How much does a Cat B office fit-out cost per square foot in Manchester?

In 2026 a standard Cat B office fit-out in Manchester runs approximately 70 to 110 pounds per square foot, excluding VAT and loose furniture. A high-specification Cat B with bespoke joinery, feature lighting and acoustic treatment runs 110 to 180 pounds per square foot and upwards. A Cat A refresh is approximately 45 to 70 pounds per square foot.

How much does it cost to build a new house per square metre?

In Cheshire and Greater Manchester in 2026, a good standard new build runs approximately 2,000 to 2,600 pounds per square metre. High specification with structural glazing and bespoke joinery runs 2,600 to 3,800 pounds. An exceptional house with basement, pool and plant room runs 3,800 to 5,500 pounds and upwards. These figures exclude VAT, land, professional fees and site abnormals.

Does it cost more to fit out a building that stays open?

Yes. Working around a live operation typically adds 10 to 25 percent, covering out-of-hours labour, phased handbacks, dust and route separation and additional security. This must be built into the budget from the first appraisal rather than added later as a variation.

What is the most expensive part of an office fit-out?

Mechanical and electrical, typically 30 to 40 percent of the total. It is the largest single cost and the one clients understand least. Where one quote is significantly cheaper than the others, the gap is usually in the M and E.

Published rates · 2026

What it actually costs.

Nobody in construction publishes prices. We do. These are the ranges we work to in 2026 across Manchester and Cheshire — what's in them, what moves them, and what a number this early is genuinely worth.

Get a real cost plan → Read the caveat first

Commercial fit-out

Office fit-out,
per square foot.

All-in rates excluding VAT and excluding loose furniture. Manchester and the North West, 2026.

SpecificationWhat you getPer sq ft

Cat A refresh Ceilings, lighting, raised floor, basic mechanical and electrical, decoration. Landlord specification — a floor ready to market and let. £45–£70

Cat B — standard Partitions, meeting rooms, tea point, carpet, data cabling, basic joinery. What most businesses actually buy when they take a floor. £70–£110

Cat B — high specification Bespoke joinery, feature lighting, acoustic treatment, terrazzo, bespoke seating, integrated AV. The Vanguard end of the market. £110–£180+

Occupied building uplift Out-of-hours labour, phased handbacks, dust and route separation, security. Added to any of the above when the building can't close. +10–25%

Where the money goes

A typical £110/sq ft Cat B

Mechanical & electrical36%
Partitions, doors & glazing15%
Ceilings & lighting12%
Joinery & tea points10%
Flooring8%
Prelims, management, profit19%

M&E is the biggest line, the one clients understand least, and the one where a cheap quote has almost always missed something. If one price is well under the others, that's usually where the gap is.

What moves the number

Five things that matter more than the drawing

The building's existing services. Good recent M&E versus twenty-year-old plant that won't take another forty desks. The single biggest swing — and invisible on a floor plan.
Whether it's occupied. Working around a live business costs more. Worth every penny versus moving your staff out, but it has to be in the budget from day one.
Ceiling height and structure. Low soffits mean services fight each other. Every clash becomes a variation.
Access. A city-centre floor with one goods lift and a two-hour delivery window is a different programme entirely.
How resolved the design is. The one you control completely, and the one that costs most when it's wrong.

Residential

New builds, extensions
and whole-house work.

Per square metre of finished floor area, excluding VAT, land, professional fees and abnormals. Cheshire and Greater Manchester, 2026.

TypeWhat that meansPer sq m

New build — good standard Solid, well-built family house. Quality mainstream kitchen and bathrooms, standard glazing, conventional structure. £2,000–£2,600

New build — high specification Architect-led, structural glazing, bespoke joinery, underfloor heating throughout, air source or MVHR, landscaped grounds. £2,600–£3,800

New build — exceptional Basement, pool or spa, plant room, lift, gated approach, full home automation. The £2m+ house. £3,800–£5,500+

Extension Single or two storey with structural alterations, tying into the existing house. Often costs more per sq m than new build, because nothing is square. £2,400–£3,600

Whole-house refurbishment Strip back, re-services, new kitchen and bathrooms, joinery, decoration. Varies most of anything on this page. £1,400–£2,800

Basement (new build, per sq m) Excavation, retention, waterproofing and tanking. The most expensive floor of any house by a wide margin. £3,000–£5,000

A worked example

A 220 sq m new build at a good standard: 220 × £2,300 = roughly £506,000 for the build. Add professional fees at 10–12%, planning and building control, warranty, service connections and site abnormals — and a realistic all-in figure before land is £580,000 to £620,000.

Our Knutsford new build came in at circa £400,000 for the build. A different house on a different plot with a different specification. That's exactly why a rate per square metre gets you a ballpark and nothing more.

The caveat

What a number this early is
actually worth.

It's a ballpark, not a price

Use these to sanity-check a budget or decide whether a project is worth exploring. Do not use them to set a figure you'll be held to, and never sign a lease on the back of one.

Abnormals live outside the rate

Ground conditions, drainage diversions, asbestos, structural surprises, a floor that isn't level. These are found by survey, not by a rate per square foot — and they're where budgets die.

Anyone quoting one number is guessing

If a contractor gives you a single figure without seeing the floor, the services and the landlord's licence to alter, it's a guess. It may be a good guess. It's still a guess, and it will move.

The fix is a proper cost plan

A measured survey and an elemental cost plan costs a fraction of the job. It's the difference between a number you can hold and a number that grows every month. We do this before anyone lifts a spade.

Want the real number?

Send us the floor, the plot or the drawing. You'll get a written cost plan from the person who'd run the job — and if the project doesn't work, we'll tell you that instead.

Send us the project → 0161 706 2907

Office fit-out,per square foot.