Flat Refurbishment in South Hampstead, NW6
Out of roughly 3,850 homes Camden counted in its 2008/9 survey, about 70% were flats, built as such or converted from houses.
Our first visit to a flat covers three things: the lease, the layout of the neighbouring flats, and the route builders will use through the common parts. Our guide to mansion block refurbishment in NW6 and NW8 goes into that review in more depth.
Source: Camden: South Hampstead Conservation Area Character Appraisal and Management Strategy (February 2011)
Mansion blocks, 1930s blocks and divided houses
The mansion blocks east of Fairhazel Gardens are terraces of three and four storeys, rising to five on Canfield Gardens.
Mansion flats went up on Canfield Gardens in 1886 and 1889, Fairhazel Gardens gained three blocks between 1886 and 1896, and Compayne Gardens three more by 1894.
The appraisal counts King's Gardens, set around its own green on West End Lane, and inter-war blocks in the ocean-liner style as equally part of the area's character.
Camden discourages intensive subdivision of houses built for one family, because of the alterations, extensions and parking demand it brings.
The appraisal expects most change here to come from owners altering their own homes or from villas being subdivided, rather than from major redevelopment.
Later blocks fill the gaps between the Victorian streets: Kingswood Court of 1935, Sydney Boyd Court of 1953 on a site cleared by a flying bomb, and the LCC flats of 1956 beside the railway on Broadhurst Gardens.
Source: Camden: South Hampstead Conservation Area Character Appraisal and Management Strategy (February 2011)
What the Article 4 direction means for a flat
Flats are named in the direction confirmed on 9 June 2026: painting a flat's principal elevation, or a side onto the road, is controlled unless that front was painted already.
It also covers putting up, changing or demolishing a gate, wall or fence at the front or side of a flat where it faces a public place.
Camden's fact sheet keeps the older controls on flats too: replacement windows or doors in another material or design need permission on any elevation, and so does any new rooflight.
Minor work such as security lights or an alarm needs no application, and nor does repair or replacement that closely matches what is there.
Sources: Camden: South Hampstead Conservation Area Article 4(1) Direction (made 4 June 2025, confirmed 9 June 2026), Camden: Swiss Cottage (now South Hampstead) Conservation Area Article 4(1) fact sheet (updated June 2026), Camden: South Hampstead Conservation Area Character Appraisal and Management Strategy (February 2011)
Windows in a converted house
Like-for-like, in Camden's guide, means matching the materials, colour, finish, size, pattern and profile, and copying details down to the catches and pulleys.
Swapping front sashes for matching double-glazed ones still needs planning permission, so that historic windows survive where they can.
Leaded or etched glass in a street-facing door or window is protected: taking it out needs permission and Camden is likely to say no.
In a converted house several flats share one front, so we agree joinery details with the freeholder and the other owners before ordering.
Sources: Camden: Swiss Cottage (now South Hampstead) Conservation Area Design Guide (updated June 2026), Camden: Swiss Cottage (now South Hampstead) Conservation Area Article 4(1) fact sheet (updated June 2026)
The lease, the freeholder and the neighbours
LEASE explains that some leases require the landlord's permission for alterations even after planning and building regulations approval.
Other clauses may dictate finishes; a requirement for carpet, for example, can prevent wooden floors.
Where notifiable party wall work meets a neighbour's objection, appointed surveyors decide the method, the timing and the cost, a process GOV.UK keeps apart from planning and building control.
While the work runs, LEASE expects noise to be kept reasonable and shared halls and stairs clean and passable.
Sources: LEASE: alterations and home improvements, GOV.UK: Party walls and building work, LEASE: Alterations and home improvements
Flats in a listed building
Historic England's Grade II* listing of the Alexandra Road Estate covers its walls, ramps, steps, community centre and boiler house, and the estate has a conservation area of its own.
Camden's Architect's Department designed it with homes for 1660 people in 520 dwellings; permission came in 1968 and the estate was fully occupied by 1979.
Inside a listed flat, every alteration to the interior calls for listed building consent, and Camden's protection extends to later additions as well as original fabric.
For a listed flat we prepare the consent drawings and the schedule of works before any other design decision is fixed.
Sources: Historic England list entry 1130403 (Alexandra Road Estate), published on Planning Data, Camden Council: Alexandra Road Estate Conservation Area appraisal and management strategy, Camden: Alexandra Road Conservation Area Statement, Camden: South Hampstead Conservation Area Character Appraisal and Management Strategy (February 2011), Camden Council: Listed buildings
Draughts, heating and sound between flats
Sealing gaps and fitting draught strips and brushes, which Camden's design guide says can reduce air loss by up to 86%, needs no planning application.
The guide also lists roof insulation and a high-efficiency condensing boiler with thermostatic valves on each radiator among the ways to save energy.
Under new boards we lay an acoustic layer and break contact with the walls, so footsteps stay inside the flat.
For a top-floor flat we ask the freeholder what insulation lies over the ceilings before they are closed up, since the roof space may not belong to the flat.
Source: Camden: Swiss Cottage (now South Hampstead) Conservation Area Design Guide (updated June 2026)
Bins, halls and running the work
Where a front bin store is needed, the appraisal asks for it to be hidden by walls and planting, built of reclaimed brick or timber and kept off the main front.
Loud work in a flat can run from 8am until 6pm on weekdays and until 1pm on Saturdays without Camden's authorisation, but not at all on Sundays or bank holidays.
Lifts, stairs and the entrance hall are boarded and sheeted before materials arrive, and cleaned at the end of each day.
We send the managing agent a method statement and a named contact before the start, and give neighbours notice of the loudest days.
Sources: Camden: South Hampstead Conservation Area Character Appraisal and Management Strategy (February 2011), Camden Council: noisy building works
Questions about refurbishing a South Hampstead flat
Does repainting the front of my flat's building need permission?
Not if it was painted already; putting paint on an unpainted front now needs planning permission.
Can my flat have windows of a different design?
Only with planning permission, front or rear.
Will the freeholder need to agree to my plans?
Possibly: LEASE says some leases need the landlord's permission even after other approvals.
Can I lay timber floors?
Only if the lease allows; some leases require carpet.
Is my Alexandra Road Estate flat listed?
Yes. The estate is listed at Grade II*, so internal alterations need listed building consent.
What does a flat refurbishment in South Hampstead cost?
Your South Hampstead figure is confirmed after a feasibility visit.
Sources: Camden: South Hampstead Conservation Area Article 4(1) Direction (made 4 June 2025, confirmed 9 June 2026), Camden: Swiss Cottage (now South Hampstead) Conservation Area Article 4(1) fact sheet (updated June 2026), LEASE: alterations and home improvements, Historic England list entry 1130403 (Alexandra Road Estate), published on Planning Data, Camden: South Hampstead Conservation Area Character Appraisal and Management Strategy (February 2011)
Related pages
Sources
- Camden: South Hampstead Conservation Area Character Appraisal and Management Strategy (February 2011)
- Camden: South Hampstead Conservation Area Article 4(1) Direction (made 4 June 2025, confirmed 9 June 2026)
- Camden: Swiss Cottage (now South Hampstead) Conservation Area Article 4(1) fact sheet (updated June 2026)
- Camden: Swiss Cottage (now South Hampstead) Conservation Area Design Guide (updated June 2026)
- LEASE: alterations and home improvements
- GOV.UK: Party walls and building work
- Historic England list entry 1130403 (Alexandra Road Estate), published on Planning Data
- Camden Council: Alexandra Road Estate Conservation Area appraisal and management strategy
- Camden: Alexandra Road Conservation Area Statement
- Camden Council: Listed buildings
- Camden Council: noisy building works
Guides & Local Reading
More Services in South Hampstead
Book a feasibility visit
We visit the flat and the shared hall and stairs, check what the lease asks for, and give an early view of feasibility, sound between floors and budget.
Which floor is your flat?
Tell us the floor, whether the flat is in a house conversion or a purpose-built block, and the rooms to change.