Basement conversion in Greenwich

Investigate the structure and ground before design.

Start with the basement conversion brief

Distinguish an existing cellar conversion from excavation for a new basement. Record levels, drainage, access and the adjoining structures, and obtain project-specific ground and structural investigations before relying on a design or budget.

Plan temporary works, waterproofing, ventilation, escape and spoil removal as part of the same brief. Ask Hampstead Chartered Surveyors to assess party-wall matters and Hampstead Architecture & Planning to coordinate the design requirements. An area name alone does not establish ground conditions.

The local building context

West Greenwich was designated in March 1968 and stretches from the town centre, the pier, the Thames foreshore and Cutty Sark to the station, the Georgian and Victorian housing and the open heath at the edge of Blackheath. Its appraisal, listed by the council as 2013 but written before summer 2010, divides it into five character areas, from the Thames waterfront to Blackheath and the houses on the hill. Crooms Hill opens with an early Georgian terrace of 1721, and Gloucester Circus, designed by Michael Searles, was completed in 1809.

Hyde Vale climbs the escarpment to Blackheath with eighteenth- and nineteenth-century villas and town houses, among them the 1840s linked pairs at Nos 11–35 (odd numbers only) on the council’s local list. Behind St Alfege and north of the railway cutting, the streets are mostly plain Victorian cottages, with Randall Place substantially intact, and Greenwich South Street has Regency villas at Nos 71–85. Yellow London stock brick predominates, with Welsh slate roofs, iron railings set with privet hedges and low stock-brick walls, and granite cobble gutters along the kerbs.

Westcombe Park was designated on 6 February 2002 and grew piecemeal through speculative building in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, not as a planned estate. Its 2010 appraisal describes two- and three-storey Victorian and Edwardian houses following the contours: late-Victorian detached or paired villas on substantial plots, and Edwardian pairs and terraces with double-height bays, in yellow stock and red brick with slate or clay-tile roofs and terracotta detail. The land falls from about 50 metres above sea level at Westcombe Park Road to 30 metres at the railway.

Local design and consent context

The Westcombe Park character appraisal and management strategy were adopted in March 2010, eight years after designation. In 2010 the area held 91 locally listed buildings and 19 tree preservation orders. The strategy recommended redrawing the boundary to leave out Restell Close and its blocks of flats, including Woodland Heights and Norfolk House; whether that change was made is not stated, so check the current map.

Three documents make up the adopted plan: the London Plan 2021; the council’s own Core Strategy with Detailed Policies, which dates from 30 July 2014; and the Lee Neighbourhood Plan 2024 wherever it is relevant. Policy DH4 asks that development in the World Heritage Site buffer zone and setting does not harm the Site’s values, including views to and from it; DH(h) sets the test for conservation areas, that proposals preserve or enhance their character or appearance; and DH(a) applies to rear, side and other additions, including basements. The Urban Design Guide, adopted on 18 October 2023 as a supplementary planning document, adds detailed design advice.

The 2010 strategy sets a principle of repair rather than replacement, keeping as much original fabric as possible. The appraisal says old doors should be repaired rather than replaced, that re-covering roofs in natural slate or clay tiles is preferable, and that cast iron or extruded aluminium is preferable for rainwater goods. It also says roof extensions and extra floors should be resisted where they damage unaltered roofscapes and compromise views through the conservation area, that high-density redevelopment is inappropriate, and that front gardens were rapidly giving way to hardstandings.

Access and site planning

Royal Greenwich licenses the use of its streets. Skip hire companies, not householders, apply for the licence a skip on the road needs, which normally lasts 30 days; a skip on a driveway or front garden needs no licence. Scaffolding and hoardings on a public street or pavement need licences, usually for one calendar month at a time, and building materials on a street or footpath need a licence of their own. Apply for parking bay suspensions 10 working days ahead. On streets that climb the escarpment, such as Hyde Vale, settle skip and delivery positions early.

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The Greenwich area guide · Basement conversion across London · Hampstead Architecture & Planning · Hampstead Chartered Surveyors

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