What a Fremantle
apartment reno really costs in 2026

The test job

A very ordinary flat: 75 m², two bedrooms, one bathroom, a galley kitchen and a 1987 build date — the kind of place that makes up half of Fremantle's apartment stock. We ran the same spec through three scopes and pulled the numbers straight off comparable contracts we've actually signed.

Before anyone argues with the figures: these are GST-inclusive, trade-price materials, and assume a lift, reasonable access and no asbestos. Adjust for your building and the honest range is plus or minus 15%.

The test subject — 75 m², 1987 build

Scenario one: the cosmetic pass

$78k–$95k. Floors, paint, new kitchen faces, bathroom re-tile on existing plumbing, light fittings and tapware swapped. Nothing moves, nothing structural opens. It's what investors buy before a sale campaign and what owner-occupiers choose when the layout already works.

The catch: a cosmetic job makes a tired flat look new for about five years. If the wiring is pre-1990 or the waterproofing is original, you're polishing over two of the most expensive problems an apartment can hide.

Scenario two: the proper gut reno

$175k–$195k. Strip to the shell, rewire, replumb the wet areas, new waterproofing with flood tests, kitchen and bathroom rebuilt, engineered floors, the lot. This is our Signature-scope work — the version that fixes the bones, not just the face.

Where it lands in that range is decided by three things: how far plumbing moves, how custom the joinery gets, and whether the building's strata rules add labour (work-hour limits and lift bookings are real costs).

Scenario three: the works

$245k–$290k+. Everything in scenario two plus layout changes with engineered steel, architectural joinery, large-format stone, smart wiring and a designer in the room. This is the Bespoke tier — beautiful, and absolutely not necessary for most flats.

Honest advice from someone who sells both: if the flat is a solid 1980s walk-up you're keeping for ten years, scenario two is where the money works hardest. Scenario three makes sense for harbour views, heritage bones, or a flat you're flipping at the top of the market.

The four line items that wreck budgets

• "Allowances" — a quote that says "kitchen, allowance $8k" when a real kitchen costs $28k. It's not a price, it's a promise to invoice the difference later.
• Asbestos — roughly one in five pre-1990 Fremantle flats has some. $2,800–$6,500 to remove properly, and it only shows itself at strip-out.
• Waterproofing done twice — membrane quoted cheap, fails the flood test, gets redone on your invoice. Ask for AS 3740 compliance and a 48-hour flood test in writing. Our bathroom scope includes it as standard.
• "Exclusions" — rubbish removal, lift protection, final clean. Each is a real cost; if they're excluded, add $4k–$8k to compare quotes honestly.

So what's the smart number?

For a full reno on a typical Fremantle flat, budget $2,400/m² and hold a 10% contingency for the walls' secrets. Anyone quoting dramatically under that is selling a cosmetic job wearing a renovation's clothes — or planning to find the money later, in variations.

The full price list has every unit rate we work from, and our budget blow-out piece goes deeper on the allowance trick. Then book the measure — forty minutes and you've got the real number.