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Tufnell Park N19 and N7 · House refurbishment

House refurbishment in Tufnell Park

Semi-basement villas, Edwardian pairs and estate terraces

Islington’s 2010 local list describes runs of houses on several Tufnell Park streets, from villas and terraces with semi-basements to Edwardian semi-detached pairs. This page sets out those descriptions, then the rules on what a refurbishment can add at the side, the rear and the roof, which differ from one conservation area, and sometimes one street, to the next.

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Serving Tufnell Park from our Hampstead studio · NW3 6DN
020 7101 3168

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House refurbishment in Tufnell Park at a glance

Several streets whose houses Islington’s 2010 local list describes, Corinne Road, Hugo Road and Anson Road among them, are also among the eight where the Tufnell Park guidelines say side extensions will not normally be allowed. On those streets a refurbishment usually cannot grow at the side, and growth at the back or within the roof is controlled too. Start from the record for your house and the guidelines for your street, then plan the inside around what the outside can take.

Islington Register of Locally Listed Buildings and Locally Significant Shopfronts, April 2010 (PDF) · Islington: Tufnell Park (CA11) Conservation Area Design Guidelines, January 2002 (PDF)

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

Approved guide prices

What does a house refurbishment cost in Tufnell Park?

Cost in Tufnell Park depends on depth of work. A cosmetic refurbishment that keeps the existing layout runs £650–£1,250/sqm (typically £90,000–£180,000), while a back-to-brick renovation runs £2,250–£3,250/sqm (typically £275,000–£475,000), excluding VAT. A written scope and site assessment are needed before any project price can be fixed.

Scope of workGuide rateTypical total
Cosmetic — existing layout retained£650–£1,250/sqm£90,000–£180,000
Back-to-brick renovation£2,250–£3,250/sqm£275,000–£475,000
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

Semi-basement terraces, villas and Edwardian pairs on the local list

Islington’s April 2010 register of locally listed buildings describes whole runs of Tufnell Park houses. Its entries show what a refurbishment here is working with, from semi-basements and stucco to gables and a turret.

On Corinne Road the register covers Nos. 2–10 (even) and 1–57A (odd), from about 1860: Victorian terraces mainly in blocks of five, Nos. 2–10 of three storeys and the rest of two, all with semi-basements, described as simple brick villas with stucco ornament, largely complete. On Hugo Road it covers Nos. 2–30 (even) and 1–35 (odd), also about 1860: double-fronted two-storey Victorian villas with semi-basements, in brick with elaborate stucco ornament to the doors and bay windows. Both runs are locally listed at grade C, from 1980.

Islington Register of Locally Listed Buildings and Locally Significant Shopfronts, April 2010 (PDF)

Anson Road has two entries at grade B, also from 1980. Nos. 32–38 (even), of about 1910, are large Edwardian three-storey semi-detached houses whose second floor is a mansard roof with windows set forward in highly ornamented gables. No. 24, dated 1880, is a two-storey detached Victorian house in two-colour brickwork with a circular turret, curved glazing and a conical slate roof. The published register leaves out additions made after 2010, so check the council’s map for the current position.

Islington Register of Locally Listed Buildings and Locally Significant Shopfronts, April 2010 (PDF) · Islington locally listed buildings

For houses like these, the Tufnell Park guidelines expect a refurbishment to blend with and reinforce the area’s 19th century character, with care over the choice of brick and bond, and they say large areas of curtain walling or cladding are not appropriate. Original roof detailing should be kept wherever possible, or reinstated where missing. New porches are not normally permitted except as reinstatement, missing porches should be put back where possible, and new railings or boundary walls should follow a pattern consistent with the area.

Islington: Tufnell Park (CA11) Conservation Area Design Guidelines, January 2002 (PDF)

Permissions and local rules

Side gaps, back additions and roofs: the rules street by street

Side extensions

Can I build into the gap at the side?

The Tufnell Park guidelines say side extensions will not normally be allowed on Anson Road, Celia Road, Corinne Road, Hugo Road, Dalmeny Road, Southcote Road, St George’s Avenue and Huddleston Road. On Carleton Road a side extension must be single storey and set back at least 2 metres from the street. Where one is allowed or rebuilt it should suit the house and match its materials, and none will be approved that harms a healthy tree that adds to the area. Hillmarton’s guidelines do not normally permit side extensions either.

Islington: Tufnell Park (CA11) Conservation Area Design Guidelines, January 2002 (PDF) · Islington: Hillmarton (CA32) Conservation Area Design Guidelines, January 2002 (PDF)

Rear extensions and back additions

How far can a Tufnell Park house extend at the back?

In the Tufnell Park Conservation Area a rear extension must stay subordinate to the main house, is judged on its merits and should match it in scale, design and materials, with any two-storey part normally on the staircase side. Full-width extensions above one storey, or half-width ones above two, will not normally be permitted unless shown to do no harm. Sloping chimney stacks on existing back additions should be kept, and named terraces on Archibald Road, Dalmeny Road, Huddleston Road and St George’s Avenue may not add a storey to a rear extension.

Islington: Tufnell Park (CA11) Conservation Area Design Guidelines, January 2002 (PDF)

Dormers, gables and mansards

What can change on the roof?

The Tufnell Park guidelines refuse consent to remove original dormers and gables, and where a traditional mansard is permitted its rear should be mansarded rather than built up in vertical brickwork, so that the butterfly or other original profile survives at the back. On the parts of Tufnell Park Road, Mercers Road and Tavistock Terrace inside the Mercers Road/Tavistock Terrace Conservation Area, no new roof extensions or rooflights are permitted in front or side slopes, and any permitted change behind a parapet must keep the original rear profile.

Islington: Tufnell Park (CA11) Conservation Area Design Guidelines, January 2002 (PDF) · Islington: Mercers Road/Tavistock Terrace (CA24) Conservation Area Design Guidelines, December 2007 (PDF)

The St John’s Grove Conservation Area

Are the rules different in St John’s Grove?

Its February 2008 guidelines allow extensions only where they cannot be seen from the street or do not harm the area’s character, and in general rule out side extensions between or in front of houses and first-floor additions to existing ground-floor extensions. The council will not permit new roof extensions there, original dormers should not be altered and new dormers may go only at the rear. Front basement areas must not be filled in or covered over, and front steps must not be widened.

Islington: St John’s Grove (CA28) Conservation Area Design Guidelines, February 2008 (PDF)

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

What the work covers

Roof, lower floor and front: the parts of a Tufnell Park house to scope

Roof and top floor

The scope records each roof slope, gable, dormer and chimney, and the original detailing the guidelines want kept, before the top floor is replanned. On a terrace behind a parapet, a permitted mansard keeps the butterfly or other original profile at the back; on a villa with exposed pitches, new rooflights and dormers are confined to the rear slope, where they are considered on their merits.

Islington: Tufnell Park (CA11) Conservation Area Design Guidelines, January 2002 (PDF)

Semi-basement and ground floor

Where the house has a semi-basement, the scope covers damp, ventilation and drainage at that level, the stair down from the hall and any new opening to the garden. Removing a rear wall, lowering a floor or joining the back addition to the main house is designed as structure first, with the finishes following.

Porch, steps and front boundary

At the front, the scope lists the porch with its tiles and door, the steps, the railings and the wall, and says which are repaired, which reinstated and which left alone. Where a porch or railing has been lost, a reinstatement can be detailed from a surviving example on the same street, in keeping with a pattern consistent with the area.

Islington: Tufnell Park (CA11) Conservation Area Design Guidelines, January 2002 (PDF)

How we work

How we run a Tufnell Park house refurbishment

  1. Free feasibility visit

    We walk round the house with you and discuss what is feasible.

  2. Survey

    Rooms, levels and features to keep are measured, with opening-up or asbestos checks where needed.

  3. Design and consents

    Our own architects and structural engineers design the layout and structural openings, plan the service routes with them, and identify which consents and party wall notices apply.

  4. Price and contract

    A fixed written price and a JCT contract follow the survey, scope and specification. It records allowances, exclusions and how changes are priced.

  5. On site

    Work is inspected before it is covered, and a director reviews key decisions.

  6. Handover

    Testing, commissioning and snagging. Completed work carries a 12-month defects-rectification period under the JCT contract terms.

Real projects, clearly located

Examples of our house refurbishment work elsewhere in London

None of these projects is in Tufnell Park. 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. Find the record and the guidelines for your house

    Check whether your house appears on Islington’s local list or Historic England’s list, and which guidelines cover the street: Tufnell Park, Hillmarton, Mercers Road/Tavistock Terrace or St John’s Grove. If the address is in Camden, say so, because Camden’s own guidance applies.

  2. Tell us what the house is now

    Describe the house as it stands: villa, semi-detached or terrace, how many storeys, whether there is a semi-basement, and any back addition, loft room or side extension already built, with its planning history if you have it. Send any floor plans or sale particulars you hold.

  3. List the outside changes you hope for

    Write down every change to the outside you would like: a larger back addition, a room in the roof, new windows, a reinstated porch or a rebuilt front wall. Each meets a different rule here, so seeing them together early shows which are realistic before the inside is designed.

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

House refurbishment in Tufnell Park: questions

My house is on the local list. What does that change?

A locally listed house needs no listed building consent, but the usual planning controls apply and its special interest is weighed when the council decides an application. So the features the register describes, such as the stucco to doors and bays on Hugo Road or the ornamented gables on Anson Road, belong in the design from the start.

Islington locally listed buildings · Islington Register of Locally Listed Buildings and Locally Significant Shopfronts, April 2010 (PDF)

What materials will the council expect for an extension?

The Tufnell Park guidelines say the council will normally require traditional materials for extensions, and that a permitted rear extension should conform with the main house in scale, design and materials. They also ask for care with the choice of brick and bond. In practice that means brick matched to the house and laid in the same bond, timber windows in the same pattern, and a roof covering that matches the original.

Islington: Tufnell Park (CA11) Conservation Area Design Guidelines, January 2002 (PDF)

What should I check before refurbishing the lowest floor?

Start with the drainage: where it leaves the house, whether a valve protects it, and how surface water drains away. Minutes of an Islington scrutiny committee from November 2016 record an officer’s account that former marshes like Tufnell Park suffered flooding in the 1950s, which was rectified by new storm culverts and anti-flood valves on drainage outlets. They name no street and are not a flood map; use the national long-term flood risk service and a drainage survey instead.

Islington Environment and Regeneration Scrutiny Committee minutes, 3 November 2016, item 76: flood preparedness · Check long-term flood risk in England

My house is on the Camden side. Does this page apply?

Only in part. Houses on the Camden side are governed by Camden, which applies its own planning guidance on home improvements, adopted in January 2021, alongside its Local Plan. Streets inside Camden’s Dartmouth Park or Kentish Town conservation areas are covered by our Dartmouth Park and Kentish Town pages. Confirm the council for the exact address before relying on either.

Camden Planning Guidance: Home Improvements, January 2021 (PDF) · Find the council for the property

Do the rules differ for a villa and a terrace house?

Yes, mainly at the side and on the roof. A detached or semi-detached villa has a side gap, which the guidelines protect on eight named streets, and often an exposed pitched roof, where new dormers and rooflights are kept to the rear slope. A mid-terrace house has no side gap to fill but usually a back addition, and often a roof behind a parapet, where a permitted mansard keeps the butterfly or other original profile at the back.

Islington: Tufnell Park (CA11) Conservation Area Design Guidelines, January 2002 (PDF)

How much does a house refurbishment cost in Tufnell Park?

It depends on scope. In Tufnell Park, a cosmetic refurbishment keeping the existing layout runs £650–£1,250/sqm (typically £90,000–£180,000); a back-to-brick renovation runs £2,250–£3,250/sqm (typically £275,000–£475,000), excluding VAT. A written scope and site assessment come before any fixed price.

Book a free feasibility visit

Talk to us about your Tufnell Park house

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

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

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