Practical preparation · General information, assessed individually
Separate purchase from works
Give the acquisition and the renovation separate lines in your working budget. This helps show how much cash is required before works can begin and how much needs to remain available afterwards.
- List the deposit, purchase costs and initial professional fees.
- Separate essential work from optional improvements.
- Record assumptions alongside each estimate.
Check what needs permission
Planning permission and building regulations approval are different checks. Ask the relevant professionals what applies to the proposed work and the property’s location.
- Create an approvals register with the responsible professional.
- Record application, design and inspection costs in the budget.
- Ask whether permissions or conditions affect the work sequence.
Match payments to available money
Build a simple month-by-month cash plan from the contractor’s proposed payment schedule. Use it to explain the timing of the funding need, rather than relying on a single total.
- Show cash available at the start of each period.
- Keep a separately identified allowance for uncertainty.
- Revisit the plan when scope, quotations or timing change.
Bring to the first conversation
- Purchase figures and cash remaining after completion
- Written works scope and itemised quotations
- Permissions and approval questions
- Proposed payment schedule and contingency
Start with an outline. Send sensitive documents only through the secure route agreed with Jack.
Your questions, answered
Is there one right contingency percentage?
This checklist does not prescribe one. Ask the project’s cost professional to assess the uncertainties and explain the allowance for this scope of work.
Link to this answerCan I use a normal residential mortgage for any renovation?
The property condition, intended occupation and scope of work need reviewing with the adviser and lender. Do not assume a particular funding route is suitable before those facts are clear.
Link to this answerSources & further reading
Sources checked 12 October 2026. Preparation prompts are editorial checklists; follow the linked original for its scope and updates.
Prepared for Jack Cousins’s website · 12 October 2026. About Jack · How site content is prepared. Lender criteria and individual circumstances determine available options. This guide is not a mortgage offer or personal recommendation.