The difficulty in renovating an older flat is not aesthetic but a question of priority. A building past twenty years old comes with an invisible infrastructure debt: plumbing near the end of its life, electrics never designed for today's loads, insulation that was never resolved. This article covers how to identify that debt, in what order the budget should be spent, and what can safely wait.
The real difficulty in renovating an older flat is not aesthetic. Decisions about colour, material and layout exist in every project. What sets an older flat apart is the invisible infrastructure debt it carries at the moment you buy it or decide to renovate it: plumbing approaching the end of its life, electrics never designed for today's appliance loads, thermal and acoustic insulation that was never resolved, tired windows and doors.
That debt competes with the visible part of the budget. People build a budget around kitchen units, tiles and flooring; but in an older flat a significant share of the money has to go to items that will not be visible at all when the job is done. That is precisely the subject of this article: how you identify the debt, in what order you spend the budget, and what you can defer.
We dealt with the individual wet rooms in our guides to bathroom renovation and kitchen renovation; the management of the process as a whole is in our article on the complete home renovation process. Here the subject is the technical reality that comes with the age of the building.
1. Survey first, design second
The most expensive mistake in renovating an older flat is starting the design before the survey. The layout is drawn, materials are chosen, a budget is set; then the strip-out begins and what emerges from behind the wall invalidates the whole plan.
The sound approach is to begin with an assessment under four headings.
Plumbing. The material and age of the pipework is decisive. The metal pipe systems used in older buildings narrow internally over time and corrode; the symptoms are low pressure, discoloured water and recurring blockages. The riser is a common part of the building and you cannot replace it on your own; the runs within the flat, however, are your responsibility.
Electrics. Two things get checked: whether there is an earth, and whether the existing cable sizes are adequate for today's loads. In older flats the installation was not built for a life in which a dishwasher, a tumble dryer, air conditioning and an induction hob run at the same time. Tripping breakers, sockets that get warm and the presence of unearthed outlets are direct indicators for renewal.
Heat and moisture. Condensation on external walls, mould in corners, damp around window reveals — these are not a paint problem but an insulation problem. Painting over them postpones the issue by a few months.
Structural condition. Which walls are load-bearing, whether there is deflection or significant cracking in the floor, whether there are signs of water on balconies and in wet rooms. Where there is any doubt under this heading, the decision is not an architectural one but a matter for technical assessment.
2. The order of spending: clear the debt first
The budget priority in an older flat is clear and counter-intuitive. The correct order is this:
First priority — plumbing and electrics. These two force you to undo finished work if they are left until later. Replacing a pipe that runs beneath newly laid flooring means replacing the flooring too. The services decision therefore cannot be deferred; if the budget is short, what gets deferred should be the finishes, not the services.
Second priority — insulation and windows. Thermal insulation and glazing permanently change both comfort and running costs. And because replacing windows brings sills, plaster and paint with it, it has to come before decorating.
Third priority — wet rooms. Bathrooms and kitchens come before finishes, both because they are entangled with the services and because they take the most wear.
Fourth priority — floors, walls, ceilings. Flooring, paint, plasterwork. These are the most visible items but technically they come last.
Fifth priority — furniture, lighting, decoration. These can be completed piece by piece over time; none of them forces you to undo finished work.
The practical meaning of this order is: if the budget is tight, narrow the scope, do not break the sequence. Leaving a room until later is sound; leaving the services until later is not.
3. Structural walls: no decision without certainty
The change most often requested in older flats is joining spaces together: removing the wall between the living room and the kitchen, combining two small bedrooms. There is a single question standing in front of that wish: is that wall load-bearing?
The rules of thumb that circulate — knocking on the wall and listening, judging by thickness — are not reliable. Whether a wall is load-bearing is established by looking at the building's structural system and its drawings. In a reinforced concrete building the shear walls and columns are structural; but it is equally possible for an element assumed to be a partition to turn out to be load-bearing, or to have a shared services riser running through it.
The rule here is unambiguous: work affecting the structure is not a personal decision but a technical and legal matter. Removing or cutting into a structural element concerns not just your flat but the whole building; such work requires drawings and formal consent. Where you are not certain, the one correct course is to consult the building's structural drawings and obtain a technical assessment before any breaking out begins.
Removing a genuinely non-structural partition, by contrast, is possible in most cases — though here too any electrical or service runs inside it have to be resolved first.
4. What works in an older flat's favour
Older flats do not only bring debt; they also have advantages that new-build homes often lack, and a renovation should preserve them.
The first is ceiling height. Ceilings in older buildings are usually higher, and this is the single characteristic that most shapes the perception of a space. The common mistake here is drowning the entire ceiling in a suspended one in order to conceal lighting or services. The right approach is to use a suspended ceiling only where it is needed and in bands, keeping the height at the centre of the room.
The second is room proportions and window ratios. In older flats the rooms are frequently better composed and the windows more generous in relation to the wall.
The third is location. Older buildings in established neighbourhoods come with a mature setting and good transport links — a value no amount of renovation can create afterwards.
5. What can wait
Not everything has to be done at once. If the budget is limited, the following can safely be deferred: room-by-room decoration and floor finishes, fitted wardrobes and joinery, decorative lighting, balcony works, replacing internal doors.
What cannot be deferred is equally clear: waterproofing in wet rooms, plumbing that has reached the end of its life, inadequate or unearthed electrics, and any structural doubt. Deferring these is not a saving but accruing interest; a few years later the problem has grown and newly finished work now sits in the way.
There is also a case where partial renovation is the sensible answer: if the flat will not be lived in for long, or a sale or letting is in view, then resolving the items that affect safety and refreshing the surfaces is a reasonable strategy. Even here, electrical safety is not open to negotiation.
6. Consent, neighbours and the programme
A renovation that stays within the flat and does not touch the structure or common parts generally does not require formal permission. That does not mean nothing is required.
In practice there are three headings. Building management: working hours, use of the lift, waste removal and protection of the common parts all need agreeing in advance. Shared services: any work touching a riser, a shared flue or the heating system concerns more than just you. Structure and façade: nothing is done here without consent; even replacing windows may require a management decision on the grounds of façade consistency.
On the programme side, older flats carry a particular risk: the surprises appear during strip-out. Leaving a margin in both the budget and the programme is therefore not optimism but experience. We set out the logic of pricing, and why quotations differ so widely, in our article on how interior design fees are determined.
Five common mistakes
1. Starting the design before the survey. What emerges from behind the wall can invalidate every plan made on paper.
2. Covering damp with paint. Mould in the corner and damp on the wall are an insulation problem; paint delays it by a few months.
3. Deferring the services and bringing the finishes forward. Changing a pipe under new flooring means changing the flooring too. If the budget is short, narrow the scope — do not break the sequence.
4. Assuming a wall is not load-bearing. A decision made by knocking or by thickness is not reliable; this heading requires technical assessment.
5. Dropping the ceiling unnecessarily. The most valuable characteristic of an older flat is its height; drowning the whole ceiling spends the one advantage you had.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where should you start when renovating an older flat?
Not with the design but with the survey. The age and material of the plumbing, the earthing and capacity of the electrics, signs of damp or condensation on external walls, and the structural condition all have to be established first. The order of spending then runs: services, insulation and windows, wet rooms, finishes, and furniture and decoration last.
Is rewiring essential?
If there is no earth, if breakers trip frequently or if sockets get warm, then yes, and it should not be deferred. This is a matter of safety rather than comfort. Today's appliance load — dishwasher, tumble dryer, air conditioning, induction hob — is also far beyond the assumptions on which older installations were built; high-demand appliances need dedicated circuits.
Can the wall between the living room and kitchen be removed?
Only if it has been established with certainty that the wall is not load-bearing. Knocking on it or judging by thickness is not a reliable method; the decision is made by reference to the building's structural system and drawings. Work on a structural element requires drawings and formal consent and concerns the whole building. Even where a wall is non-structural, any electrics or services running through it have to be resolved first.
How long does renovating an older flat take?
It depends on scope; a comprehensive renovation including services and insulation is usually measured in months rather than weeks. What makes the programme uncertain in older flats is that the surprises appear during strip-out. For that reason a margin should be left in both budget and programme.
Do you need permission to renovate?
For renovations that stay within the flat and do not touch the structure or common parts, generally not; but you do need to agree working hours, lift use and waste removal with the building management. If structural work, shared services or any change to the façade is involved, the position changes entirely and drawings and consent become essential.
Let us look at your flat together
At Kaya + Partners we begin renovations of older flats not with design but with reading the existing condition of the building: assessment of services and electrics, structural checks, a priority plan, and then design and delivery run from one place. Among the interior design practices working in Ankara, what sets us apart is that design and delivery sit within the same team.
To discuss your project, get in touch with us; you can review our completed work on our projects page.