Flat
refurbishment
in Soho, W1
Architects, Engineers, Surveyors & Builders Under One Roof.
One Studio. One Contract. One Team.
Independent surveying by our sister practice, Hampstead Chartered Surveyors (RICS Firm No. 923064)For flat refurbishment in Soho, plan the rooms alongside the building they belong to. Consider services, floor finishes and fitted interiors together with the lease, shared access and retained features.
Flat Refurbishment in Soho: What You Need to Know
For a flat in Soho, read the lease and identify the landlord or managing agent before agreeing alterations. Written consent or a Licence to Alter is required where the lease and proposed work call for it; do not assume the same requirements for every building. Check shared floors, walls, service routes and access conditions. Planning and listed-building requirements are separate checks with Westminster.
Creative quarter with residential properties above ground-floor commercial premises. Tight urban grain with Georgian townhouses on quieter streets. Westminster conservation area. A refurbishment in Soho coordinates the layout, mechanical and electrical services and finishes with the condition of the building. The agreed scope determines what is retained, repaired or replaced, including the treatment of original period features.
Our Soho 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 against the agreed scope and programme.
Soho's residential life sits above its streets, and a flat refurbishment here is as much about logistics and consents as construction. The homes are largely upper-floor flats and maisonettes above the shops and bars, so acoustic separation from the night-time economy below is central to the work, and every project needs tightly-planned logistics for a street with no spare space.
It is one of the densest and most historic grids in London. Soho sits within its conservation area, and Westminster's guide records many listed 17th and 18th century buildings, listed Victorian theatres, protected squares and an archaeological-priority area around Gerrard Street and Cambridge Circus. Dean Street, Frith Street and Greek Street retain fine Georgian townhouses, many now characterful flats and maisonettes.
The Westminster guide puts a flat refurbishment at £60,000–£110,000 excluding VAT, confirmed once acoustics, listing and the tight-street logistics are scoped.
An upper-floor flat with a measured access route
For a Soho flat above commercial premises, measure the staircase and door turns before selecting large fittings. Establish where the private service runs meet shared building systems, and agree how water isolation and noisy work will be coordinated with neighbouring occupiers.
Flat Refurbishment in Soho: Applied to the Local Stock
Soho sits in the City of Westminster, within the Soho Conservation Area, on one of the densest and most historic street grids in London.
Sources: Westminster City Council — Soho 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, with the consent requirements and their effect on the programme considered before work starts.
- 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.
Read the lease and identify any required freeholder consent or Licence to Alter for the proposed work before it is programmed. Planning permission, listed-building consent and Building Regulations are separate checks. Flats do not share the householder permitted-development rights available to houses, but that does not mean every external repair needs an application: like-for-like window replacement may not need planning permission, subject to the property and local requirements. Check the actual alteration, including any effect on a listed building's special interest. Our planning guide library explains the separate approval routes.
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. Enquire before 2pm on a weekday and we will call you back the same day.
What does a flat refurbishment cost in Soho?
A flat refurbishment in Soho 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 Soho: Questions
How do you handle noise in a Soho flat refurbishment?
It leads the specification. The upper-floor flats and maisonettes sit above the shops and bars, so acoustic separation from the night-time economy below is central to the work and designed in from the start rather than added later.
Is Soho a conservation area?
It is, on one of the densest and most historic street grids in London. Westminster's Soho guide records many listed 17th and 18th century buildings, listed Victorian theatres, protected squares and an archaeological-priority area around Gerrard Street and Cambridge Circus.
How much does a flat refurbishment cost in Soho?
In Soho a flat refurbishment runs £60,000–£110,000 excluding VAT, part of a broader house-renovation reach of £90,000 to £475,000 excluding VAT. Acoustics, listing and access then move the figure.
What makes Soho projects harder to build?
The setting. A busy mixed-use ground floor, licensing constraints and tight streets with no spare space mean logistics and consents lead, so access and delivery are planned before the fit-out is scheduled.
Which Soho streets do you work on?
Dean Street, Frith Street and Greek Street retain fine Georgian townhouses, many now characterful flats and maisonettes, while Wardour Street and the surrounding blocks add upper-floor conversions over shops, bars and studios.
Relevant Completed Flat Refurbishment Projects
Westminster lists Soho conservation-area maps, a mini guide and an adopted audit.
The council's Soho guide records many listed 17th and 18th century buildings, listed Victorian theatres, protected squares and an archaeological-priority area around Gerrard Street and Cambridge Circus; the Soho Neighbourhood Plan also forms part of the Westminster development-plan context.
Guides & Local Reading
Flat Refurbishment in Nearby Areas
More Services in Soho
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Soho history & architecture
Background on the streets, buildings and conservation history of Soho: The History of Tottenham Court Road · The Meaning Behind the Name Soho · Old Compton Street History · The Great Estates of Soho · The Early History of Soho · From Rural Lands to W1 Suburbia