A new flat is fitting-out, not strip-out
New flat renovation (新樓裝修) tempts people into their most expensive mistake: gutting a home that arrived nearly finished. A new handover is a baseline to build on, not a strip-out, the work is closer to fitting-out than to renovation, and much of your saving comes from what you keep rather than what you replace. Developers typically hand over flooring, a bathroom suite, doors, basic electrics and air-conditioning already installed. Treat that as a head start, inspect it before you build over it, and put the budget where a new flat genuinely falls short. Here’s the path from handover to move-in.
Before design: the handover inspection
The first job in a new flat is not design, it is a handover inspection (驗樓), done before any renovation begins. Anything missed now gets sealed under the new works and becomes far costlier to fix later, so walk the flat and log every defect with photographs before a single design decision is made. The full room-by-room checklist, walls, floors, windows, water and 220 V electrics, and the kit to bring, is in our handover inspection guide.
Defects are the developer’s to fix, use the window
Here is the leverage a new flat gives you that no other type does. Defects logged within the developer’s defects-liability period are the developer’s to repair, not yours. That turns the inspection into money: report water marks, hairline cracks, sticky doors and failing window seals in writing, inside the window, and let the developer make them good before you cover them. Crucially, don’t tile or panel over a suspect waterproofing junction until the repair is done or formally signed off, once it’s hidden, the responsibility quietly becomes yours.
Keep the flooring, bathroom and AC
The instinct to start fresh is expensive and usually wrong. In a sound new flat the developer’s flooring, bathroom suite and air-conditioning are generally worth keeping, they are new, they work, and replacing them buys little beyond a different finish. Every element you retain is budget freed for the things that actually change how the flat lives. This is the single biggest lever on a new-flat budget, and it is a decision to keep, not a default to demolish.
Rebuild the kitchen and the foyer
Two areas almost always justify real work. Custom joinery comes first, because developer storage rarely suits a real household, wardrobes, the entry foyer and living-area storage are where a new flat is thinnest. The kitchen is the other: developer kitchens are built to a price and a generic layout, and rebuilding for how you actually cook returns more than any cosmetic change elsewhere. Concentrate the budget here, bespoke storage and a reworked kitchen and foyer, rather than spreading it thin across finishes that were fine as delivered.
The timeline: count the paperwork too
New-flat programmes slip when people plan the build and forget the approvals. A realistic rhythm:
- Management-office paperwork: 1–4 weeks
- Key collection to first day on site: 2–6 weeks
- Fit-out on site: 8–12 weeks (a full rework: 12–20 weeks)
- Snag-listing before move-in: 1–2 weeks
The management package usually needs a scope description, requested working hours, the contractor’s licence and insurance, a refundable damage deposit and basic layout drawings; some estates require a lift-protection booking and fire-services confirmation before a permit issues. Start that paperwork early, because a permit you applied for late is the most avoidable delay in the whole job.
Scope depth is the real cost driver
The price of a new-flat renovation is set less by finishes than by how deep you go. There is a clear rule of thumb: each rung of scope, fit-out → partial rework → full strip-out, roughly doubles the cost of the one before. A fit-out that keeps the developer’s finishes and adds joinery sits at the bottom; a full strip-out that tears everything back sits at the top and can cost several times as much for a home that started nearly complete. Choosing the right rung is the most consequential budget decision you’ll make, and for most new flats it is nearer fit-out than strip-out.
How Primeworks handles this
We start a new flat with the handover inspection, not the mood board, logging defects while they are still the developer’s to fix, and telling you honestly what is worth keeping versus rebuilding. That usually means retaining the flooring, bathroom and AC and concentrating your budget on custom joinery, the kitchen and the foyer. Because we carry design and build under one team, we plan the management paperwork and programme up front so the start date is real, with a transparent, staged payment schedule so what you pay always matches the work done.