Flat
refurbishment
in Marylebone, W1U
Architects, Engineers, Surveyors & Builders Under One Roof.
One Studio. One Contract. One Team.
RICS surveying support for party walls, licence to alter, conservation-area works & neighbour mattersWe've completed flat refurbishments across Portman Square mansion flats, Bryanston Court, Marylebone High Street blocks - mansion blocks and period conversions where freeholder approvals, acoustic compliance and access logistics need handling properly.
Flat Refurbishment in Marylebone: What You Need to Know
Refurbishing a Marylebone flat is not the same as refurbishing a house. The Licence to Alter is usually required before a single brick moves, Part E of the Building Regulations dictates floor and ceiling build-ups, and site logistics must account for lift protection, works-hours restrictions, and neighbour disruption. Our team manages freeholder surveyors, Party Wall awards, and Westminster Building Control in parallel so your project starts cleanly and finishes without disputes.
Elegant village feel with Georgian architecture, Marylebone High Street boutiques, and Regent's Park proximity. Howard de Walden Estate properties. Westminster conservation area. A full refurbishment in Marylebone typically involves stripping the property back to its structural shell, upgrading mechanical and electrical services, reconfiguring layouts, and finishing to the highest standard — all while preserving and restoring original period features.
Our Marylebone refurbishment projects are managed through a single point of contact, coordinating architects, structural engineers, M&E specialists, and specialist subcontractors. We work within Westminster's planning and building control requirements to deliver on time and on budget.
Refurbishing a flat in Marylebone means answering to an estate as well as a council. Much of the area sits on the Portman and Howard de Walden estates, where estate consent runs alongside planning, and the mansion blocks add freeholder and party-wall layers — so the consent map is drawn before the design is fixed.
The conservation framework is precise. The Harley Street Conservation Area, first designated in 1968 around Portland Place, Harley Street and Wimpole Street and extended to Marylebone High Street in 1981, covers the Howard de Walden grid; the Portman Estate Conservation Area, first designated in 1967, covers the Portman streets. Montagu Square and Bryanston Square carry elegant brick terraces, Dorset Square adds a leafy Regency set-piece, and Marylebone High Street anchors the mansion flats above the shops.
The Westminster benchmark for a flat refurbishment is £60,000–£110,000 excluding VAT, refined once the estate, the freeholder and central-W1 logistics are settled.
Flat Refurbishment in Marylebone: Applied to the Local Stock
The Harley Street Conservation Area - first designated in 1968 around Portland Place, Harley Street and Wimpole Street, and extended west to Marylebone High Street in 1981 - covers the Howard de Walden Estate's Marylebone grid, with medical uses of international renown in and around Harley Street and Marylebone High Street as its main shopping thoroughfare; it is bounded by the Regent Street, Mayfair, Portman Estate, Regent's Park and East Marylebone conservation areas. The Portman Estate Conservation Area was first designated in 1967 to cover the late 18th and early 19th century residential area developed by the Portman Estate, and was extended in 1979 to include parts of Seymour Place and Marylebone Road and in 1990 to include Portman Square; Portman Square was laid out in 1764 and the estate's characteristic 18th century grid extended to Manchester Square (1776) and Baker Street (completed c. 1800). The Marylebone Village Area of Special Archaeological Priority lies largely within the Harley Street Conservation Area around the north end of Marylebone High Street, and the strategic view from Primrose Hill to the Palace of Westminster cuts through the conservation area from Park Crescent to Oxford Street.
Sources: Westminster City Council, Harley Street conservation area mini guide (May 2004) (2026); Westminster City Council, Portman Estate conservation area mini guide (May 2004) (2026)
What a Flat Refurbishment Involves
Refurbishing a flat means renovating inside a building you share — so the job is as much about leases, neighbours and building rules as it is about kitchens and finishes. We plan every project around the consents your lease demands and the protocols your block expects, then deliver the technical work under one fixed-price contract. A typical scope covers the elements below.
- Licence to Alter — lease review, application pack and freeholder’s surveyor queries handled on your behalf
- Acoustic build-up — separating floors and walls upgraded to meet Building Regulations Part E and any stricter freeholder schedule
- Wet-room tanking — certified waterproofing beneath every bathroom, flood-tested before tiling and covered by a 12-month defects period
- Rewire & replumb — new circuits, pipework and heating, coordinated with the building’s risers and stacks
- Layout changes — internal openings engineered, approved by building control and cleared with the freeholder where the lease allows
- Kitchens & bathrooms — designed, supplied and fitted to the specification tier you select
- Period detail — cornicing, sash windows and fireplaces retained and repaired in conversion flats
- Block protocols — lift protection, booked deliveries, restricted noisy hours and daily cleaning of communal areas
How We Run Your Project
Six stages, sequenced so freeholder consent never holds up the start on site.
- Survey & lease review — we measure the flat, inspect the services and read your lease to identify exactly which consents apply.
- Design & consents — our architects develop the layout while the Licence to Alter application runs in parallel, not afterwards.
- Fixed-price contract — an itemised specification agreed in full, with the acoustic and tanking details written in.
- Strip-out & first fix — soft strip, structural openings, cabling, pipework and the acoustic carcass, all removed and delivered through agreed routes.
- Second fix & finishes — kitchen, bathrooms, joinery, flooring and decoration.
- Testing & handover — snagging, certification and reinstatement of any communal areas before the keys come back to you.
Read the full flat refurbishment guide for flat typologies, specification tiers and the Licence to Alter process in detail.
Almost every leasehold flat needs formal freeholder consent — a Licence to Alter — before structural work, new flooring or services alterations can begin, and proceeding without one puts your lease at risk. Building Regulations apply on top: Part E sound insulation between dwellings, electrical and heating sign-off, and fire safety where walls or floors are opened. Flats and maisonettes also have no permitted development rights, so external changes always need a planning application. Our planning guide library covers the rules borough by borough.
Why Hampstead Renovations
Flat refurbishment rewards a team that already knows what freeholders and managing agents will ask for. Design is led by our in-house RIBA Chartered Architects, lease and party-structure matters are supported by RICS surveying through our sister company, Hampstead Chartered Surveyors, and the build is carried out by our own long-standing teams. Every contract is fixed-price on JCT terms, backed by £10M public liability insurance — the level major London freeholders require — plus a 12-month defects period and a 10-year workmanship warranty. Enquire before 2pm on a weekday and we will call you back the same day.
What does a flat refurbishment cost in Marylebone?
A flat refurbishment in Marylebone runs £900–£1,700/sqm excluding VAT, and a full two-bedroom refurbishment typically lands between £60,000 and £110,000. Most programmes take 16–32 weeks on site. A written scope and site assessment are needed before any project price can be fixed.
| Scope of work | Guide rate | Typical total |
|---|---|---|
| Full flat refurbishment (2-bed) | £900–£1,700/sqm | £60,000–£110,000 |
| Typical programme | 16–32 weeks on site | |
Guide rates exclude VAT and are set by depth of work, not by property type. Compare scopes in our London refurbishment cost-per-square-metre guide.
Flat Refurbishment in Marylebone: Questions
Do the Marylebone estates affect a flat refurbishment?
They do. Much of Marylebone sits on the Portman and Howard de Walden estates, so estate consent runs alongside Westminster's planning, and the mansion blocks add freeholder and party-wall layers that are agreed before work starts.
Which conservation area is my Marylebone flat in?
Usually one of two. The Harley Street Conservation Area, designated in 1968 and later extended to Marylebone High Street, covers the Howard de Walden grid, while the Portman Estate Conservation Area, first designated in 1967, covers the Portman streets around Portman Square.
How much does a flat refurbishment cost in Marylebone?
Marylebone flat refurbishments sit at a level of £60,000–£110,000 excluding VAT, with borough house renovations running £90,000 to £475,000 excluding VAT. The estate, the freeholder and central-W1 access then set the figure.
What drives the budget on a Marylebone flat?
Freeholder approvals, mansion-flat acoustic upgrades, conservation or listed fabric, facade and sash decisions, central-W1 access and storage, party walls and service renewal all shape the number alongside the finishes.
Which Marylebone streets do you work on?
Montagu Square and Bryanston Square carry elegant brick terraces on the Portman Estate; Dorset Square adds a leafy Regency set-piece; and Marylebone High Street anchors the mansion flats and conversions above the shops.
Local character & heritage: renovating flats in Marylebone
Marylebone sits in the City of Westminster, and a large share of its homes are leasehold flats — within elegant Georgian terraces and mansion blocks on the Portman and Howard de Walden estates. Refurbishing one is a full interior project: reconfiguring the layout, renewing services and finishes, and often combining or reworking rooms within the existing footprint.
The work runs under the lease, so the freeholder's or managing agent's consent sits alongside Building Regulations and the Party Wall Act usually applies between flats; external elements such as windows stay controlled in conservation areas. Because the estate streets are tightly managed and a high proportion are listed, we coordinate the lease, the freeholder and the build as one fixed-price contract.
Marylebone heritage & architecture: Renovating a flat · Kitchens in period flats · Licence to alter · Mansion flats · Conservation areas · Roof developments & conservation
Flat Refurbishment in Marylebone: Planning & Local Context
Westminster City Council · W1
Planning for flat refurbishment in Marylebone
Flat refurbishment in Marylebone sits across two consent regimes: Westminster City Council for planning and building control, and your freeholder for a licence to alter covering structural changes, new services and floor build-ups — essential within Marylebone's conservation areas and most mansion blocks.
Westminster City Council context
Marylebone W1 sits within Marylebone's conservation areas, and Westminster applies a demanding conservation and listed-building regime, and many mansion blocks and townhouses here are listed or sit within tightly controlled estates such as the Grosvenor, Howard de Walden and Crown estates. Much of Marylebone is managed by the Howard de Walden and Portman estates. Our in-house RIBA Chartered Architects prepare and submit every application to Westminster City Council and handle pre-application discussions where early planning advice is useful.
Building Regulations
Flat Refurbishment in Marylebone must satisfy Building Regulations — covering sound insulation to Part E, fire compartmentation to Part B, and certified electrical and plumbing works. Our in-house engineers manage Building Control from initial notice to completion certificate.
Recent work & local links
See recent Marylebone work: Home refurbishment, Marylebone. Explore our Kitchen Renovation Loft Conversions in Marylebone, or the Marylebone hub · Refurbishment Company in Marylebone.
Our in-house planning team prepares and submits every Westminster City Council application and manages building control end to end. View our planning track record →
Guides & Local Reading
Flat Refurbishment in Nearby Areas
More Services in Marylebone
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