What renovating an apartment in Belgrade or Novi Sad costs in 2027, and which works need a permit

Facts checked 7 November 2026. This guide is general information, not tax advice. Your situation is decided case by case — contact us or your home-country adviser.

This guide is for foreign owners who have bought, or plan to buy, an apartment in Serbia and want to know what a renovation really involves: the price per square metre, the rooms that eat the budget, the rules on permits, and the problems that most often turn a three-month job into a year. It covers Belgrade and Novi Sad first, but the same rules apply across Serbia. It is general information for planning. Every real project is priced only after someone has seen the apartment.

What does renovating an apartment in Serbia cost in 2027?

Renovation prices in Serbia are quoted per square metre of floor area. The price depends mostly on how much work the apartment needs, not on the city. The bands below come from Serbian market surveys published in June and September 2026. They include materials and labour, but not furniture or design work.

Labour has risen faster than materials. Painters’ prices rose by about half in a year (market report, September 2026). In that report, painting labour cost about 1.5 euros per m² of wall outside Belgrade and 2 to 2.5 euros in Belgrade. A tiler charged about 15 to 20 euros per m². Laminate cost about 10 euros per m² fitted, and sanding and varnishing old parquet about 14 to 15 euros per m². New PVC windows cost about 80 to 140 euros per m² of window. A full renovation of a 70 m² apartment could reach about 42,000 euros, close to 600 euros per m².

Three items are often left out of early budgets. The first is debris removal, which costs more in old buildings without a lift. The second is design and engineering work, which the permit rules may require. The third is somewhere to live while the work runs. Surveys also advise a reserve of 15 to 20% on top of the quote, because hidden problems appear once walls and floors are opened.

These figures are market averages, not offers. The real price depends on the state of the apartment, the materials chosen and how busy good crews are at the time.

How much do a bathroom and a kitchen cost to renovate in Serbia?

The bathroom and the kitchen are the two rooms that decide most budgets. Together they can take half of the money in a mid-level job. The June 2026 survey gave these ranges:

Why bathrooms cost so much: the old tiles, screed and pipes usually have to come out, the floor must be made waterproof, and the drains have to sit at the right fall. A mistake here shows up later as a leak into the apartment below, which is the most common reason neighbours complain about a renovation. In older Serbian buildings the pipes inside the walls are often decades old, so a “bathroom only” job can turn into new plumbing for the whole flat.

Why kitchens vary so much: the price is driven by the units, the worktop and the appliances. Moving the kitchen to another wall also means moving water, drains and power. That can change the type of approval the work needs, which is explained below.

Is renovation cheaper in Novi Sad than in Belgrade?

Not by much. Trades price their work across the country, and materials come from the same wholesalers. The 2026 surveys mostly did not split prices by city. The main exception is labour for small jobs, such as painting, which was quoted a little higher in Belgrade.

The building matters far more than the address. A pre-war or socialist-era apartment in central Belgrade (Vračar, Dorćol, Stari grad) or central Novi Sad (Liman, the old centre) often has original wiring, old pipes and high ceilings. That is usually a full renovation. A 2010s new build in Novi Beograd or along Bulevar Evrope in Novi Sad often needs a refresh at most.

Belgrade has extra costs that are about logistics rather than labour: parking for skips and delivery vans, old blocks without lifts, and building communities in central streets that are strict about noise and working hours. Smaller cities such as Niš or Kragujevac may have fewer crews to choose from, which can mean longer waits.

Old building or new build: which costs less to renovate?

An older apartment is often cheaper to buy per square metre, but the renovation can close the gap. Compare the total cost per finished square metre, not the asking price.

Older central apartments are popular with buyers who want character and location. New builds suit people who want to move in quickly. Neither is always the better deal. The answer depends on the specific apartment, its legal status and how much work it needs. Our guides to buying property in Serbia as a foreigner and to cheap property in Serbia cover the purchase side.

Which renovation works need a permit in Serbia?

Serbia’s Law on Planning and Construction sorts building work into three levels. The level decides what approval is needed. Getting the level wrong can leave the owner with work that cannot be registered, and that can cause problems when the apartment is sold, insured or used for a residence permit.

The exact list of works for each level is set in a rulebook under the law. Applications for works approvals and permits go through the unified electronic permit system (CEOP). The law was last amended in October 2025 and August 2026 (Official Gazette 91/2025 and 80/2026). The 2026 change added an approved plan for construction and demolition waste to the file for works approvals.

Two more rules often surprise foreign owners:

• Shared parts need the building. Under the Law on Housing and Building Maintenance, works on the façade, roof, risers, stairwell or structure need a decision of the residential community assembly. The building manager (upravnik) calls that vote. An owner can change the inside of the apartment, but not the pipes and parts that serve other flats.
• Protected centres have extra rules. In the protected old centres of Belgrade and Novi Sad, the heritage protection institute sets conditions, and façade windows often have to match the original. A quote for cheap PVC windows can include the one item that is not allowed.

A file for approved works usually needs, all matching:

• proof of ownership from the cadastre
• the building’s usage permit
• technical description or project
• licensed engineer’s details
• residents’ assembly decision, if shared parts are touched
• heritage conditions in protected zones
• approved waste plan

Why it has to be right: a decision issued for the wrong level, or a project that does not match what is built, can mean the work is not recorded. That can surface years later in a sale or a bank check. In recent cases a works approval has taken from a few days to a few weeks once the file was complete. The local building office sets the timing and we don’t promise a date.

Why does the apartment’s legal status matter before a renovation?

A renovation can only be recorded on an apartment whose own legal status is clean. Before major works, the questions that matter are: does the building have a usage permit (upotrebna dozvola), is the apartment registered in the cadastre in the seller’s or owner’s name, and are any closed balconies, attic rooms or extensions registered too?

Unregistered space is common in Serbia. Under the 2025 law known as “Svoj na svome”, owners filed about 2.5 million applications to register buildings and parts of buildings between December 2025 and February 2026 (Republic Geodetic Authority, February 2026). That number shows how often the paperwork lags behind what is actually built. Adding new works to a flat with an open legal problem makes the problem bigger, not smaller.

The legal check is part of a property purchase, and it is cheaper to find a problem before paying a deposit than after the walls are down. Our real estate service covers that check for buyers. Foreign buyers should also check the reciprocity rules for their country in our reciprocity guide.

How do contractors in Serbia work with foreign owners?

Three features of the Serbian trades market explain most bad experiences:

Owners usually choose between three set-ups:

Whatever the set-up, the protections that matter are the same: a written scope down to each item, payments tied to finished stages with part held back until defects are fixed, a written warranty, a named person in charge of the site, and a reserve for surprises. Written photo reports matter most for owners who are not in Serbia.

How long does an apartment renovation take in Serbia?

The June 2026 survey gave these typical times: two to three weeks for a refresh, six to ten weeks for a mid-level job, and three to five months for a full renovation of an older apartment. It also noted that works often take 20 to 30% longer than first promised. Any works approval comes on top, and so does the wait for a good crew.

The time is usually lost in the same places: decisions that wait for an owner abroad, materials that arrive late, and trades that arrive in the wrong order, such as a tiler before the plumber has finished. Projects that are designed in full before demolition starts tend to have fewer costly changes halfway through.

For people who are moving to Serbia, the renovation affects the move. A family usually needs a rental for the length of the works, and household goods shipped from abroad are easier to handle when they arrive after handover. Our guides to shipping belongings to Serbia and the cost of living in Serbia help with that part. If the apartment is also the ground for a residence permit, the works do not change the permit; the ownership does. See residence through property ownership.

What goes wrong when foreigners renovate in Serbia?

Other common mistakes: budgeting on the lowest per-m² figure, assuming that work inside your own flat never needs approval, ignoring the building manager, and paying cash for a job that later needs a warranty. None of this means lowering your standards. It is about who explains those standards to the crew, in Serbian, in a way that is understood and written down.

See what owners prepare before a move in the free Serbia Relocation Checklist.

Who decides renovation permits in Serbia?

Rules on construction were amended twice in the last two years, and they can change in 2027. Market prices also move with materials, the season and demand for crews, so a figure from one year is only a guide for the next.

Relocation Serbia, in Belgrade and Novi Sad, helps foreign owners buy, check and renovate apartments as one project. Start with the €49 Relocation Roadmap (credited toward any package within 90 days — see pricing).

Frequently asked questions

Updated November 2026 · Relocation Serbia, Belgrade and Novi Sad. General information, not legal or construction advice. Authorities decide every case.