Renovation cost index / Kuala Lumpur
What it costs to renovate a home in Kenny Hills and Damansara Heights
The two most expensive addresses in Kuala Lumpur, where landed homes trade between RM2.5 million and RM50 million. What renovation actually costs here — and why a rate per square foot stops being a useful number at this level.
Across 19 published renovation records for Bukit Tunku, Taman Duta and Damansara Heights in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, the median cost is RM155 per square foot. Recorded whole-home spend runs from RM90,000 to RM5,000,000. Where records also state the value of the property, renovation ran between 2% and 13% of what the home is worth, with a median near 9%.
Bukit Tunku and Taman Duta, the richest neighbourhoods in Kuala Lumpur
Every figure here is what somebody actually spent — published project records for these addresses, with the floor area they were spent on. Nothing on this page is a quote.
| Development | Built-up (sq ft) | Bed / bath | Spent per sq ft | Total spent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tijani North 21 record · Bukit Tunku · 30 weeks on site | 2,825 | 4 / 5 | RM885 | RM2,500,000 |
| Bungalow landed2 records · Bukit Tunku · 65 weeks on site | 5,150–10,000 | — | RM58–500 | RM299k–RM5m |
| Semi-Detached landed2 records · Bukit Tunku / Duta Tropika · 12–28 weeks on site | 3,200–4,000 | 6 / 3–5 | RM19–200 | RM60k–RM800k |
| N residence1 record · Bukit Tunku · 16 weeks on site | 3,600 | 4 / 6 | RM181 | RM650,000 |
| Seri Duta II1 record · Taman Duta · 10 weeks on site | 1,730 | 3 / 2 | RM173 | RM300,000 |
| The Era @ Dutamas1 record · Taman Duta · 10 weeks on site | 600 | 1 / 1 | RM150 | RM90,000 |
| Tijani 21 record · Bukit Tunku · 16 weeks on site | 2,500 | 4 / 5 | RM92 | RM230,000 |
| Tijani 2 Condominium1 record · Bukit Tunku · 12 weeks on site | 3,340 | 3 / 4 | RM60 | RM200,000 |
| Changkat Duta Luxury Villa1 record · Bukit Tunku · 15 weeks on site | 40,000 | 6 / 10 | RM15 | RM600,000 |
A rate per square foot stops working here. The full recorded range runs RM15 to RM885 — a 59× spread across two neighbourhoods two kilometres apart. A 10,000 sq ft villa and a 600 sq ft apartment are both in these records, as is a RM60,000 refresh and a RM5,000,000 rebuild. Any single rate claiming to describe both describes neither. The steadier number is the one below: what share of the property's value the work represents.
Three records sit outside the RM58–500 band the medians are drawn from: a 40,000 sq ft listing at RM15 per square foot, a semi-detached refresh at RM19, and a condominium at RM885 — the highest rate in this entire index. The first two are almost certainly partial works rather than fit-outs; the third is a genuine ultra-luxury programme. All three are shown, none are averaged in.
Damansara Heights, counted separately
The Beverly Hills comparison gets made a lot, and on price it holds — landed homes here trade between RM2.5 million and RM35 million. On renovation it behaves differently from Bukit Tunku: tighter, lower per square foot, and with more of the work in condominiums rather than bungalows.
| Development | Built-up (sq ft) | Bed / bath | Spent per sq ft | Total spent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oriental Escape1 record · Damansara Heights · 16 weeks on site | 5,250 | — | RM343 | RM1,800,000 |
| Terrace landed1 record · Damansara Heights · 32 weeks on site | 2,000 | 4 / 3 | RM325 | RM650,000 |
| Bungalow landed1 record · Damansara Heights · 13 weeks on site | 3,250 | 5 / 6 | RM178 | RM580,000 |
| Aira Residence1 record · Damansara Heights · 20 weeks on site | 5,000 | 5 / 4 | RM160 | RM800,000 |
| Semi-Detached landed3 records · Damansara Heights · 4–110 weeks on site | 2,500–4,045 | 5 / 5 | RM64–102 | RM160k–RM300k |
| Residensi Damansara 561 record · Damansara Heights · 8 weeks on site | 1,200 | 3 / 2 | RM83 | RM100,000 |
Damansara Heights runs a lower median rate than Bukit Tunku but a similar median spend — the homes here are smaller on average, and more of the recorded work is condominium fit-out rather than whole-house programmes.
Two numbers travel better than a rate per foot. Where these records state the property's value too, renovation ran 2% to 13% of what the home is worth, median about 9%. And time on site ran 4 to 110 weeks — the longest a semi-detached rebuild that held the house for more than two years. Programme length, not floor area, is what a large renovation here actually costs you.
Four ways interior designers charge
Before you compare two quotes, work out which of these each one is. Three of the four move while your project is running.
Per square foot
A percentage of the build
One turnkey number
A fixed fee per room
Sundays in Bed
Same rooms. Any size. Same fee.
We are a residential interior design studio in Kuala Lumpur, and we charge a fixed fee for each room you want designed. Not a rate per square foot. Not a share of your build. A number you know before anything starts.
At this end of the market that matters more, not less. A percentage fee on a RM3 million programme is a very large number for the same set of drawings — and it rises every time you choose the better stone. Ours does not move.
We work in Bukit Tunku and Damansara Heights, and we do not publish the houses. No addresses, no owners, no budgets, no photographs without written permission. Every figure on this page was published by other firms about their own projects. If you would like to see our work in these neighbourhoods, we will show you privately, and we will ask the same discretion of ourselves that we would of anyone working in your home.
| Home | Rooms priced | Our design fee | Per sq ft |
|---|
Price your own home
Choose your building. Set the size and the rooms. This runs the same model we use in the studio — in your browser, sending nothing anywhere.
Want this run on your actual home?
Tell us your rooms, your level and your budget. You will get the same three ranges back — and an honest answer about which one your budget really reaches. Nothing you send us is published.
Questions people ask
How much does it cost to renovate a home in Kenny Hills or Damansara Heights?
Across 16 priced records the median is RM155 per square foot. Bukit Tunku and Taman Duta run a median of RM161; Damansara Heights RM131. Recorded whole-home spend runs from RM90,000 to RM5,000,000. The range is wider here than anywhere else in Kuala Lumpur, because the homes are.
What share of a home's value does a renovation usually cost?
In the records here that state both, renovation ran between 2% and 13% of the value of the property, with a median around 9%. On an RM5.8 million home that is roughly RM580,000. It is a more useful frame than a rate per square foot at this level, because the homes vary so much in size.
Do you publish your clients' homes?
No. We work in Bukit Tunku and Damansara Heights and we do not name the houses, the streets, the owners, or the budgets. Every figure on this page comes from records other firms published about their own projects. None of it is ours.
How does Sundays in Bed charge?
A fixed fee per room, agreed before work begins. It does not move with your budget, your finish level, or the contractor's quote. Contractor works are quoted separately at cost, with no mark-up and no percentage of your build. At this end of the market that matters more, not less — a percentage fee on a RM3 million programme is a very large number for the same drawings.
How long does a whole-house programme take?
The records here run from 4 weeks for a single-room refresh to 110 weeks for a full semi-detached rebuild, with a median of 16. Whole-house work on a bungalow in these neighbourhoods is realistically a 30 to 65 week programme, and the ones that ran longest were the ones that moved structure.
How this was built
- The recorded figures. 11 published project records for Kenny Hills & Damansara Heights, each with both a stated renovation budget and a stated built-up area. 19 of them name their development, so only those appear in the table. The headline medians come from the 8 that are fit-outs priced as interior design alone. Every figure is as published — nothing rounded, inferred or filled in.
- What they include. These are self-reported by the firms that did the work, and the scope is not consistent between them. Some fold loose furniture into the total. A few bundle structural and architectural work, which lifts them above a straight fit-out. Read any single figure as indicative, not audited.
- Our own figures. Our design fee comes from the same costing engine as our quote tool, and the contractor-works ranges in the calculator come from published rate bands for paint, flooring, kitchen, wardrobes, electrical, plumbing and loose furnishing. Where we show our own completed projects, those are our records, not estimates.
- What a real quote would add. Ceiling height. Hacking and structural work. Waterproofing. Management rules on working hours and lift access. How much of the developer's original finish survives. None of that sits in a per-square-foot average, and all of it moves a real number.
- Why sample size is printed on every row. 11 priced records for Kenny Hills & Damansara Heights proper is a thin sample, and only one address has more than one project behind it. Enough to place the market; not enough to quote an address-level rate, so we do not.
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