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Mill Hill NW7 · Flat refurbishment

Flat refurbishment in Mill Hill

Wills Grove’s former boarding houses and Barnet’s council blocks

Official records point to two settings for flats in Mill Hill. Barnet’s 2008 appraisal says many of the Mill Hill School boarding houses along Wills Grove, a private road, were by then private homes and flats. Barnet’s 2017 list of tenanted homes for what was then Mill Hill Ward names council blocks such as Frith Court, Bittacy Court and Northway Court. If Barnet Council is your landlord, you need written consent from Barnet Homes before any alteration.

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Flat refurbishment in Mill Hill at a glance

Barnet’s stock listing of 24 May 2017 counts 258 tenanted homes managed by Barnet Homes in what was then Mill Hill Ward, and 155 of them are flats. The named blocks with the most tenanted flats are Frith Court, Francis Court, Bittacy Court, Northway Court and Dollis Croft, and the listing also gives groups of flats on Bittacy Hill and Milespit Hill. The list covers tenanted homes only, so it cannot show which flats in those blocks are held on leases. Your title tells you whether Barnet Council is the freeholder.

Barnet open data: tenanted properties managed by Barnet Homes (Barnet Homes Stock Listing 2017)

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

Approved guide prices

What does a flat refurbishment cost in Mill Hill?

A flat refurbishment in Mill Hill 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

Converted school houses and council blocks in Mill Hill

A flat in one of the older Wills Grove buildings that once served Mill Hill School and a flat in a council block run by Barnet Homes differ in landlord, neighbours and the consents a refurbishment needs.

Wills Grove runs from The Ridgeway to Hammers Lane as a private road with restricted access. Barnet’s 2008 appraisal says substantial boarding houses for Mill Hill School staff and pupils flank one side of it, and that many were by then in use as private homes and flats. It picks out the grade II listed Ridgeway House by T.E. Collcutt and the locally listed Winterstoke House, and notes hedges and trees as the front boundaries. Where a flat lies in a listed building, listing covers the inside as well as the outside.

Barnet: Mill Hill Conservation Area Character Appraisal Statement, adopted April 2008 (PDF)

Barnet’s planning register records block-wide changes at these council blocks. In 2007 Barnet approved new uPVC windows for groups of four flats at Frith Court. In 2013 it approved new electrical intake cupboards on the fronts of blocks at Bittacy Court and of the Dollis Croft block, and an estate scheme at Bittacy Court with 36 parking spaces, new refuse stores and cycle stands. These were decisions for whole blocks or groups of flats; they tell you what the building has had, not what you may change inside your own flat.

Barnet planning register: public access search (planning, building control and licensing) · Barnet open data: tenanted properties managed by Barnet Homes (Barnet Homes Stock Listing 2017)

In 2016 Barnet approved metal powder-coated security doors for the front and rear entrances of blocks at Northway Court, Green Avenue. For buildings in the conservation area, the 2008 appraisal lists automatic entry systems, cameras, intercoms and shutters among security features, many of which it says harm the area, and says Barnet will consider each application’s impact carefully. Entrances, stairs and door-entry panels are shared, so any change to them begins with the freeholder or managing agent, not with you alone.

Barnet planning register: public access search (planning, building control and licensing) · Barnet: Mill Hill Conservation Area Character Appraisal Statement, adopted April 2008 (PDF)

Permissions and local rules

Consents for a Mill Hill flat

If Barnet Council is your landlord

What must a council leaseholder do before altering a flat?

Where Barnet Council owns the freehold, Barnet Homes deals with consent on its behalf. Its October 2021 guidance says you must check that the lease permits a change and obtain its written consent first. Subject to the lease, the works it may agree include layout changes, for instance adding a second bedroom to a one-bedroom flat or taking down walls that are not load-bearing, along with changes to windows, electrical work and soundproofing. An approval from the council’s planning or building control teams is not the landlord’s consent.

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

Changes Barnet Homes will not agree

Are some alterations ruled out for council leaseholders?

For council leaseholders, yes. Barnet Homes’ guidance names extensions, conservatories, loft conversions and hard standings on shared land among the alterations it will refuse. On loft space its home improvements page goes further: the loft is not part of the demise your lease grants, Barnet Homes does not sell it and will not agree loft works, and the loft often contains services that may be shared within the block. Keep the refurbishment within the flat as your lease defines it.

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

Work done without consent

What if work was done without Barnet Homes’ consent?

If Barnet Council is your landlord, you will be asked by Barnet Homes for a retrospective application. Where the work is something it does not permit, is unsafe, compromises the building or harms the neighbours or their homes, you may be asked to put the flat back as it was. If it has concerns about work done with or without consent, it may enter and inspect after giving reasonable notice. Its application fee is not refunded if an application is declined.

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

Structure, frames and the boiler

Which parts of a council flat stay the council’s?

Where Barnet Council is the freeholder, its lease page keeps for the council the main structure, such as the walls and roof, the joints and beams, and also, unless you have a Deed of Variation, the front door, its frame and the window frames. Written permission from Barnet Council is required before any structural alteration, change or addition; the process includes a method statement and risk assessment form, and a separate form where a gas boiler is to be installed. Settle these before builders are booked.

Barnet Homes: your lease (for Barnet Council leaseholders)

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

What the work covers

What a Mill Hill flat refurbishment covers

Layout around shared services

We find which walls carry load and trace the pipes, cables and ducts in the flat, separating those that serve only your home from those shared with neighbours. The new layout is drawn around the shared routes, so the landlord receives a scheme that leaves common services untouched and still reachable for maintenance.

Floors and sound

Floors and party walls are built up with the neighbours above, below and beside in mind, and with the lease’s floor rules to hand. Where the work brings in Approved Document E, its sound standard is met; where it does not, we still choose acoustic layers for a hard floor and show them on the drawings sent for consent.

GOV.UK: Approved Document E, resistance to sound

Common parts and access

Stairs, landings and entrance halls are protected before work starts and cleaned each day, and deliveries are timed with the landlord or managing agent. Noisy stages are planned around the neighbours, and debris leaves only by the agreed route, so the shared parts of the building are left as we found them.

How we work

How we run a Mill Hill 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 Mill Hill. 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. Name your landlord

    Tell us whether the freeholder is Barnet Council, a private freeholder or a management company, and share the lease, or at minimum its clauses on alterations, floors and services. The landlord’s answer usually sets the order of everything else.

  2. Describe the building

    Tell us if the building was converted from an older house or built as flats, the floor your flat is on and which homes sit above and below it. Photographs of the entrance, stairs and any shared hall help us plan access and protection.

  3. List the changes you want

    List what you want to change: layout, kitchen, bathroom, floors, windows or heating. Mark anything that touches shared walls, floors, pipes or the entrance door, because those items usually need the landlord’s written agreement before any drawing is final.

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 Mill Hill: questions

How do I know whether my Mill Hill block is a council block?

Look at your title or lease for the freeholder’s name. Barnet’s 2017 listing names blocks with tenanted council flats in what was then Mill Hill Ward, among them Frith Court, Bittacy Court and Northway Court, but it lists tenanted homes only, so it cannot confirm anything about a flat held on a lease. Barnet’s present wards date from May 2022, so check the exact address rather than relying on the ward name.

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

Can I change the windows of a flat on Wills Grove?

Ask before ordering. Barnet’s 2008 appraisal records a grade II listed building on Wills Grove, and in a listed building new windows bring listed building consent into play, so check the status of your building first. Your lease will also say whether the windows belong to you or to the freeholder, so settle the design with the landlord and the council before a supplier measures up.

Barnet: Mill Hill Conservation Area Character Appraisal Statement, adopted April 2008 (PDF)

Can I lay laminate or change the front door of my council flat?

If Barnet Council is your landlord, both are usually not permitted. Barnet Homes’ guidance says it will consent to a new front entrance door or laminate flooring only where your lease already allows it, and that laminate is usually permitted only on the ground floor. Choose a floor covering your lease allows, and ask Barnet Homes before you buy materials for either job.

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

Can several changes go into one Barnet Homes application?

Yes, where Barnet Council is your landlord. The home improvements page from Barnet Homes says several alterations can go into the same application, that the fee has to be paid online before anyone looks at the application, and that work waits for the decision. It also says written consent is mandatory for internal alterations under the lease, and that you may need planning permission, building control approval or both as well.

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

Can I put up a satellite dish on my council block?

Only with permission. If Barnet Council is your landlord, Barnet Homes asks leaseholders to get permission before fixing a radio or TV aerial or a satellite dish to the outside of the home, and if the block already has an integrated reception system a dish may be refused. Ask before an installer is booked, and check whether a shared system already serves your flat.

Barnet Homes: your lease (for Barnet Council leaseholders)

How much does a flat refurbishment cost in Mill Hill?

Guide rates in Mill Hill 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 Mill Hill flat

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

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

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