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Hendon NW4 · Flat refurbishment

Flat refurbishment in Hendon

Church End flats, council blocks and flats over shops

Hendon’s flats come in several kinds, and each brings its own consents. Barnet’s 2012 Church End appraisal records 1970s blocks off Church Terrace and flats above offices in the Meritage complex. Barnet’s 2017 listing of tenanted homes managed by Barnet Homes names council blocks in what was then Hendon Ward, such as Longford Court, the Fosters blocks and Bell Court. Turning a house into flats is a separate question, covered by Barnet’s Policy HOU03.

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Flat refurbishment in Hendon at a glance

Barnet’s 2012 Church End appraisal explains how several blocks of flats came to be built there. A terrace of houses that ran along Church End from The Chequers was demolished in the 1970s for the Meritage Club, several blocks of flats, St Mary’s Lower School and Prince Charles Close, sited in the eastern part of the conservation area off Church Terrace. The Meritage complex itself has flats above ground-floor offices, and the appraisal says it does not sit comfortably with the local vernacular. If your flat is in the Meritage complex, keep that view in mind before planning any outside change.

Hendon Church End Conservation Area character appraisal and management proposals, 16 November 2012 (PDF)

For the whole area, including conservation areas, permissions and working hours, read our Hendon renovation guide.

Approved guide prices

What does a flat refurbishment cost in Hendon?

A flat refurbishment in Hendon 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 workGuide rateTypical total
Full flat refurbishment (2-bed)£900–£1,700/sqm£60,000–£110,000
Typical programme16–32 weeks on site

Guide rates exclude VAT and are set by depth of work, not by postcode. Compare scopes in our London refurbishment cost-per-square-metre guide or try the cost calculator.

The buildings

Council blocks, 1970s flats and flats over shops and offices

Hendon’s flats range from large council blocks to small groups of flats above shops and offices. Barnet’s records name the blocks, but only your lease and title show who your landlord is.

Barnet’s open data includes a 2017 listing of the tenanted homes managed by Barnet Homes, the council’s arm’s length management organisation for housing. The rows for what was then Hendon Ward, before the ward changes of May 2022, are nearly all flats, and the blocks with most entries are Longford Court, Upper Fosters, Lower Fosters, Woodburn Close and Bell Court. The listing shows tenanted flats only, so it cannot tell you whether a flat you own in one of these blocks is leasehold from the council: your lease will.

Barnet open data: tenanted properties managed by Barnet Homes (Barnet Homes Stock Listing 2017) · Barnet open data: ward maps for the 24 wards in force from 5 May 2022

Barnet’s register holds decisions for whole blocks here. In 2021 the council approved, subject to conditions, a prefabricated plantroom on the roof of each of the two Upper Fosters blocks, housing water tanks and pumps for a sprinkler system. The register also holds a 2021 permission on the Fosters Estate for the demolition of Cheshire Hall and Cheshire House and the erection of 217 homes, 75 of them extra care units, across six blocks. A permission shows what was approved, not what was built, so ask your landlord what is planned nearby.

Barnet planning register: public access search (planning, building control and licensing)

Permissions and local rules

Consents for a Hendon flat, by landlord and building

If Barnet Council is your landlord

What must I do before Barnet Homes will agree?

If Barnet Council is your landlord, Barnet Homes acts for it. Its 2021 guidance says you must first check that your lease allows the alteration, then get Barnet Homes’ written consent. Where the lease permits, it may agree to layout changes such as turning a one-bedroom flat into a two-bedroom one or removing non-load-bearing walls, and to window changes, electrical work and soundproofing. Its leaseholder page adds that the fee is paid online before an application is considered and that no work should take place until the decision has been made.

Barnet Homes: guidance on making alterations to leasehold properties, October 2021 (for Barnet Council leaseholders) · Barnet Homes: leaseholder home improvements (for Barnet Council leaseholders)

Frames, doors and dishes in a council block

Who owns the windows of a Barnet Council flat?

If Barnet Council is your landlord, Barnet Homes’ lease page says the council as freeholder owns the main structure and, unless you have a Deed of Variation, the front door, door frame and window frames. Barnet’s register shows one example of such work across a whole block: in 2007 the council approved new PVC windows and doors for Bell Court. The same lease page says you need permission before fixing an aerial or satellite dish outside, and that one may be refused where the block has an integrated reception system.

Barnet Homes: your lease (for Barnet Council leaseholders) · Barnet planning register: public access search (planning, building control and licensing)

Flats above The Burroughs shops

Does the shop below change what I can do?

Barnet’s 2012 appraisal of The Burroughs said applications for new shopfronts, advertisements, illumination, awnings and security measures such as shutters would be determined in line with the council’s shopfront and advertisement guidance of the time. The shopfronts part of Barnet’s 2026 design guidance says the whole of an historic shopfront in a conservation area must always be retained. Barnet’s Local Plan Policy TOW02, on town centres, local centres and parades, seeks the use of upper floors, where suitable, for uses including homes.

Hendon The Burroughs Conservation Area character appraisal and management proposals, 16 November 2012 (PDF) · Barnet Sustainable Design and Development Guidance SPD, adopted 15 June 2026: Part 5, shopfronts and advertisements · Barnet Local Plan 2021–2036, adopted 4 March 2025: the plan and its adoption documents

Turning a house into flats

Can a Hendon house be divided into flats?

Barnet’s adopted Policy HOU03 sets several tests for converting a house, among them a PTAL of 3 to 6 or no more than 800 metres’ walk to a station or the edge of a town centre; at least one family-sized home with three bedrooms, four bedspaces and its own private garden; no unacceptable harm to the area’s character; and good privacy, daylight and outlook. Barnet’s 2026 conversion guidance says the outside should change as little as possible: an extra front door should be avoided, meter boxes should sit away from the front, and large extensions are unlikely to be acceptable.

Barnet Local Plan 2021–2036, adopted 4 March 2025: the plan and its adoption documents · Barnet Sustainable Design and Development Guidance SPD, adopted 15 June 2026: Part 3, flat conversions and HMOs

Working hours, skips, parking and the conservation area maps for the whole area are in our Hendon guide. Local guidance checked ; requirements depend on the address, the building and the complete proposal.

What the work covers

What a Hendon flat refurbishment covers

A layout your lease allows

We start from the lease plan and the consents it requires, then draw the new layout inside the flat’s own walls. Moving a kitchen or bathroom is planned around the existing risers and the rooms above and below, and any wall that may carry load is checked before it is shown as removed, so the drawings you send to the landlord are the ones we build from.

Quiet floors and party walls

New floors, ceilings and walls between homes are specified for sound from the outset. Barnet’s 2026 design guidance asks development to give high levels of soundproofing between rooms as well as between dwellings, and a lease often sets its own rules on floor finishes, so we choose the build-up and the finish together and record both for the landlord’s approval.

Barnet Sustainable Design and Development Guidance SPD, adopted 15 June 2026: Part 2, design and technical guidance

Shared parts, access and neighbours

Work in a block depends on the stairs, lifts, entrances and bin areas you share. We agree with the landlord or managing agent how materials and waste move through the common parts, how they are protected, and when noisy stages happen, and we keep neighbours informed, so the refurbishment of one flat does not become a dispute in the building.

How we work

How we run a Hendon flat refurbishment

  1. First visit

    We see the flat, then the entrance, stairs or lift that serve it.

  2. Lease and consents

    We go through the lease’s consent requirements with you and the managing agent at the start.

  3. Survey and design

    Drainage and services are traced on site. Our own architects and structural engineers design the layout and any structural change around those routes, and any new external vent or window is checked for planning.

  4. Price and contract

    A fixed written price and a JCT contract follow the survey, scope and specification. The price names its allowances and exclusions, with consent fees and any common-parts work shown separately.

  5. Working in the building

    Common parts are protected and their condition recorded; deliveries keep to the building’s rules, and noisy work to those rules and the council’s permitted hours; key decisions go to a director.

  6. Handover

    Commissioning, drawings, certificates and any managing-agent close-out. Completed work carries a 12-month defects-rectification period under the JCT contract terms.

Real projects, clearly located

Examples of our flat refurbishment work elsewhere in London

None of these projects is in Hendon. Each card names where the work was done, so you can judge the finish and the approach before you brief your own.

Your brief

Before you ask for a quotation

  1. Gather the lease and landlord details

    Send the lease, or at least its plan and alterations clause, and tell us who the landlord is: Barnet Council through Barnet Homes, a private freeholder or a managing agent. Mention any earlier consents for the flat and whether the building has a shop or office on the ground floor.

  2. Describe the flat and the block

    Give the floor the flat is on, the rooms and their sizes, and photographs of each room, the entrance and the common parts. Note where the soil stack, boiler and fuse board are, and any leaks, cracks or noise problems you know about.

  3. Separate firm choices from open ones

    List the changes you have decided on and those that depend on the landlord’s answer, such as moving a wall or changing windows. Every contractor can then price the open items on the same stated basis, and nothing is ordered before consent is in hand.

Ready to take the next step? Send the address and a short outline of the work.

Book a free feasibility visit

Questions before you begin

Flat refurbishment in Hendon: questions

Is my flat in one of the blocks Barnet Homes manages?

Barnet’s 2017 open-data list of council tenancies looked after by Barnet Homes names blocks in what was then Hendon Ward, among them Longford Court, Upper Fosters, Lower Fosters, Woodburn Close and Bell Court. It lists tenanted flats, not leasehold ones, and uses the wards in force before May 2022, so check the address. Your lease and title show whether Barnet Council is your landlord.

Barnet open data: tenanted properties managed by Barnet Homes (Barnet Homes Stock Listing 2017) · Barnet open data: ward maps for the 24 wards in force from 5 May 2022

Will Barnet Homes agree to a loft conversion or extension for my flat?

If Barnet Council is your landlord, no. Barnet Homes’ guidance rules out consent for extensions, conservatories, hard standings on shared areas and loft conversions. Its leaseholder page explains that loft space is not sold, since the loft lies outside what the lease grants you and often carries services that may be shared between flats. Plan the refurbishment within the flat as it stands.

Barnet Homes: guidance on making alterations to leasehold properties, October 2021 (for Barnet Council leaseholders) · Barnet Homes: leaseholder home improvements (for Barnet Council leaseholders)

Is the block of flats at 13–21 Church End in the conservation area?

Barnet’s 2012 Church End appraisal places it just outside the Hendon Church End Conservation Area, along Church Terrace, and says that buildings there such as this block have a negative effect on the conservation area’s setting despite being outside the boundary. Check the current boundary map for your own block, since conservation-area status changes what outside work needs permission.

Hendon Church End Conservation Area character appraisal and management proposals, 16 November 2012 (PDF) · Barnet: Hendon Church End conservation area map, November 2023 (PDF)

What if work was done to my council flat without consent?

If Barnet Council is your landlord, Barnet Homes’ leaseholder page says unapproved work needs a retrospective application, may have to be put back to its condition before the work if it is not permitted, is unsafe, compromises the building or adversely affects neighbours, and that Barnet Homes may enter and inspect the flat after reasonable notice if it has concerns about the work. Sort this out before a new refurbishment builds on top of it.

Barnet Homes: leaseholder home improvements (for Barnet Council leaseholders)

Does planning permission count as my landlord’s consent?

If Barnet Council is your landlord, no. Barnet Homes’ guidance says that consent from another body, including council departments such as planning, building control or the HMO team, is not the landlord’s consent. Apply to Barnet Homes separately, and keep each approval with the others for when you sell.

Barnet Homes: guidance on making alterations to leasehold properties, October 2021 (for Barnet Council leaseholders)

How much does a flat refurbishment cost in Hendon?

Guide rates in Hendon are £900–£1,700/sqm excluding VAT, with a full two-bedroom refurbishment typically between £60,000 and £110,000, over a 16–32 weeks programme. A written scope and site assessment come before any fixed price.

Book a free feasibility visit

Talk to us about your Hendon flat

Tell us the address and what you want to change in your Hendon flat. We reply within one working day, Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm.

Or call 020 7101 3168. We serve Hendon from our studio at Unit 3, Palace Court, 250 Finchley Road, London NW3 6DN.

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