Flat
refurbishment
in Regent's Park, NW1

At Cambridge Terrace, war damage left five original houses, which were converted laterally into flats, while the north end was rebuilt as offices.

Camden warns that dividing family houses intensively harms the area through external changes, extensions and parking demand.

A new flat formed in the roof or in a dug-out basement will not normally be accepted where it harms the conservation area.

Roof space can be added to the flat below it, Camden says, but not turned into a separate unit.

A lateral flat crosses party walls that were built to separate houses, so we trace where each wall carries load before planning a single opening.

Source: Camden: Regent's Park Conservation Area Appraisal and Management Strategy (adopted 11 July 2011)

Westminster needs listed building consent for any works affecting special interest, inside and out.

Camden protects every part of a listed building, later additions included.

Camden's appraisal adds that most buildings around the park need the Crown Estate's consent as well as listed building consent for roof changes.

We note cornices, shutters, doors and floors flat by flat, since a later conversion may have kept more of the original house than the plan suggests.

Sources: Westminster City Council: Listed building consent, Camden Council: Listed buildings, Camden: Regent's Park Conservation Area Appraisal and Management Strategy (adopted 11 July 2011)

LEASE asks leaseholders to think of other occupiers, keeping noise down and corridors and stairs clear.

The Paving Commission bans radios and other amplified sound that can be heard from the street or through a party wall.

Contractor permits for the terrace roads are issued one per property.

Floors we lift are relaid on resilient strips with acoustic quilt between the joists, and common stairs are protected with boarding each morning.

Sources: LEASE: Alterations and home improvements, Crown Estate Paving Commission: Standard Licence Terms and Conditions

Camden's 2011 appraisal records that the Crown Estate, as freeholder, requires a Licence to Alter for works inside as well as outside the buildings.

The Paving Commission says residents and their contractors must keep to guidelines set independently by the Crown Estate and the Commission.

Its licence terms make the licensee responsible for obtaining every consent needed from the Crown Estate, Royal Parks and the council before starting.

It is for the resident or contractor to tell the Commission about the works and apply in good time.

We find out early whether your landlord is a company of flat owners, a head lessee or the freeholder itself, and send each layer of consent the drawings it needs.

Sources: Camden: Regent's Park Conservation Area Appraisal and Management Strategy (adopted 11 July 2011), Crown Estate Paving Commission: information for contractors, Crown Estate Paving Commission: Standard Licence Terms and Conditions

Many of the old stable mews are now homes, and the originals share the listing of the terraces they served.

In Gloucester Gate Mews the rooms sit above the former coach houses.

A first-floor mews flat usually has one stair and a low roof, so we plan storage and services within that shell rather than proposing new openings.

Source: Camden: Regent's Park Conservation Area Appraisal and Management Strategy (adopted 11 July 2011)