Rebuild Cost Estimator UK

How much does it cost to rebuild a commercial property in the UK?

A buildings insurance sum insured should be the full cost of demolishing and rebuilding the property — including professional fees and debris removal — not its market value. Indicative rebuild costs range from roughly £900 to £1,500 per square metre for basic warehouses to £2,200 to £3,400 per square metre for fitted restaurants, before London weighting (around 25 per cent), non-standard construction (around 20 per cent) or listed status (around 50 per cent).

Why underinsurance matters: the average clause

Market research consistently finds around four in five UK commercial properties are underinsured. Where the sum insured falls short of the true rebuild cost, insurers can apply the average clause and reduce any claim — even a partial loss — by the same percentage. Insured at 60 per cent of rebuild cost, a £100,000 claim can settle at £60,000.

How to get a binding figure

An online estimate is a sanity check. For lending or insurance certainty, insurers expect a RICS-regulated reinstatement cost assessment, refreshed roughly every three years, with annual index-linked uplifts in between. Construction cost inflation has run ahead of general inflation for several years, so a figure set even three years ago may now be materially short.

See our commercial property insurance page, work out the matching business interruption sum insured, or call 020 8908 2426. Premier Insurance Services Ltd is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, firm reference 305009.