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Herne Hill SE24 · Houses, flats & bathrooms

Renovations in Herne Hill

Edwardian semis, 1920s cottages and flats over shops

Lambeth’s 2012 statement treats the road called Herne Hill as the line between two councils, west side Lambeth and east side Southwark. Late Victorian and Edwardian red-brick semis line Stradella Road, the Sunray Estate’s cottages date from 1920 to 1922, and homes share the floors above some shop parades with offices. Before planning a house, a flat or one bathroom, find out which council, conservation area and estate scheme your address answers to.

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Start with your project

Choose the work your Herne Hill home needs

Choose a focused room renovation or a coordinated refurbishment. Each service page explains the scope in more detail and gives you a direct route to discuss the work.

01 Stradella semis and Sunray cottages

House refurbishment in Herne Hill

Stradella Road’s houses are mainly semi-detached, on two floors with attic rooms, in red brick with chamfered bays and two-pane sashes, and Southwark’s appraisal calls roof extensions generally unacceptable and full-width rear extensions normally so. On the Sunray Estate, the council’s appraisal for that estate finds dormers unlikely to be acceptable and, as a general guide, looks for rear extensions that stay within the line of the flank walls and no deeper than 3.5 metres, while allowing that a site may justify more.

  • Council and conservation area confirmed for the house number
  • Dulwich Estate Scheme approval checked
  • Stradella and Sunray extension guidance read early
Explore house refurbishment across London

02 Flats over parades and in mansion blocks

Flat renovation in Herne Hill

Above the Half Moon Lane and Herne Hill parades, Southwark’s appraisal finds two or three floors of offices and homes, and on the Lambeth side the 2012 statement records mostly commercial ground floors, often with storage or homes above, plus Herne Hill Mansions, a wholly residential mansion block. Because every property in Lambeth’s conservation area here is commercial premises or a flat, the statement says most external alterations already need planning permission. A refit inside the flat starts with the lease.

  • Lease and freeholder consent route confirmed
  • Shared stack and the floor over the shop surveyed
  • External changes flagged for planning permission
Explore flat refurbishment across London

03 Bathrooms in semis, cottages and flats

Bathroom renovation in Herne Hill

A standalone bathroom is welcome on its own: the family bathroom of a Stradella Road semi, one in a Sunray Estate cottage or a bathroom in a flat above a parade. Plumbing in a new bathroom can trigger Building Regulations, by GOV.UK’s account. On the Sunray Estate, a new bathroom window that would change how the house looks from the road falls within the 1987 Article 4 direction, so planning permission comes first.

  • Waste route to the stack measured
  • Fan outlet position agreed
  • Window change checked against the Sunray direction
Explore bathroom renovation across London

Real projects, clearly located

Ideas for your Herne Hill refurbishment

Photographs of our work elsewhere in London

Explore a whole house in Belsize Park, an apartment on Chesterfield Street in Mayfair and a bathroom in Pimlico. Use these examples to discuss the scale of work and finishes you have in mind for your own home.

Completed exterior at Belsize Park Gardens after refurbishment

Whole-house refurbishment · Belsize Park, NW3

Belsize Park Gardens, NW3

Full-house refurbishment in Belsize Park with basement, extension and loft works.

Conservation Area · 5 Storeys · Documented programme: 12 months

Documentary programme, not verified elapsed construction time or a timetable for another project.

View the project

More London project records: Carlton Lodge, Belgravia · King’s Road, Chelsea.

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Licence for Alteration
£10M
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Surveying via Hampstead Chartered Surveyors

Local knowledge with a purpose

Understand the building before changing it

Herne Hill straddles two boroughs: Lambeth’s 2012 statement places the west side of the road in Lambeth and the east side in Southwark, and Southwark’s 2013 Dulwich Supplementary Planning Document (SPD) says the town centre crosses the boundary, with much of it in Lambeth. Each council’s conservation areas therefore come with their own documents.

On the west side, Lambeth’s Herne Hill Conservation Area, first designated in December 2007, covers commercial and residential buildings of around 1900 near the road’s junctions with Half Moon Lane and Milkwood Road, in red or yellow stock brick under tile or slate. The 2012 statement finds commercial premises on the ground floor of the vast majority, often with storage or homes above; the one exception is Herne Hill Mansions, a wholly residential mansion block with a mature front garden. It notes that building east of the railway tended to be later, with detached and semi-detached houses in bigger gardens.

Lambeth Council: Herne Hill conservation area profile (CA61) · Lambeth Council: Herne Hill Conservation Area Statement, March 2012

Opposite, most of the adjoining properties on the Southwark side fall in the Stradella Road Conservation Area, designated on 26 September 2000, which covers Stradella and Winterbrook Roads and bordering properties on Burbage Road and Half Moon Lane. Its appraisal describes mostly single-family houses with a small number of flats: principally semi-detached, on two floors with attic rooms, in plain red brick laid in Flemish bond, originally roofed mainly in natural Welsh slate, with mostly double-hung timber sash windows. A pocket of post-war houses replaced war-damaged ones in Stradella Road.

Lambeth Council: Herne Hill Conservation Area Statement, March 2012 · Southwark Council: list of conservation areas · Southwark Council: Stradella Road Conservation Area Appraisal (undated)

Southwark’s Sunray Estate Conservation Area, designated on 20 January 2009, lies on Denmark Hill in North Dulwich and includes part of the road Herne Hill. Built between 1920 and 1922 as cottage housing, it is described by the council as a small garden suburb. Its appraisal sets rendered main streets against brick-faced enclaves of flats and attached houses, with larger detached and semi-detached houses on Red Post Hill, white-painted wooden casements with small panes, and privet hedges with wooden gates about one metre high.

Southwark Council: list of conservation areas · Southwark Council: Sunray Estate Conservation Area Appraisal (undated)

The first local check

Check the full address, not SE24, for the council

SE24 appears on both sides of the line: Southwark’s 1987 direction refers to the Sunray Estate, Herne Hill, London SE24, and Lambeth gives the Peabody Estate on Rosendale Road an SE24 address. Lambeth’s statement splits the road by side, but it does not say every address follows that rule, so do not infer the council from which side of the road a house stands on. A ward name such as Lambeth’s Herne Hill & Loughborough Junction says nothing about conservation areas, and the Dulwich Estate’s Scheme, which reaches Stradella Road and the Sunray Estate, is defined across Southwark, Lambeth and Lewisham, so ask the Estate whether it covers your address. Even Lambeth’s skip licence page tells applicants to check, with GOV.UK’s Find your local council service, that a location really is in Lambeth. Once the council is known, its conservation area map, the statutory list and its Article 4 pages come next, and after them the deeds or lease and earlier consents for the property.

Southwark Council: Sunray Estate Article 4 Direction, 15 May 1987 (text) · Lambeth Council: Peabody Estate conservation area designation report, 1999 · Lambeth Council: Herne Hill Conservation Area Statement, March 2012 · Southwark Council: Dulwich SPD, adopted 16 July 2013 · Lambeth: apply for a skip licence · The London Borough of Lambeth (Electoral Changes) Order 2022, Schedule · The Dulwich Estate: Scheme of Management, full legal document (November 1999 text) · Southwark Council: Stradella Road Conservation Area Appraisal (undated) · Southwark Council: Sunray Estate Conservation Area Appraisal (undated) · Find the council for the property · Southwark Council: list of conservation areas · Southwark Council: Article 4 directions · LEASE: alterations and home improvements

Separate checks, one coordinated brief

Planning, listed buildings, building control and leases

One approval does not settle every requirement. Identify the applicable routes before ordering work, and record who will prepare submissions, arrange inspections and provide the relevant completion information.

Planning permission and householder rights

When does Herne Hill work go to the council for planning permission?

Not for a refit that stays indoors, since purely internal change generally falls outside the meaning of development. Outside work is another matter. Part 1 householder permitted development rights cover houses only, never flats, and in Lambeth’s Herne Hill Conservation Area the 2012 statement notes that, every property being commercial premises or a flat, most external alterations need permission. For the Sunray Estate houses it schedules, the 1987 Article 4 direction brings alterations visible from the road, front porches and vehicle hardstandings under planning control. Southwark’s 2025 Householder SPD requires permission for any new or extended basement.

When planning permission is required · Householder permitted development technical guidance · Lambeth Council: Herne Hill Conservation Area Statement, March 2012 · Southwark Council: Sunray Estate Article 4 Direction, 15 May 1987 (text) · Southwark Council: Sunray Estate Article 4 direction · Southwark Council: Householder Development SPD 2025 (document)

Listed, locally listed and conservation area buildings

Which Herne Hill buildings are listed, and what does listing cover?

The Half Moon public house on Half Moon Lane is grade II* on the list, and Herne Hill Baptist Church nearby is grade II; in Brockwell Park, Brockwell Hall is grade II* and the Lido grade II. Southwark notes that listed building consent also covers internal alterations, such as taking out historic doors or fireplaces. Lambeth’s 2012 statement finds no listed buildings in its Herne Hill Conservation Area, but Lambeth locally lists the former fire station at 130 Herne Hill and the former sorting office at 132. On the Southwark side, the council says a Local List entry adds no development controls beyond normal planning requirements. The Sunray Estate has no individually listed buildings; its appraisal stresses that every original house is believed to survive.

Planning Data: Half Moon Public House (Grade II*, list entry 1385592) · Planning Data: Herne Hill Baptist Church (Grade II, list entry 1385593) · Planning Data: Brockwell Hall (Grade II*, list entry 1080511) · Planning Data: Brockwell Lido (Grade II, list entry 1390519) · Southwark Council: listed buildings · Lambeth Council: Herne Hill Conservation Area Statement, March 2012 · Southwark Council: locally listed buildings · Southwark Council: Sunray Estate Conservation Area Appraisal (undated)

Building Regulations

Is Building Regulations approval a separate step in Herne Hill?

Yes, on either side of the road. Southwark defines building regulations as covering the technical details of building work, and GOV.UK names installing a bathroom involving plumbing among the jobs that may need approval. A planning permission, a listed building consent, a landlord’s consent or the Dulwich Estate’s approval does not stand in for it; the Estate itself describes its approval as separate from council planning and building control. Decide early who will submit the application.

Southwark Council: get building regulations approval · When Building Regulations approval is needed · The Dulwich Estate: applications for building works

Freeholders, the Dulwich Estate and neighbours

Beyond the council, who can a Herne Hill job need consent from?

Above a parade or inside a mansion block, the lease comes before anything else: LEASE’s guidance is that a lease can make the landlord’s permission a condition of alterations regardless of what planning or Building Regulations have already allowed. Houses in the Stradella Road and Sunray Estate conservation areas are within the Dulwich Estate’s Scheme of Management, whose approval for changes to the external appearance is in addition to the council’s. The Party Wall Act comes in only for the work it defines, which would include cutting into the wall a Stradella Road pair shares.

LEASE: alterations and home improvements · Southwark Council: Stradella Road Conservation Area Appraisal (undated) · Southwark Council: Sunray Estate Conservation Area Appraisal (undated) · The Dulwich Estate: applications for building works · GOV.UK: party walls and building work · Party-wall work requiring notice

Local facts that affect the brief

Apply the controls to the work you actually need

Lambeth statement 2012; Brockwell draft 2020

Lambeth’s Herne Hill statement and nearby Lambeth conservation areas

Lambeth consulted on a draft Herne Hill Conservation Area Statement from 26 October to 23 November 2009 and agreed the final version on 26 March 2012; it is a material consideration on planning proposals. For windows it suggests internal secondary glazing where more insulation is needed, says double glazing should be avoided because it rarely matches the original detail, and advises against metal, unpainted hardwood or uPVC units. Brickwork should not be cleaned, rendered, painted or clad, and natural slate is preferred on roofs.

Lambeth Council: Herne Hill Conservation Area Statement, March 2012

Lambeth’s Brockwell Park Conservation Area, first designated on 10 December 1983 and extended on 24 March 1999, includes the park and the houses adjoining its south and east sides; its character appraisal exists only as a 2020 consultation draft, not an adopted document. Nearby Lambeth conservation areas include Poet’s Corner, designated on 12 October 1998, a mid-to-late 19th-century development of Chaucer, Spenser, Shakespeare and Milton Roads, and the Peabody Estate on Rosendale Road, designated on 24 March 1999, social housing from 1901 onwards in blocks of flats and terraced houses.

Lambeth Council: Brockwell Park conservation area profile (CA39) · Lambeth Council: Brockwell Park Conservation Area draft character appraisal, 2020 (consultation draft) · Lambeth Council: Poet’s Corner conservation area profile (CA52) · Lambeth Council: Poet’s Corner conservation area designation report, 1998 · Lambeth Council: Peabody Estate, Rosendale Road conservation area profile (CA53)

Southwark appraisals, undated

Southwark’s appraisals for Stradella Road and the Sunray Estate

Neither appraisal carries an adoption date; the Stradella Road one cites national guidance of March 2010, so it is no older than that. Given an unaltered roofscape, it treats roof extensions and changes to the basic roof form as generally unacceptable, full-width rear extensions as normally unacceptable and side extensions or link blocks that close the gaps between houses as unlikely to be acceptable. Aluminium or uPVC replacements should always be avoided, and further losses of front gardens, walls and planting will be resisted wherever possible. It also records a tree preservation order at 25 Burbage Road.

Southwark Council: Stradella Road Conservation Area Appraisal (undated)

The Sunray appraisal finds dormers and roof extensions unlikely to be acceptable on the estate’s repetitive roofscape, and two-storey rear extensions or ones not set back from side boundaries unlikely too. As a general guide it expects rear extensions to stay within the line of the flank walls and no deeper than 3.5 metres from the house, while noting that a particular site may justify exceeding some criteria. It prefers secondary glazing behind original windows to replacement double glazing, calls aluminium, uPVC and picture windows without glazing bars unsuitable, and finds front-garden hardstanding out of character.

Southwark Council: Sunray Estate Conservation Area Appraisal (undated)

Article 4: Sunray Estate 1987

The Sunray Estate direction and other Article 4 controls

Southwark’s Sunray Estate direction is dated 15 May 1987, and the appraisal says it was confirmed on 13 November 1987, affecting 252 properties. It brings under planning control alterations to a house, window changes included, that would alter its appearance from a public highway; rendering, stone or cladding on external walls; front porches; and vehicle hardstandings. Gates, fences and walls are controlled only for the properties in its Part 1, while Herne Hill Nos 1 to 31 (odd) fall in Part 2. The appraisal also lists painting external walls, which the direction’s text does not mention, so ask Southwark.

Southwark Council: Sunray Estate Article 4 direction · Southwark Council: Sunray Estate Article 4 Direction, 15 May 1987 (text) · Southwark Council: Sunray Estate Conservation Area Appraisal (undated)

There is no Article 4 direction for Stradella Road on Southwark’s list; the one at the corner of Croxted Road and Norwood Road in SE24 deals with telecommunications, not homes. On the Lambeth side, the 2020 draft for Brockwell Park says no building there is subject to a direction, and the 2012 Herne Hill statement explains that most external alterations already need permission because the buildings are commercial premises or flats. Confirm the current position with each council.

Southwark Council: Article 4 directions · Southwark Council: Croxted Road and Norwood Road communications equipment Article 4 direction · Lambeth Council: Brockwell Park Conservation Area draft character appraisal, 2020 (consultation draft) · Lambeth Council: Herne Hill Conservation Area Statement, March 2012

Southwark Plan 2022; Lambeth Local Plan 2021

The two adopted plans and their householder guidance

For a Southwark address, decisions rest on the Southwark Plan 2022 (adopted 23 February 2022, running to 2036) and the Householder Development SPD that cabinet adopted on 7 July 2025, which requires planning permission for any new basement or basement extension and warns that an Article 4 direction can tighten the rules on new windows and doors. The council’s 2013 Dulwich SPD says Herne Hill has a few small development opportunities that need to respect conservation area protection.

Southwark Council: Southwark Plan 2022, adopted 23 February 2022 · Southwark Council: Householder Development SPD, adopted 7 July 2025 · Southwark Council: Householder Development SPD 2025 (document) · Southwark Council: Dulwich SPD, adopted 16 July 2013

For a Lambeth address, the Lambeth Local Plan 2021 has been the adopted plan since 22 September 2021, with a replacement now in preparation. Lambeth’s Design Guide, an SPD since 8 August 2023, generally supports dormers on a back roof slope; on a front slope it resists any that are not a feature of the building type or group (Part 4). It also expects most basement schemes to need planning permission (Part 5).

Lambeth Local Plan 2021, adopted 22 September 2021 · Lambeth: new Local Plan, scoping consultation 1 September to 13 October 2026 (not policy) · Lambeth: supplementary planning documents, including the Design Guide SPD adopted 8 August 2023 · Lambeth Design Guide SPD, Part 4: building alterations, extensions and retrofit · Lambeth Design Guide SPD, Part 5: basements

Replacement windows on a Sunray cottage, a dormer on a Stradella Road roof and excavation for a basement are all hard to put right after the event, so settle the consents for the exact address first and keep them apart: planning permission and any Article 4 control from whichever council covers the address, listed building consent, the appraisal or statement for the area, building control, the freeholder’s consent under a lease, the Dulwich Estate’s Scheme approval where it applies, Party Wall notice for work the Act covers, and six weeks’ notice of conservation-area tree work. Lambeth warns that knocking down a building in one of its conservation areas without consent first is a criminal offence.

When planning permission is required · Southwark Council: Sunray Estate Article 4 Direction, 15 May 1987 (text) · Southwark Council: listed buildings · When Building Regulations approval is needed · LEASE: alterations and home improvements · The Dulwich Estate: applications for building works · GOV.UK: party walls and building work · Southwark Council: trees, tree preservation orders and conservation areas · Lambeth: trees in conservation areas · Lambeth Council: carrying out building work in a conservation area

Local guidance checked . The linked sources help you prepare a brief; requirements depend on the address, building and complete proposal.

From retained details to shared services

Sashes and casements, flats over shops, semis, hedges, basements and insulation

Sashes, casements and secondary glazing

The window you start from differs street by street: two-pane timber sashes in Stradella Road, small-paned white wooden casements on the Sunray Estate. Both Southwark appraisals reject aluminium or uPVC, and the Sunray one prefers secondary glazing behind the original window to replacement double glazing, as Lambeth’s 2012 statement does for its Herne Hill area. On the Sunray houses the direction schedules, a window change visible from the road needs planning permission, and on Estate freeholds the Scheme’s approval too.

Southwark Council: Stradella Road Conservation Area Appraisal (undated) · Southwark Council: Sunray Estate Conservation Area Appraisal (undated) · Lambeth Council: Herne Hill Conservation Area Statement, March 2012 · Southwark Council: Sunray Estate Article 4 Direction, 15 May 1987 (text) · The Dulwich Estate: applications for building works

Bathrooms in flats over shops

A flat above a parade may sit over a shop, an office or storage, so the route for waste and extract has to work with the commercial floor below as well as the lease. Trace the stack, establish who owns it and read the alterations clause before moving a bathroom. In Lambeth’s Herne Hill Conservation Area, a new outlet on the outside wall of a flat is an external alteration of the kind the 2012 statement says usually needs permission. Building control may also have to approve the new waste and supply pipes.

Southwark Council: Stradella Road Conservation Area Appraisal (undated) · Lambeth Council: Herne Hill Conservation Area Statement, March 2012 · LEASE: alterations and home improvements · When Building Regulations approval is needed

Semis, attached groups and structure

Each Stradella Road semi has a neighbour on one side, and the Sunray Estate’s enclaves include attached groups and flats, so work on a dividing wall can bring in the Party Wall Act. Our structural engineers check what each wall and floor carries before anything is removed. Outside the house, the Stradella appraisal treats side extensions or link blocks that close the gaps between houses as unlikely to be acceptable, and the Sunray appraisal finds two-storey rear extensions unlikely to be acceptable.

Southwark Council: Stradella Road Conservation Area Appraisal (undated) · Southwark Council: Sunray Estate Conservation Area Appraisal (undated) · GOV.UK: party walls and building work · Party-wall work requiring notice

Hedges, gates and front gardens

On the Sunray Estate, privet hedges and wooden gates about one metre high are, in the appraisal’s words, an important feature of its character, and hardstanding in front gardens is not appropriate. The 1987 direction controls vehicle hardstandings for the houses it schedules, and gates, fences and walls for those in its Part 1. In Stradella Road, further losses of front gardens, walls and planting will be resisted wherever possible. Check a new path, gate or parking space against this guidance first.

Southwark Council: Sunray Estate Conservation Area Appraisal (undated) · Southwark Council: Sunray Estate Article 4 Direction, 15 May 1987 (text) · Southwark Council: Stradella Road Conservation Area Appraisal (undated)

Basements, gardens and trees

Every new or extended basement on the Southwark side needs planning permission and is limited to a single storey below ground, under the 2025 Householder SPD. On the Lambeth side, Part 5 of the Design Guide says most basement development requires planning permission. Trees matter as well: the Stradella appraisal records a tree preservation order at 25 Burbage Road, and both councils require six weeks’ notice before work on a tree in a conservation area. Digging close to next door’s foundations can also require Party Wall notice.

Southwark Council: Householder Development SPD 2025 (document) · Lambeth Design Guide SPD, Part 5: basements · Southwark Council: Stradella Road Conservation Area Appraisal (undated) · Southwark Council: trees, tree preservation orders and conservation areas · Lambeth: trees in conservation areas · Party-wall work requiring notice

Walls, roofs and insulation

Plan warmth and ventilation as a whole before choosing products, and check every external change against the area’s guidance. Lambeth’s statement says brickwork should not be cleaned, rendered, painted or clad, and the Sunray direction brings rendering, stone or cladding of external walls under planning control, so raise any external insulation with the council early. Roof coverings differ: mainly plain clay tile on the Sunray Estate, mainly natural Welsh slate originally in Stradella Road, natural slate preferred in Lambeth’s area.

Lambeth Council: Herne Hill Conservation Area Statement, March 2012 · Southwark Council: Sunray Estate Article 4 Direction, 15 May 1987 (text) · Southwark Council: Sunray Estate Conservation Area Appraisal (undated) · Southwark Council: Stradella Road Conservation Area Appraisal (undated) · Lambeth Design Guide SPD, Part 4: building alterations, extensions and retrofit

A practical plan for the street and building

Working hours, deliveries and shared access

Skip, scaffold and parking applications

Check the council before booking anything for the street, since Southwark and Lambeth follow different rules. In Southwark, the skip company applies for the licence at least 7 days before delivery, a scaffolding or hoarding licence is applied for at least 15 working days ahead, and a parking bay suspension needs seven days’ notice. In Lambeth, only the skip company can obtain a skip licence, a highways licence covers scaffolding, hoarding, fencing, gantries and stored materials, and a standard suspension, including one for a skip, needs 10 or more working days’ notice.

Southwark Council: skip licence · Southwark Council: apply for a scaffolding or hoarding licence · Southwark Council: parking bay suspension · Lambeth: apply for a skip licence · Lambeth Council: apply for a highways licence · Lambeth: parking suspension notice periods

Working hours in Southwark and in Lambeth

In Southwark, noisy works may run between 8am and 6pm on weekdays and 9am and 2pm on Saturdays; in Lambeth the weekday hours are the same but Saturday work must stop at 1pm, having started no earlier than 8am, and both councils rule out Sundays and bank holidays. Southwark’s Section 61 consent for noisy demolition or construction must be sought at least 28 days before works start. Over a shop or in a mansion block, agree access and quiet periods with the building manager, and give neighbours the dates of the loudest work.

Southwark Council: construction noise and permitted hours · Southwark Council: apply to do noisy work (Section 61 consent) · Lambeth: building noise and permitted hours

A clear scope before a price

Plan your renovation budget and quotation

A fair comparison needs every builder pricing from the same survey and the same schedule of work. In Herne Hill, note on that schedule which council the address falls under, because licences, hours and conservation guidance change at the borough boundary, and keep windows, roof coverings, hedges and gates apart from the rooms where the Sunray direction or the Dulwich Estate’s Scheme may govern them.

Existing condition

Record the building as it stands, with drawings and photographs that every bidder receives, so no one prices a different starting point.

  • Floor plans with heights and window types
  • Roof covering and front boundary recorded
  • Shop or flat below and above identified

Rooms, finishes and services

Go through the home a room at a time, naming removals, new fittings and the finish wanted on each surface and on the joinery.

  • Bathroom and kitchen fittings listed
  • Stack, waste and extract routes shown
  • Client-supplied items marked

Approvals and site arrangements

Show which approvals and licences the work needs, from which council or body, and the point in the programme by which each must be granted.

  • Council and Article 4 position recorded
  • Scheme, lease and Party Wall consents scheduled
  • Skip, scaffold and suspension applications timed

Written allowances and sequence

Write down the terms before work starts: provisional sums for hidden conditions, what each price leaves out and the order of the trades.

  • Each provisional sum described
  • VAT shown the same way by every bidder
  • Building control inspections and sign-off included

A Herne Hill postcode adds no fixed surcharge and sets no standard programme; what the work costs and how long it takes depend on the building and the scope. Ask each builder to confirm the VAT treatment and to list professional fees that are not included, such as drawings, structural calculations or application costs. A standalone bathroom is quoted on its own, from a survey of that one room and the fittings you choose.

From an idea to a workable scope

Prepare your brief and renovation budget

  1. Address and type of home

    Begin with the address and the number of the house or flat, since which side of Herne Hill a home stands on does not by itself settle the council. Tell us if it is a house, a flat above a shop, a mansion-block flat or part of a converted house, and add photographs of the front, the back and the rooms concerned.

  2. Papers that help

    Collect what you can find: the deeds or lease, earlier planning decisions, completion paperwork from building control and any old drawings. For a house in the Stradella Road or Sunray Estate conservation areas, include any approvals from the Dulwich Estate. For a flat, give the managing agent’s or freeholder’s contact details and any building rules on works.

  3. Decided items and open items

    Separate the choices you have made, like a chosen suite, from those that hang on the survey, our structural engineer’s findings or a council or Scheme decision. Each open item should be priced by every builder as a named allowance, using the same wording.

  4. Timing and who does what

    Say by when the work must finish, which rooms the household cannot do without and whether a move out for the dustiest stage is likely. Finally, decide who takes on each application: skip and scaffold licences, bay suspensions, Section 61, tree notices, the Scheme and building control.

Ready to take the next step? Send the property address and a short outline of what you want to change.

Discuss your Herne Hill project

Our Hampstead base, serving Herne Hill

Talk to our Finchley Road studio

Our studio is in Hampstead on Finchley Road, at NW3 6DN. We serve Herne Hill from this office. Bring us the practical questions about your house, flat or bathroom and the result you want to achieve.

Contact the studio to discuss your brief and arrange the next step. If you already have drawings, a lease or planning correspondence, tell us what is available.

Book a free feasibility visit
Hampstead Renovations
Unit 3, Palace Court
250 Finchley Road
London NW3 6DN

020 7101 3168
contact@hampsteadrenovations.co.uk

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Questions before you begin

Renovating in Herne Hill: practical answers

Can I have only the bathroom renovated in my Herne Hill home?

Yes: one bathroom on its own counts as a standalone job, in a Herne Hill house or in a flat above a parade, and nothing else need change. Before we visit, it helps to know which floor the bathroom is on and what lies under it, particularly a shop or office, where the waste seems to leave and how the room is ventilated; rough measurements and a few photographs are plenty. On the Sunray Estate, mention any plan to change a window, as the 1987 direction may apply.

Southwark Council: Sunray Estate Article 4 Direction, 15 May 1987 (text)

Which conservation area is my Herne Hill address in?

That depends on the exact address, not just the side of the road. Lambeth’s Herne Hill Conservation Area covers part of the west side around the Half Moon Lane and Milkwood Road junctions; most properties opposite are in Southwark’s Stradella Road Conservation Area; and Southwark’s Sunray Estate area includes part of the road Herne Hill. Lambeth’s Brockwell Park area takes in houses on the park’s south and east edges. Look the exact address up on the right council’s map.

Lambeth Council: Herne Hill conservation area profile (CA61) · Lambeth Council: Herne Hill Conservation Area Statement, March 2012 · Southwark Council: list of conservation areas · Lambeth Council: Brockwell Park conservation area profile (CA39)

What does the Sunray Estate Article 4 direction control?

For the houses it lists, the 1987 direction requires planning permission for alterations, window changes included, that would change a house’s appearance from the road, for rendering, stone or cladding on external walls, for front porches and for vehicle hardstandings; gates, fences and walls are controlled for the Part 1 properties only. The appraisal adds painting of external walls, which the direction’s text omits, so check with Southwark. None of the estate’s buildings is individually listed.

Southwark Council: Sunray Estate Article 4 Direction, 15 May 1987 (text) · Southwark Council: Sunray Estate Article 4 direction · Southwark Council: Sunray Estate Conservation Area Appraisal (undated)

Can I fit double glazing in a Herne Hill house?

Look at secondary glazing first. Lambeth’s 2012 statement for its conservation area suggests internal secondary glazing where more insulation is needed and advises avoiding double glazing, the Sunray appraisal prefers secondary glazing behind the original windows, and both Southwark appraisals reject aluminium and uPVC. In the window table of Southwark’s 2025 Householder SPD, a like-for-like replacement in a conservation area generally needs no planning permission, while for new windows an Article 4 direction, as on the Sunray Estate, may add restrictions. On Estate freeholds, replacement windows also need the Scheme’s approval.

Lambeth Council: Herne Hill Conservation Area Statement, March 2012 · Southwark Council: Sunray Estate Conservation Area Appraisal (undated) · Southwark Council: Stradella Road Conservation Area Appraisal (undated) · Southwark Council: Householder Development SPD 2025 (document) · The Dulwich Estate: applications for building works

Who must approve a refit of my flat above a Herne Hill shop?

The freeholder may have the first say, since a lease can require the landlord’s permission for alterations and, LEASE explains, a council approval does not remove that requirement. Indoor changes seldom involve the planners, yet Lambeth’s 2012 statement says most external alterations in its Herne Hill Conservation Area need permission because the buildings are commercial premises or flats. Building control may need to approve new bathroom plumbing, and the business underneath may need notice for access.

LEASE: alterations and home improvements · When planning permission is required · Lambeth Council: Herne Hill Conservation Area Statement, March 2012 · When Building Regulations approval is needed

Could the layout of a Herne Hill semi be opened up, or its bathroom moved?

Generally yes, once the structure is understood. Our structural engineers work out the load on a wall before any of it goes, and cutting into the wall shared with the other half of a Stradella Road pair can mean Party Wall notice. Moving a bathroom depends on getting its waste back to a stack at a workable gradient; in a flat the stack may serve neighbours and fall under the lease. The new plumbing may need building control approval.

GOV.UK: party walls and building work · Party-wall work requiring notice · LEASE: alterations and home improvements · When Building Regulations approval is needed

Can a Herne Hill house have a basement added?

Only with planning permission on the Southwark side: the 2025 Householder SPD requires it for every new or extended basement and limits basements to a single storey below ground. Lambeth’s Design Guide Part 5 says most basement development on its side needs permission too. Check trees early, since the Stradella appraisal records a tree preservation order at 25 Burbage Road and conservation-area trees need six weeks’ notice, and allow for Party Wall notice near a neighbour’s foundations.

Southwark Council: Householder Development SPD 2025 (document) · Lambeth Design Guide SPD, Part 5: basements · Southwark Council: Stradella Road Conservation Area Appraisal (undated) · Southwark Council: trees, tree preservation orders and conservation areas · Lambeth: trees in conservation areas · Party-wall work requiring notice

Do Southwark and Lambeth allow the same noisy-work hours in Herne Hill?

It depends on the council. Weekdays are 8am to 6pm in both boroughs. On Saturdays, Southwark allows noisy works from 9am until 2pm and Lambeth building work from 8am until 1pm, and Sundays and bank holidays are off limits in both. Southwark asks for Section 61 consent for noisy demolition or construction at least 28 days before work starts. Flats above shops may have their own rules on access and quiet times in the lease.

Southwark Council: construction noise and permitted hours · Southwark Council: apply to do noisy work (Section 61 consent) · Lambeth: building noise and permitted hours · LEASE: alterations and home improvements

What should a Herne Hill quotation include?

Besides the rooms, look for the outside items that need permits here: the skip licence, which the skip company applies for, a scaffolding or highways licence and parking suspensions with the right notice for the council concerned. Check that any work to windows, hedges or gates is listed too. Underneath those, the figures only compare if all bidders worked from one written scope and treated hidden work, VAT and fees alike.

Southwark Council: skip licence · Lambeth: apply for a skip licence · Southwark Council: apply for a scaffolding or hoarding licence · Lambeth Council: apply for a highways licence · Southwark Council: parking bay suspension · Lambeth: parking suspension notice periods

Where is your studio, and how do we begin on a Herne Hill home?

Our studio is at Unit 3, Palace Court, 250 Finchley Road, London NW3 6DN, and we serve Herne Hill from this office. Write or call with the address, the rooms in question and a handful of photographs; send the lease or earlier approvals later, once the scope is settled. The next step is to book a free feasibility visit.

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