How much does it cost to renovate an apartment in Dubai?

How much does it cost to renovate an apartment in Dubai? Five UAE companies publish enough to answer with figures that carry a name: ASM Interiors, Revive Hub, First Unicorn Interiors, Vision Three and MBC Renovation Services. We read each on its own site on 18 September 2026 and quote them as published. None of them is our price.

What does a typical job cost, not just the range?

Ranges show the extremes. Revive Hub's cost guide also publishes a minimum, an average and a maximum for three common apartment jobs, which is the closest the market comes to a typical figure.

Set those beside the same company's directional ranges, AED 35,000 to 120,000 for one bedroom and AED 60,000 to 220,000 for two, and the averages sit in the lower third. The top of each range belongs to premium and full-makeover work, which Revive Hub also publishes as rates: AED 1,350 to 2,200 per square metre for premium and AED 2,200 and above for a full makeover.

How much would it cost to renovate a small apartment?

For a studio or a one-bedroom, the published starting figures sit between AED 15,000 and AED 35,000, depending on the company and what it counts as a refresh.

The spread comes from scope more than size. ASM names its basic scope, painting, flooring and minor fixes; the other publishers print their rows without a scope list, so ask any contractor which rooms and trades a small-apartment figure covers before comparing it with the table.

How much does it cost to fully renovate a flat?

A full renovation of a one or two-bedroom flat runs from AED 120,000 to 350,000 and above in ASM Interiors' luxury tier. Larger and higher-specification units go further: Vision Three publishes AED 250,000 to 550,000 for a three-bedroom at mid to high specification and AED 600,000 to 1,500,000 and above for a penthouse or luxury specification, while First Unicorn Interiors publishes AED 150,000 to 350,000 and above for a penthouse.

In rate terms, First Unicorn publishes AED 250 to 400 per square foot for premium work, labour and materials included, and ASM Interiors AED 150 to 500 and above across all levels. Multiply by the area the contractor measured before comparing a rate with a total.

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What each room adds to the total

ASM's bathroom figure covers demolition, waterproofing, tiling, sanitaryware, the vanity, shower glass, plumbing, electrical work, the ceiling and accessories, which is why it starts well above a minor refresh. When a single room is the whole job, the bathroom site and kitchen site carry their own published bands.

Fees that sit outside the contractor's price

None of the published bands includes the building's charges. In Emaar towers the NOC costs AED 1,000 for minor or AED 2,000 for major works, with the AED 500 review fee counted toward it. Town Square charges AED 160, 1,000 or 2,000 by tier, with an AED 5,000 deposit on a major alteration. On Dubai Municipality land most refresh work needs no permit, so there is no permit fee to add; the DDA's fit-out permit, where it applies, is AED 0.90 per square foot with a minimum of AED 200.

Vision Three adds a structural point: it publishes that apartments cost 15 to 25 percent more than villas at the same specification, because of building access restrictions and logistics. The hub's cost overview sets the apartment figures beside villas, kitchens and bathrooms.

How to turn the published figures into a budget

1. Pick the tier in the publishers' own words: basic, mid-range, standard, premium or luxury.
2. Measure the unit, and convert any rate per square metre to a rate per square foot: one square metre holds 10.76 square feet.
3. Price the kitchen and each bathroom separately against the room figures.
4. Add the building's NOC fee, any deposit and the contractor passes.
5. Ask two or three contractors to quote the same written scope, and compare line by line.

That is the method behind our quote requests, and the full table lists every band with its publisher and the date we read it.