House
extensions
in Lancaster Gate, W2
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Hampstead Chartered Surveyors & Building ConsultancyLancaster Gate's listed terraces face a protected garden square or Hyde Park, so an extension is a question for the back of the building, judged against the listing.
Lancaster Gate holds some of the grandest stucco in Bayswater, and its character is strongly flat-led — a fact that shapes what extending actually means here. The area lies in the City of Westminster, within the Bayswater Conservation Area, along the grand stuccoed terraces facing Kensington Gardens. Lancaster Gate itself forms a monumental set of white-fronted terraces around its gardens, so those protected elevations are kept intact and most projects work within an existing envelope.
The stock explains the constraint. Lancaster Gate is strongly flat-led, with Victorian terraces, mansion flats and period buildings where refurbishment usually has to accommodate shared structure, common parts and protected elevations. Craven Terrace and Leinster Terrace carry period houses and conversions, while the Bayswater Road frontage faces Kensington Gardens directly, so those park-facing houses are refurbished sympathetically rather than visibly extended.
Cost reflects the coordination more than plan area: on a Lancaster Gate rear extension or side return, shared structure and common parts account for much of it.
Extending a Lancaster Gate building
Westminster's Bayswater guide lists the space in front of Nos 75 to 89, 90 to 94 and 95 to 109 Lancaster Gate among the squares protected by the London Squares Act 1931, and the built edge of Bayswater Road forms the backdrop to Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens. The fronts are fixed; any extension goes at the rear.
The houses facing that garden, Nos 75 to 89, form a Grade II listed group, so extending one at the back requires listed building consent under section 7 of the Listed Buildings Act as well as any planning permission.
The City Plan expects works to listed buildings to protect, and where appropriate restore, original detail and fabric. A rear addition is therefore kept below the cornice lines of the back elevation and built in materials that match it.
Many of the larger houses in this part of Bayswater are now flats, Westminster's guide notes, so an extension usually serves one flat at lower ground or ground floor and needs the agreement of the freeholder and neighbours above.
The conservation area dates from 1967, and the terraces stand at its southern edge, facing the park. The rear of a Lancaster Gate terrace is often more altered than its front, which helps when deciding where a modest addition belongs.
We photograph the rear of the terrace from neighbouring upper floors where we can, because the backs of Lancaster Gate's houses are seen from many windows, and any addition has to sit comfortably in that view.
Not in Lancaster Gate, but a related project: Belsize Park Gardens, NW3, a whole-house project in Belsize Park, NW3, whose scope included the loft, the basement and an extension. It stands for the type of work only; nothing on this page presents it as work in Lancaster Gate.
We record the rear elevation of the whole terrace, agree access with the managing agent and serve party wall notices before any design is priced.
Sources: Westminster City Council: Bayswater conservation area mini guide (October 2004); Historic England: Nos 75 to 89 Lancaster Gate, list entry 1275011, Grade II; legislation.gov.uk: Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990, section 7; Westminster City Plan 2019-2040 (2026), adopted 21 January 2026.
House Extensions in Lancaster Gate: Questions
Who must agree to an extension at the back of a Lancaster Gate building?
Usually Westminster, for planning permission and, where the terrace is listed, listed building consent; and the freeholder, where the lease requires consent for alterations, as LEASE notes is common. Neighbours sharing a wall receive party wall notices.
Is Lancaster Gate mostly flats rather than houses to extend?
Largely, yes. Lancaster Gate is strongly flat-led — Victorian terraces, mansion flats and period buildings where works often have to accommodate shared structure, common parts and protected elevations. So a Lancaster Gate project is frequently reconfiguration within a leasehold envelope rather than a conventional rear extension.
How does the Bayswater Conservation Area apply at Lancaster Gate?
Lancaster Gate lies in the City of Westminster, within the Bayswater Conservation Area, along the grand stuccoed terraces facing Kensington Gardens. Lancaster Gate itself forms a monumental set of white-fronted terraces around its gardens, so those protected elevations are kept intact and external change is closely controlled.
What does an extension or reconfiguration cost in Lancaster Gate?
A Lancaster Gate rear extension, side return or wraparound is priced after a feasibility visit. Because the stock is flat-led, the shared-structure and common-parts coordination usually weighs on the figure as much as the works.
Which Lancaster Gate streets have the grand park-facing houses?
Lancaster Gate itself holds some of the grandest stucco in Bayswater — monumental white-fronted runs around its gardens. Craven Terrace and Leinster Terrace carry handsome period houses and conversions, and the streets along Bayswater Road face Kensington Gardens directly, so those park frontages are refurbished sympathetically.
What is the property stock like at Lancaster Gate?
Typical stock here is stucco Italianate terraces, park-facing townhouses and mansion flats. Its characteristic streets take in Lancaster Gate, Craven Terrace, Leinster Terrace and Bayswater Road, and getting Westminster's stucco and conservation rules right early keeps a Lancaster Gate scheme on track.
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