Partition Wall Costs in London: 2026 Stud Wall Price Guide
Updated 12 June 2026|7 min read
A standard stud partition wall in London costs £500–£1,200 built, plasterboarded, skimmed and decorated in 2026, or roughly £40–£90 per square metre. Adding a doorway, acoustic insulation or fire resistance raises the figure. Metal and timber stud walls cost much the same to build; the specification, fire-rated, acoustic or simply dividing a room, drives the price. This guide prices partitions by type and explains where landlords gain lettable rooms by dividing space correctly.
How much does a partition wall cost in London in 2026?
A partition wall is priced either as a complete wall or per square metre, and the complete-wall figure is usually more useful because it includes everything: framing, boarding, skimming and decoration to both sides.
A standard plasterboard stud partition, built, skimmed and decorated, typically costs £500–£1,200 in London depending on its length and height. Per square metre, that works out at roughly £40–£90 for a straightforward non-load-bearing partition. The spread reflects size, ceiling height, and whether the wall includes a doorway or stops short of the ceiling.
Metal stud (galvanised C-studs and track) and timber stud cost broadly the same to build; metal is faster and straighter for tall or long runs, timber is convenient for short walls and where heavy fixings are needed. The choice rarely changes the price much.
The table shows typical complete-wall costs by specification. These cover making good both faces ready for decoration; electrical and heating alterations, moving a socket or radiator that the new wall affects, are itemised separately, and VAT applies to most work.
Partition type
Typical cost per wall (London, 2026)
Standard stud partition (built, skimmed, decorated)
£500 – £1,200
Partition with new doorway / lining
£800 – £1,600
Acoustic partition (insulated, double-boarded)
£900 – £1,800
30-minute fire-rated partition
£1,200 – £2,400
60-minute fire-rated partition
£1,800 – £3,200
Acoustic and fire-rated partitions: when you need them
A basic stud wall divides space; an acoustic or fire-rated wall does a specific job, and those jobs cost more because of what goes inside and onto the frame.
Acoustic partitions matter wherever people sleep on either side, which in shared houses and HMOs means most bedroom walls. A lightweight stud wall transmits sound; an acoustic partition uses mineral wool insulation in the cavity, double layers of plasterboard and sometimes resilient bars or staggered studs to break the path of sound. Approved Document E sets the benchmark for new walls between rooms used for sleeping, and acoustic upgrades add roughly £300–£800 over a standard wall, a small price against tenants leaving over noise.
Fire-rated partitions provide 30 or 60 minutes of fire resistance and are required where the wall is part of a building's fire strategy, most commonly in HMOs and commercial-to-residential conversions. They use fire-rated boards, specific fixing centres and, critically, sealed perimeters; a fire wall with an unsealed top track or unfilled service penetrations is not a fire wall at all, however good the boards. We build these to the correct specification and seal them properly, because compartmentation that leaks is worthless.
Getting the specification right is a compliance matter, not an upgrade: an HMO bedroom wall that should be 30-minute fire-rated and acoustically treated cannot be a plain stud wall, and an inspector will say so.
Adding a doorway and other partition extras
Few partitions are a plain rectangle of wall; most need a doorway, and several other extras commonly add to the basic figure.
A new doorway within a partition, framed with a structural opening, lined and ready for a door, adds roughly £200–£500 over a plain wall, before the door itself. In an HMO that door is frequently a certified FD30S fire doorset, which adds £400–£900 as covered in our fire door pricing, so a fire-rated partition with a fire door is a meaningfully larger spend than a simple dividing wall.
Other extras to budget: electrical work where the new wall needs sockets, switches or lighting (each addition itemised by the electrician); moving or adding a radiator the partition affects; and making good adjoining ceilings, cornices and skirtings where the new wall meets existing finishes, which in period properties with ornate cornicing can be fiddly.
Where the partition creates a new habitable room, building regulations and, for sleeping rooms, minimum-size and ventilation requirements come into play, which may require building control involvement. We confirm at survey whether approval is needed, because a wall that creates an unventilated or undersized room is a wall in the wrong place.
Dividing rooms for HMOs: adding lettable space
For landlords, partitions are often not about aesthetics but about yield: dividing a generous room into two lettable bedrooms, or sectioning off an en-suite, to raise the property's rental income.
The arithmetic is compelling. A single large reception room earning one room's rent can, divided correctly, become two lettable bedrooms; at typical London room rents, the partition pays for itself within months. But "divided correctly" is doing a lot of work in that sentence, and getting it wrong wastes the spend entirely.
The rules to respect: each resulting room must meet the HMO minimum room size (6.51 square metres for one adult, 10.22 for two), each must have adequate natural light and ventilation, and the dividing wall in an HMO is usually part of the fire strategy, so it must be fire-rated and acoustically treated, not a plain stud. A wall that leaves one room below the minimum size, or blocks the only window to a back room, creates an unlettable space and a failed inspection.
We design HMO partition layouts around these rules, building 30-minute fire-rated, acoustically treated walls and confirming room sizes against the borough standard before work starts, so every new room actually counts toward the rent roll. Landlords planning a room-division can see how partitions fit the wider compliance picture on our for-landlords pages.
Removing vs adding walls: a note on cost difference
It is worth distinguishing partition work from structural work, because landlords and homeowners often conflate the two and budget for the wrong thing.
Adding a non-load-bearing partition, the subject of this guide, is straightforward and priced as above, £500–£1,200 for a standard wall, because it carries no building load. The wall is framed, boarded, skimmed and decorated, with no structural engineer or steel involved.
Removing a wall, or creating a large opening, is a different and more expensive matter where the wall is load-bearing. That needs a structural engineer's calculations, a steel beam or appropriate lintel, temporary support during the works, and building control sign-off, which together run into several thousand pounds beyond the labour. Even a non-load-bearing wall removal involves making good floors, ceilings and walls where it stood.
The practical point for budgeting: adding rooms with partitions is one of the cheaper ways to change a property's layout and, for landlords, one of the highest-return, whereas opening up space by removing structural walls is a larger structural project. If your plan involves both, price them separately, because they are genuinely different jobs with different risks and different professionals involved.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does a stud partition wall cost in London?
A standard plasterboard stud partition, built, skimmed and decorated to both sides, costs £500–£1,200 in London in 2026 depending on length and height, or roughly £40–£90 per square metre. Adding a doorway, acoustic insulation or fire resistance raises the figure. Electrics and heating alterations are itemised separately.
Is a metal or timber stud partition cheaper?
Metal and timber stud partitions cost broadly the same to build in London. Metal (galvanised C-studs) is faster and straighter for tall or long runs; timber suits short walls and heavy fixings. The choice rarely changes the price much, the specification, acoustic or fire-rated, drives cost far more than the stud material.
How much extra does a fire-rated or acoustic partition cost?
An acoustic partition adds roughly £300–£800 over a standard wall for insulation and double-boarding. A 30-minute fire-rated partition typically costs £1,200–£2,400 and a 60-minute one £1,800–£3,200, because of fire-rated boards, specific fixing centres and properly sealed perimeters, which are essential for the wall to actually perform.
How much does it cost to add a doorway to a partition?
Framing and lining a new doorway within a partition, ready for a door, adds roughly £200–£500 over a plain wall, before the door itself. In an HMO the door is often a certified FD30S fire doorset at £400–£900, so a fire-rated partition with a fire door is a noticeably larger spend.
Can I divide a room to create an extra HMO bedroom?
Often yes, and it can pay for itself within months in extra rent. But each resulting room must meet the HMO minimum size (6.51 square metres for one adult), have adequate light and ventilation, and the dividing wall must usually be fire-rated and acoustically treated. We confirm sizes against the borough standard before building.
