Flat
refurbishment
in Highgate, N6

Highpoint I on North Hill is listed at Grade I on the National Heritage List, a reminder that some Highgate flats sit in buildings of national importance.

We begin a flat project with the lease, the list entry if there is one, and a walk round the common parts with the managing agent.

Source: Historic England - National Heritage List for England, list entry 1358885 (Highpoint I)

A Highgate leaseholder may need the landlord's permission before any alteration, LEASE says, whatever planning or building control has approved.

Even a lease that permits alterations can block particular work, as with a clause that keeps floors carpeted and so rules out a timber finish.

LEASE also notes that charging a premium for consent to non-structural alterations is against the law.

Sources: LEASE: alterations and home improvements, LEASE: Alterations and home improvements

LEASE asks leaseholders to think about how their work affects other occupiers, including excessive noise and keeping common parts clear.

We agree a floor specification that keeps impact noise down for the flat below, and confirm it with the managing agent before any boards are lifted.

Source: LEASE: Alterations and home improvements

Refurbishing a flat means renewing your own rooms while the structure, drainage and access around them remain shared with other households. Before redrawing the plan, establish from the lease which walls, floors and service runs belong to the flat and which are retained, because that division decides what the refurbishment can physically alter.

Source: LEASE: alterations and home improvements

Uncover the existing floor build-up before choosing timber, stone or tile, and read any flooring clause in the lease alongside it. Agree the acoustic requirements for the actual works with the designer and a building-control adviser; refurbishing a flat does not automatically mean rebuilding every floor that separates it from the neighbours.

Source: LEASE: alterations and home improvements · GOV.UK: Approved Document E, resistance to sound · GOV.UK: building regulations approval

A bathroom can only move as far as the shared soil stack allows with workable drainage falls, so locate the stack and identify any shared supply or extract route first. Leave valves, meters and stopcocks reachable behind new cupboards and boxing, and trace the cause of any damp found behind old finishes before covering it.

At a Camden address, 8am to 6pm Monday to Friday and 8am to 1pm on Saturday are the outer limits for ordinary noisy building work without special authorisation; Sundays, bank holidays and other times need it. A block's own rules may be tighter, and for a Haringey address that council's current requirements need confirming.

Source: Camden noisy building work hours · GOV.UK: find your local council

Measure the lift, stair turns and entrance doors before ordering a bath, shower tray or other bulky item, and agree where waste can wait between collections. A skip on the road needs a council permit and highway scaffolding its own licence; if the work needs a Camden parking bay, follow Camden's suspension guidance.

Source: GOV.UK: skip permits and local council finder · GOV.UK: scaffolding and hoarding licence · Camden parking bay suspensions

Shutting off water or heating in a flat can affect neighbours on shared services, so agree isolation times with the managing agent and the residents concerned. If you intend to live in the flat during the works, say so at the start, because it changes the order of rooms and when each service can be switched off.