Flat
refurbishment
in Muswell Hill, N10
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Hampstead Chartered Surveyors & Building ConsultancyA Muswell Hill flat may sit above a Broadway shop, inside a Collins mansion block on Fortis Green or on one floor of a divided Edwardian house, and each kind brings its own lease and its own Haringey rules.
Haringey's conservation pages say a flat has no permitted development rights, so anything beyond like-for-like work that alters the building's appearance, its windows included, needs planning permission.
We read the lease and confirm the planning position together, because the freeholder and the council can each say yes or no to different parts of one scheme.
Source: Haringey Council: Works that need planning permission (conservation areas)
Three kinds of Muswell Hill flat
The Broadway's upper floors are homes, reached by shared front doors tucked between the shops.
On Fortis Green and Fortis Green Road stand three and four storey blocks of flats on large plots, in red brick under clay tiles.
When the area was designated in 1974, the main pressure noted was demand to convert houses into flats.
Source: Haringey Council: Muswell Hill Conservation Area Character Appraisal (Conservation Area No. 3, adopted 11 February 2008)
Flats above the parades
The Fortis Green Road parade at Nos 124 to 222 holds two floors of flats, their doors set in round-headed arches.
Across the road, Nos 11 to 121 carry three storeys of flats, the top one in an attic with stepped gables.
The parades' windows were originally timber sliding sashes with multi-paned upper sections.
A parade flat shares its stair, its roof and often its drainage with the shop below, so we map each before pricing.
Source: Haringey Council: Muswell Hill Conservation Area Character Appraisal (Conservation Area No. 3, adopted 11 February 2008)
Living over a working shop
Haringey counts Muswell Hill among its historic town centres and expects historic shopfronts to be kept.
The appraisal describes the Broadway as shaped by heavy public, private and service traffic and by people moving between the shops.
Kitchen extract, boiler flues and the flat's own waste often pass the shop's ceiling, so we agree access with the shopkeeper and work above the shop outside its busiest hours.
Sources: Haringey Council: Development Management DPD (Haringey Local Plan, adopted July 2017), Haringey Council: Muswell Hill Conservation Area Character Appraisal (Conservation Area No. 3, adopted 11 February 2008)
Mansion blocks on Fortis Green
Billy Collins added Fortis Court and Woodside in the 1920s, and Twyford Court on either side of Twyford Avenue in 1933.
Fortis Court's three linked Neo-Georgian blocks have mostly multi-paned timber sliding sashes.
Midhurst Mansions has timber sashes and an attic in a steep slate mansard over shops that keep their original surrounds.
Twyford Court is yellow stock brick under red tiled mansards with large sash dormers.
Source: Haringey Council: Muswell Hill Conservation Area Character Appraisal (Conservation Area No. 3, adopted 11 February 2008)
Flats in listed buildings
Birchwood Mansions on Fortis Green Road, a Grade II Arts and Crafts block of 1907, has timber casements glazed with leaded and coloured motifs.
The Gables, also Grade II, mixes timber sashes, casements and leaded lights.
Policy DM9 expects a listed building's features and fabric to be kept and mended, with lost pieces replaced in sympathy.
An application touching a heritage asset must carry a statement of what makes it significant.
Sources: Haringey Council: Muswell Hill Conservation Area Character Appraisal (Conservation Area No. 3, adopted 11 February 2008), Haringey Council: Development Management DPD (Haringey Local Plan, adopted July 2017)
Flats in divided houses
Plenty of Edmondson's attic-storey houses on Queens Avenue have since been split into flats.
The appraisal notes that some conversions removed the original front doors.
In a divided house we look at the stair, the party floors and the services each flat shares with the others.
Source: Haringey Council: Muswell Hill Conservation Area Character Appraisal (Conservation Area No. 3, adopted 11 February 2008)
Haringey's rules on conversions
Policy DM16 allows a larger house to be converted only in certain conditions, including more than 120 square metres of original floor space and, where possible, a single front door.
It limits conversions inside the Family Housing Protection Zone shown on Figure 3.1 of the plan.
If a project changes the number of flats, we check the zone map and the policy before anything is drawn.
Source: Haringey Council: Development Management DPD (Haringey Local Plan, adopted July 2017)
The lease and the landlord
LEASE warns that a lease can require the landlord's permission for alterations even after planning and building control approval.
Other clauses can restrict finishes; a 'floors must be carpeted' clause, for example, can rule out timber floors.
We send the landlord or managing agent the drawings and a method statement, and wait for written consent before the start date.
Source: LEASE: alterations and home improvements
Sound between flats
DM16 also asks converted homes to be planned so rooms stack sensibly and noise travels as little as possible between them.
When a kitchen or bathroom moves, we keep it over or under the same room in the flat above or below, and add insulation and a resilient layer to the floor.
Source: Haringey Council: Development Management DPD (Haringey Local Plan, adopted July 2017)
Shared stairs, lanes and deliveries
Narrow lanes behind the parades give access to their backs, and lorries use one of them for deliveries.
Leaseholders are expected to keep noise down and leave shared corridors and stairs clean and passable.
In a shared building we keep drilling and chasing to Haringey's hours: no earlier than 8am, no later than 6pm in the week, and Saturday until 1pm.
Sources: Haringey Council: Muswell Hill Conservation Area Character Appraisal (Conservation Area No. 3, adopted 11 February 2008), LEASE: Alterations and home improvements, Haringey Council: Noise complaints
Boilers, flues and extract in a flat
LEASE points out that a lease forbidding cuts through external walls stops new openings, pipes included.
So before a boiler moves or a cooker hood is planned, we find out whether the lease lets the wall be cut and where an existing flue or vent could be reused.
In a parade or mansion flat the shared risers may carry the water and gas, and isolating them is agreed with the managing agent and the other residents in advance.
Source: LEASE: Alterations and home improvements
Windows in a flat
Window changes to a flat are not permitted development in Haringey and need planning permission.
Haringey's energy advice often prefers secondary glazing, which keeps the old frame and cuts the draughts.
Sources: Haringey Council: Works that need planning permission (conservation areas), Haringey Council: Energy efficiency in conservation areas
Muswell Hill flat refurbishment questions
Do I need planning permission to replace windows in my flat?
Yes, flats have no permitted development rights in Haringey.
Will my landlord need to approve the work?
Possibly; some leases need the landlord's consent on top of the council's approvals.
Can I lay a timber floor in my Muswell Hill flat?
Only if the lease allows it; some leases require carpet.
Can a large Muswell Hill house be split into flats?
Only under Policy DM16's conditions, including more than 120 square metres of original floor space.
Is my mansion flat in a listed building?
Birchwood Mansions and The Gables are both on the statutory list at Grade II; check the entry for your block.
What does a flat refurbishment in Muswell Hill cost?
Your Muswell Hill figure is confirmed after a feasibility visit.
Sources: Haringey Council: Works that need planning permission (conservation areas), LEASE: alterations and home improvements, Haringey Council: Development Management DPD (Haringey Local Plan, adopted July 2017), Haringey Council: Muswell Hill Conservation Area Character Appraisal (Conservation Area No. 3, adopted 11 February 2008)
Related pages
Sources
- Haringey Council: Works that need planning permission (conservation areas)
- Haringey Council: Muswell Hill Conservation Area Character Appraisal (Conservation Area No. 3, adopted 11 February 2008)
- Haringey Council: Development Management DPD (Haringey Local Plan, adopted July 2017)
- LEASE: alterations and home improvements
- Haringey Council: Noise complaints
- Haringey Council: Energy efficiency in conservation areas
Guides & Local Reading
Flat Refurbishment in Nearby Areas
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