke joinery and integrated appliances sit at the other, and the labour to install premium materials properly costs more too because the tolerances are tighter.
- Cosmetic refresh, paint and flooring only: roughly AED 60 to 110 per sq ft
- Mid-level renovation with new kitchen and one bathroom: roughly AED 180 to 300 per sq ft
- Full villa strip-out and fit-out with joinery and MEP changes: roughly AED 350 to 700+ per sq ft
Typical project ranges we see across Dubai
A studio turnaround in Dubai Studio City or Sports City, meaning paint, flooring, a bathroom refresh and a deep clean, usually lands between AED 35,000 and AED 70,000. A one or two bedroom apartment turnaround in JVC or JVT is commonly AED 60,000 to AED 160,000 depending on whether the kitchen is replaced.
Townhouses in Mudon and Damac Lagoons typically run AED 150,000 to AED 400,000 for a kitchen, two bathrooms, flooring throughout and full repainting. Larger villas in Arabian Ranches with landscaping, external painting and a full kitchen and bathroom programme regularly pass AED 500,000, and bespoke fit-outs go well beyond that.
Treat these as planning ranges, not quotes. A site visit changes the number in both directions, and we have priced villas below the range because the existing services were sound and the owner kept the layout.
The costs nobody budgets for
The gap between the quote and the final invoice is almost always made up of the same items. They are not extras invented on site, they are real work that the original scope simply did not mention.
- Demolition, skip hire and debris removal, which is charged by volume and rises fast in villas
- Community and developer approvals, security deposits and contractor access passes
- Waterproofing and the flood test in every wet area, which cannot be skipped or rushed
- Making good after first-fix electrics and plumbing: chasing, plastering and repainting
- Snagging, final deep cleaning and AC duct cleaning before handover
- Storage or short-term accommodation if the property is unliveable during the works
Why three quotes can differ by 40 percent
When quotes are far apart, they are usually describing different jobs. One includes waterproofing and a flood test, another assumes the existing membrane is fine. One includes a tile allowance of AED 45 per sq m, another AED 180. One includes making good after chasing walls, another leaves you to find a painter.
Ask every contractor to price the same itemised list: demolition and disposal, waterproofing with testing, first-fix plumbing and electrics, tiling with a named allowance, joinery specification including hinge and runner brands, sanitary ware allowance, making good, and final clean. Once the list matches, the comparison is honest, and the cheapest quote stops being the one that excluded the most.
How to protect the budget once work starts
Order long-lead items before demolition. Kitchens, stone worktops and imported tiles routinely take six to ten weeks, and a finished room waiting for a worktop is the most expensive kind of idle site.
Hold a contingency of ten to fifteen percent for renovations and closer to twenty percent for older villas where you cannot see behind the walls. Freeze the design at mobilisation: changes after first fix are the single most reliable way to add cost, because they undo work that has already been paid for.
We survey the property, write one itemised scope with the buried work included and hold the price unless you change the brief. Send photos and rough dimensions and we will give you a realistic range for your community before anyone visits.