Flat renovation
and refurbishment
in Belgravia, SW1X

The 2013 draft conservation area audit, quoted in the Belgravia Neighbourhood Plan that Westminster made on 7 March 2024, finds the area's character in opulent cream stucco terraces, spacious streets and verdant garden squares.

Where a flat occupies a floor of one of those terrace houses, the original staircase usually serves as the common stair, and its protection is agreed with the freeholder before any materials come in.

On the north-west and south-eastern fringes, in the parts of the Albert Gate and Grosvenor Gardens conservation areas inside the neighbourhood area, the plan describes mostly grand and ornate late Victorian buildings in stone or red brick. A flat in one of those buildings is surveyed on its own terms.

The plan notes that when an owner or tenant changes it is common for a house to be totally refurbished, including a full strip-out and replacement of every kitchen and bathroom, and that such work can cause considerable nuisance to neighbours even when it needs no planning permission. In a shared building that nuisance falls on every other floor.

Where a refurbishment does need a planning application, Policy BEL4 asks it to show how noise, dust and vibration affecting neighbouring properties will be minimised and mitigated, and the plan asks owners to consult residents, businesses and property owners nearby before they apply.

Policy BEL2 encourages sensitive energy efficiency retrofits in listed buildings and conservation areas, and the plan's Sustainability Charter asks for insulation against summer heat as well as winter cold and for rooms that can be naturally ventilated, with windows that open fully.

Inside the flat we upgrade the floor to the flat below for sound, renew wiring and pipework within the demise, and use lime-based plaster where the walls are original so the fabric can continue to breathe.

Sources: Belgravia Neighbourhood Plan 2023-2040, Adoption Version (March 2024), published by Westminster City Council, Westminster City Council: Belgravia Neighbourhood Plan

Westminster needs 10 working days' notice to suspend a parking bay and adds a short-notice fee to requests made within 10 calendar days of the start date. Bays can be suspended for skip delivery and for building works, so we book them with the delivery programme rather than the week before.

Scaffolding, hoardings and any skip placed on the highway each need a separate council licence before work starts, and the council's Code of Construction Practice asks for care before a skip or heavy equipment stands over a vault beneath the pavement.

Sources: Westminster City Council: parking bay suspensions, Westminster City Council: Code of Construction Practice (May 2026)

The same team stays with the project from the first visit to handover. Our in-house architects, designers and structural engineers draw and specify the work. Master joiners make the fitted furniture. Building Regulations approval comes from the building control body appointed for the project. Independent surveying is a separate appointment: Hampstead Chartered Surveyors & Building Consultancy, our RICS-regulated sister practice, is a separate firm that a homeowner instructs directly. One JCT contract covers the building work. Electrical and gas work is carried out by appropriately registered engineers. Completed structural work carries a 12-month aftercare/defects period. Cover is £5M public liability, £10M employers' liability and contractors' all risks cover. Main office: 250 Finchley Road, Hampstead, London NW3 6DN. Central London client consultation address: 2 Eaton Gate, Belgravia, London SW1W 9BJ. Telephone 020 7101 3168.

Licence to alter · Independent surveying by our sister practice