Refurb-to-let: planning works between tenancies without losing rent
The average private rent in Bristol was £1,883 a month in June 2026, up 7.4% on the year, according to the ONS. Divide that by 52 weeks and every week a unit sits empty costs about £435. A four-week refurb to let is £1,740 of rent before a tradesperson has been paid. Eight weeks is £3,480. So the void plan matters as much as the spec, and this article is about the plan: what fits in two, four and eight weeks, how to fold EPC works into the same void, and the compliance items that have to be done anyway.
The void-period maths
Work out your own number first. Monthly rent multiplied by 12, divided by 52, gives the weekly cost of an empty unit. Using ONS Bristol averages for June 2026:
| Unit | Average monthly rent | Cost per empty week | Four-week void | Eight-week void |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| One bedroom | £1,225 | £283 | £1,132 | £2,264 |
| Two bedrooms | £1,544 | £356 | £1,424 | £2,848 |
| Three bedrooms | £1,757 | £405 | £1,620 | £3,240 |
| Four or more bedrooms | £2,549 | £588 | £2,352 | £4,704 |
Two things follow. First, on a three-bed, the difference between a four-week and an eight-week programme is roughly £1,620 of rent, which is real money but rarely more than the cost of doing the kitchen and bathroom in separate voids two years apart. A longer void that finishes the unit for a decade is often the better trade. Second, the void is only expensive if it's unplanned. Every week spent waiting for a quote, a kitchen delivery or an electrician is a week you pay for and get nothing from.
There's a new wrinkle since 1 May 2026. Under the Renters' Rights Act, tenancies are periodic and you can no longer end one simply to refurbish; the redevelopment ground needs substantial works and, like most grounds, four months' notice. Voids now arrive when tenants choose to leave, on two months' notice. That makes the plan more important, not less: the works, the pricing and the contractor need to be ready before the notice lands.
What a refurb to let can finish in two, four and eight weeks
These are working ranges from our own refurb-to-let programmes, assuming materials are ordered before the keys come back and one crew is on the unit continuously.
| Void | What a crew can realistically finish |
|---|---|
| Two weeks | Full redecoration, deep clean, EICR remedials, gas safety check and boiler service, alarms replaced, minor carpentry, silicone and mastic, new flooring in one or two rooms, blinds, external tidy |
| Four weeks | All of the above plus one wet room: a new kitchen or a new bathroom (not both), consumer unit upgrade, loft insulation top-up, extract fans, flooring throughout |
| Eight weeks | Kitchen and bathroom, partial or full rewire, new boiler and heating controls, internal wall insulation to the worst rooms, window replacement, a small layout change such as opening a kitchen into a dining room, external decoration |
The four-week programme is the one most landlords under-plan. It fails on supply, not labour: a kitchen that isn't ordered until the tenant leaves will not arrive inside four weeks. We survey occupied units, with the tenant's agreement, so the order goes in during the notice period.
One void, two jobs: refurb and EPC together
The EPC C deadline for private rentals is 1 October 2030, with a cost cap of £10,000 per property and penalties of up to £30,000 per breach (Pinsent Masons). Upgrading a period rental typically costs £6,100 to £15,000, while most landlords set aside about £2,400. The void that costs least is the one you never have to repeat, so every planned refurb should carry its share of the EPC works.
The sequence matters. Fabric first (loft, floor and wall insulation, draught-proofing), then heating and controls, then finishes. Decorate before you insulate and you pay for the decorating twice. Our EPC upgrade cost guide sets out a phased route from E to C on Victorian stock; the short version is that a four-week kitchen void is the moment to insulate the kitchen's external wall, and an eight-week void can take a whole floor of internal wall insulation without anyone noticing later.
The compliance stack
None of this is optional, and all of it is easier with the unit empty.
| Item | The rule | Slot it into the void |
|---|---|---|
| Electrical safety (EICR) | Inspection at least every five years by a qualified person; copy to new tenants before they move in and to existing tenants within 28 days; remedials done within 28 days; penalties up to £30,000 (GOV.UK) | Test with the power off and the walls open, then fix everything in one visit |
| Gas safety | Annual check by a Gas Safe registered engineer; record to new tenants before they move in and existing tenants within 28 days; keep records for two years (HSE) | Combine with the boiler service; replace the boiler in an eight-week void |
| Smoke and CO alarms | A smoke alarm on every storey with living accommodation; a CO alarm in any room with a fixed combustion appliance (gas cookers excluded); repair or replace when told they're faulty; up to £5,000 per remedial notice (GOV.UK) | Fit interlinked mains alarms during the rewire; ten-year sealed units elsewhere |
| EPC | Minimum band E now under MEES; C by 1 October 2030 | Re-assess after the works, not before |
| Deposit | Protect in a government-approved scheme within 30 days (GOV.UK) | Photograph the finished unit for the inventory before handover |
| Licensing (Bristol) | Mandatory HMO licence for five or more people; additional licensing citywide for three-to-four-person HMOs; selective licensing in Bedminster, Brislington West, Bishopston & Ashley Down, Cotham and Easton until August 2029 (Bristol City Council) | Build licence conditions (room sizes, fire doors, alarms) into the spec, see our HMO guide |
Two Renters' Rights Act points sit alongside these. Rent can only be increased once a year through the section 13 process with at least two months' notice, so a refurb for a sitting tenant is priced differently from a re-let. And rent cannot be taken before the tenancy agreement is signed. Neither changes the works; both change the cash-flow timing around them.
Portfolio phasing with one contractor
If you hold more than a couple of units, the biggest saving isn't on any single refurb. It's in running them as a programme. What that looks like when we do it:
- One specification for the whole portfolio: the same kitchen range, tile, flooring, paint colours, sanitaryware and alarms in every unit. Repairs become interchangeable, tenants can't tell the difference, and the crew gets faster on each unit.
- Pre-surveyed units, so the scope and the detailed, itemised quote are on file before a tenant gives notice.
- Long-lead items (kitchens, windows, boilers) ordered against the survey and held, not against the void.
- One crew moving unit to unit, with our own Gas Safe and NICEIC-registered people doing the certificates rather than a chain of subcontractors.
- A modest booking deposit once you're in the diary, then invoicing against valuations of the work carried out.
Repeat work is the proof this works. Ralph McQuillan, FMB verified: "I'm a local developer and landlord. This is the third time I've used [their] services to build a dormer loft conversion. Dan and Craig are highly skilled carpenters, project managers, specialists in all carpentry, lofts and extensions." The story of that repeat commission is in our developer dormer project piece, and the wider service is on our investors and developers page.
Frequently asked questions
How long should a refurb between tenancies take?
Two weeks for decoration, compliance and cosmetics; four weeks if you add a kitchen or a bathroom; eight weeks for both plus rewiring, heating or insulation. The programme only holds if materials are ordered before the tenant leaves and one crew stays on the unit until it's done.
Can I refurbish while a tenant is in place?
Some works can be done with a tenant in situ, with their agreement and reasonable notice: EICR remedials, alarms, boiler swaps and single-room decoration. Kitchens, bathrooms, rewires and wall insulation are far slower and more disruptive occupied, and since 1 May 2026 you cannot end a tenancy just to refurbish, so plan the big works for the next natural void.
Do I need a new EICR after a refurb?
If the electrical work is more than minor, yes in practice. New circuits or a consumer unit change come with an Electrical Installation Certificate from the registered electrician, and a fresh EICR resets the five-year clock at the same time. Keep both with the tenancy file.
What is the minimum EPC rating to let a property in England?
Band E, unless a valid exemption is registered. The government has confirmed that private rentals must reach band C by 1 October 2030, with a £10,000 cost cap and penalties of up to £30,000 per breach, so works done now should be planned against C, not E.
Should I do the kitchen or the bathroom first if I can only do one?
Do whichever is failing first, and if neither is, do the kitchen: it carries more of the rent, wears faster and drives more maintenance calls. Either way, insulate the external wall behind it while it's stripped so the EPC work isn't paid for twice.
Send us the spec, or the portfolio list, and we'll price it unit by unit with detailed, itemised quotes. Call Dan or Craig on 0117 2510365 or start here.
