What renovations can I do myself?

You can do the decorating, stripping out, basic tiling, click-fit flooring and most finishing jobs yourself. What you cannot do, legally or sensibly, is gas work, most electrical work, structural alterations or anything on the roof. Gas needs a Gas Safe engineer, full stop. Electrical work in kitchens and bathrooms is notifiable under Part P, so an unqualified job can void your insurance and stall your sale when the buyer's solicitor asks for certificates.

The DIY jobs that actually cut the bill are the labour-heavy, low-skill ones. Stripping wallpaper, pulling up old carpet, removing the old kitchen ahead of the fitters, painting. For scale, we price decorating a room from £400, so a competent weekend painter with three rooms to do is saving proper money.

Where DIY goes wrong, in our experience, is the middle ground: plastering, plumbing alterations, second-fix carpentry. They look approachable on video, then the skim comes out wavy or a compression fitting weeps into the ceiling below. We get called into houses in Bromley and Beckenham to redo work that was meant to save money, and redoing costs more than doing.

The split that works: you handle preparation and finishing, trades handle everything that comes with a certificate. Tell your builder up front which parts you are keeping, and we will sequence the job around you.