House refurbishment in Blackheath

Bring the whole-house scope together.

Start with the house refurbishment brief

Survey the rooms, structure and building services before separating repairs from alterations. Identify the features to keep and the rooms that must remain usable, then coordinate heating, electrics, bathrooms, kitchens and finishes in one written scope.

Record allowances and exclusions against the drawings. Plan inspections before work is covered, agree how changes will be priced and keep a clear handover list for certificates, commissioning and snagging.

The local building context

Royal Greenwich designated the Blackheath Park conservation area in 2002, when a boundary review split the original Blackheath area in two. Its appraisal, which the council lists as 2013, places the private Cator Estate within it: wide tree-lined avenues, villas set back from the road, grass verges, gutters of granite setts and white-painted timber gates at the entrances. The area also takes in the east side of Blackheath Village from the railway to Cresswell Park, 1–23 Lee Road, Cresswell Park and Bennett Park.

The appraisal finds the area’s significance in the quality and diversity of its housing, from grand Georgian and Victorian villas to compact flats. Pond Road has listed 1830s Regency stucco villas and, beyond the church, four 1860s villas; Morden Road, laid out in 1852–3, has large yellow-brick villas, some divided into flats by the 1930s. Between 1958 and 1969 Span replaced eight houses with 240 houses and 181 flats; its hallmark was the short terrace, often grouped round a courtyard or set among shared gardens. Cator Estate South has two-storey brick houses of the 1930s.

An SE3 address can fall in Royal Greenwich or in Lewisham. The centre of Lee Road is the borough boundary, and Blackheath Village is split, with its east-side frontages in Royal Greenwich and the rest in Lewisham. Pond Road, wholly in Royal Greenwich, is split between two of its conservation areas: the council’s tree list places Nos 2–12 and 1–9b in Blackheath Park and the rest in the Blackheath conservation area, though that list’s conservation column is not always reliable. Ward names such as Blackheath Westcombe settle nothing either. Check the council’s map, the statutory and local lists, the Article 4 pages, your title or lease and the planning history for the exact address.

Local design and consent context

The council’s conservation page lists a Blackheath Park conservation area appraisal, with photo surveys and a boundary map, and a Blackheath appraisal in four parts with its own boundary map, both labelled 2013. Their text was written before summer 2010 and the photo surveys date their fieldwork to 2006, so treat them as the council’s appraisals listed as 2013 rather than recent studies. Each describes itself as a non-statutory planning document to be read with national, regional and local planning policy.

No Article 4 direction on householder alterations is listed for Royal Greenwich’s Blackheath or Blackheath Park conservation areas. The 2010 guidance said the council would consider one on removing front boundary walls in Blackheath and one on roofs and dormer windows on the Cator Estate, but a proposal to consider is not a direction. Two Royal Greenwich directions do apply. The first, borough-wide and in force from 27 September 2018, means planning permission is needed to turn a house into a small house in multiple occupation. The second, in force from 8 August 2023, removes the right to convert commercial (Class E) premises to homes within mapped centres, including Blackheath District Centre; it concerns shop and office units, not houses.

Lewisham lists four directions in its Blackheath conservation area: Belmont, Collins Street, 52 Lee Terrace and Quentin Road. It explains that its directions apply only to houses in use as a single dwelling, and that under a direction external changes to elevations visible from public viewpoints need planning permission. Their dates and the properties they cover are not set out here, so ask Lewisham whether your street is covered, as its conservation area page invites.

Access and site planning

Royal Greenwich limits general construction work to 8am–6pm on weekdays and 8am–1pm on Saturdays; noisy work is not allowed on Sundays or bank holidays, though the council may permit work outside these hours for good reason. Lewisham sets the same hours for its side of the Village. Royal Greenwich’s building-works page asks owners to tell neighbours beforehand what is planned and how long it will take. Tell the managing agent or freeholder as well, and decide early whether the household will stay in during the loudest stages.

Continue planning

The Blackheath area guide · House refurbishment across London · Hampstead Architecture & Planning · Hampstead Chartered Surveyors

Discuss your project

Tell us what you are planning in Blackheath

Share the property location, the work you have in mind and any drawings or permissions you already have.

£5M public liability, £10M employers’ liability and contractors’ all risks cover.

Design support: Hampstead Architecture & Planning.
Surveying support: Hampstead Chartered Surveyors.