This guide is for villa owners in Dubai weighing up a cosmetic refresh against a full renovation, and trying to get a realistic budget before anyone walks the property. The figures below are indicative bands drawn from current UAE project experience — useful for planning, not a quote. Every villa is different, so the only number that matters in the end is the itemised one we put in writing after a free site visit.
Indicative per-sqft bands
Most Dubai villa renovations land somewhere on this spread, measured against built-up area:
| Renovation level | What it covers | Indicative AED / sqft |
|---|---|---|
| Cosmetic refresh | Paint, flooring, light fixtures, minor joinery — no layout or MEP change | AED 250–400 |
| Mid renovation | Kitchen + bathrooms, new finishes, partial MEP, some joinery | AED 400–650 |
| Full renovation | Strip-out, reconfigured layout, full MEP re-route, new wet areas, bespoke joinery | AED 650–1,100 |
| Structural / extension-led | Load-bearing changes, extensions, façade work, DM approvals | AED 1,000–1,500+ |
Cost by villa size
As a rough lump-sum sanity check by bedroom count, for a mid-to-full renovation:
| Villa | Typical built-up | Indicative full-renovation range |
|---|---|---|
| 3-bed | ~2,500–3,500 sqft | AED 250,000–650,000 |
| 4-bed | ~3,500–5,000 sqft | AED 400,000–950,000 |
| 5-bed+ | 5,000 sqft and up | AED 700,000–1,500,000+ |
What moves a villa-renovation number
- Finish level. The jump from standard porcelain to natural marble and bespoke joinery can double a budget on its own.
- MEP re-routing. Moving kitchens, bathrooms or adding a laundry pulls plumbing and electrical work that isn't visible but is rarely cheap.
- Structural change. Removing walls, adding an extension or altering the façade brings engineering, Dubai Municipality approval and NOC handling into scope.
- Wet-area count. Each bathroom and the kitchen carries waterproofing, tanking and tiling — the most labour-dense rooms in any villa.
- Community rules. Some communities cap working hours or require developer/HOA NOCs, which lengthens programme and cost.
- Condition of what's hidden. Old cabling, failed waterproofing or corroded pipework discovered at strip-out shifts the number.
- Occupied vs empty. Phasing a renovation around a living family costs more than a clear site.
What a City Renovations villa quote covers
In the quote: a free site visit, an itemised fixed-price quote, design and material selection support, all in-house trades (we don't subcontract the core work), DM/authority documentation where the scope requires it, project management on one WhatsApp thread, and a written workmanship guarantee with the period and exclusions stated in your handover documents.
Priced separately: furniture and loose FF&E, statutory fees that are paid directly to authorities, and any latent-defect remediation only discoverable once walls or floors are opened — flagged and priced as a variation before we proceed, never absorbed silently.
One scope note from experience: on our recent Dubai villa kitchens, MEP re-routing alone has run two to three weeks before a single cabinet goes in — so when a layout changes, the timeline moves before the finishes do. We also don't take on standalone emergency call-outs; renovation works are delivered as a managed package.
Ready to put a real number against your villa? See our villa renovation services or book a free site visit and we'll itemise it properly.