Quote for victorian 2 bed flat in Streatham - Full Refurbishment

[chuckos]

Hi All,

Would be great if I can get some advice on the below quote:

I've attached the floor plan below but I'm turning this flat which I'm moving out of into a BTL property, I've already converted the property to a BTL mortgage and moved the property into a limited company but it needs renovating before it can be let out to tenants.  Apart from the double glazing windows which are 2-3 years old, everything else needs replacing as this is a very old converted victorian flat which is in need of full modernisation.

I've estimated the work based on research to be around £35K-£40K with contingency of £5k-10K based on a full refurbishment and size of the property.  I thought this was a very generous budget and was hoping to come a bit under this budget but I had a shock when I got a quote for £56K.  I've put the breakdown of the quote below.  From my side, the contractor is very experienced and does good work based on pictures I've seen and recommendations and I've got a good gut feeling he would do a good job and this would be the final price.  However, I feel this is quite expensive based on my original expectations.  I also received another quote for £36K but I feel things are missing from this quote and the cost would increase a lot, say by £10K.  I am still waiting for other quotes but I think the question that I'm asking is:

1. Is the quote a realistic quote for the work required, if not, what be would be a fair quote? (rough estimate or range being in London, finger in the air type guess)

2. What information should I ask for to get a better understanding on the quote and to check if things are being priced up.

3. What strategy should I use to bring down the price of the quote if it's not fair.

4. Just any advice in terms of what I'm doing wrong or should start doing, would be much appreciated.

Thanks again for reading or responding to this post.

£56K Quote:

 

£36K Quote:

Floor Plan of Flat