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Brook Green W6 and W14 · Bathroom renovation

Bathroom renovation in Brook Green

One room, in listed villas, mansion blocks or terraces

Bathrooms here are fitted into Grade II villas, mansion-block flats, terrace houses and rooms below ground. This page sets out what the two conservation area profiles say about vents, flues and outlets on visible walls, what the council has decided on bathrooms in listed houses and in one basement, and how building control, flood protection and, for a flat, the lease bear on a single room.

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Serving Brook Green from our Hampstead studio · NW3 6DN
020 7101 3168

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Bathroom renovation in Brook Green at a glance

On Brook Green’s period fronts, what shows outside is often the hardest part of a new bathroom. The 2004 Brook Green profile asks that roof-lights and vents be as discreet as possible, and says they will be refused if visually obtrusive when another position is available; air-conditioning units and enclosed water tanks on roofs should be avoided too. Its guidelines cite the replaced Unitary Development Plan and predate the Local Plan and Planning Guidance SPD adopted in February 2018, which now set the council’s policy. Fix the extract, waste and vent routes before the room layout.

LBHF: Brook Green Conservation Area character profile, approved 8 March 2004 · LBHF Local Plan 2018: policy document · LBHF Planning Guidance SPD, adopted 28 February 2018

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

Approved guide prices

What does a bathroom renovation cost in Brook Green?

A typical bathroom renovation in Brook Green costs £10,000–£30,000 excluding VAT. The final price depends on the scope, the specification and the complexity of the room, and a fixed written price follows the visit and the design.

Scope of workTypical cost
Typical bathroom renovation£10,000–£30,000

The figure excludes VAT. A standalone bathroom gets its own room-specific quotation; try the cost calculator for a first figure.

The buildings

Bathrooms in Brook Green’s listed houses and below ground

The council’s register records consents for bathroom work in listed houses here, and its 2016 flood risk assessment records a past flood that reached Brook Green. Each decision is one case at its date, not a rule for other homes.

In the Grade II terrace at 8 to 46 (even) Rowan Road, the register shows listed building consent granted in 1995 for internal alterations to install a shower room in one house, and in 2000 for an internal and external refurbishment of another that included a ground-floor shower and WC. At one of the listed villas at 3 to 11 (odd) Bute Gardens, consent in 2017 for a single-storey rear extension included new partitioning to the first-floor bathroom. The council’s listed buildings page explains why: a building is listed in its entirety, including any object or structure fixed to it.

LBHF: planning, building control and licensing applications search · Planning Data: 8–46 Rowan Road, Grade II, list entry 1192849 · Planning Data: 3 Bute Gardens, Grade II, list entry 1191600 · Planning Data: 5 and 7 Bute Gardens, Grade II, list entry 1079807 · Planning Data: 9 Bute Gardens, Grade II, list entry 1079808 · Planning Data: 11 Bute Gardens, Grade II, list entry 1358565 · LBHF: statutory listed buildings

The council’s 2016 flood risk assessment, an evidence document rather than policy, records that in July 2007 intense rainfall exceeded the capacity of the drainage systems, causing overland flow and ponding in low-lying areas, and names properties in Brook Green among those affected; it says such records are largely anecdotal. The 2018 SPD adds Thames Water evidence that W6, W12 and W14 all had recorded incidents of sewer flooding in the ten years before it, with SW6 the most susceptible district. Neither record places a risk on any particular street.

LBHF: Strategic Flood Risk Assessment, final, December 2016 (evidence document) · LBHF Planning Guidance SPD, adopted 28 February 2018

Permissions and local rules

Flues, listed rooms and a basement WC: what the records show

Flues on a period front

Where can a boiler flue go?

The 2004 profile asks that gas flues, air-conditioning units, alarm boxes and similar fittings on external walls be placed away from important architectural details. The 2017 Lakeside / Sinclair / Blythe Road profile regrets that the whole front of Grosvenor Court, a block of flats on Irving Road, has been painted, with boiler flues projecting through it. In 2023 the council permitted a boiler flue at the front of a flat on Lakeside Road, finding it acceptable in appearance and in keeping with the property, the street and that conservation area, on condition it was painted black. One decision, not a rule.

LBHF: Brook Green Conservation Area character profile, approved 8 March 2004 · LBHF: Lakeside / Sinclair / Blythe Road Conservation Area character profile, adopted by Cabinet July 2017 · LBHF: planning, building control and licensing applications search

Moving a bathroom in a listed house

What did a recent listed building consent cover?

At one of the listed houses at 8 to 46 (even) Rowan Road, the council granted listed building consent in 2024 for works that included moving the upstairs bathroom into a bedroom, so that the drainage pipes on the front of the house were no longer needed, with re-plumbing and re-wiring. A condition required a method statement for the internal works, and for how the building’s fabric would be protected, to be approved before work could begin. It is one decision at its date, not a rule for the terrace.

LBHF: planning, building control and licensing applications search · Planning Data: 8–46 Rowan Road, Grade II, list entry 1192849

A WC below ground

What flood measures came with a basement WC?

In 2022 the council approved enlarging the existing basement of a house on Addison Gardens, within its footprint, to include a WC among other rooms; the officer recorded the site as within Flood Zones 2 and 3. The approved flood risk assessment provided a structural waterproofing system with an alarmed sump pump and a pumped sewer surcharge protection device on any new basement plumbing, and a condition required all flood prevention and mitigation measures to be installed before the basement could be used. That is one decision at its date.

LBHF: planning, building control and licensing applications search

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

What the work covers

What a Brook Green bathroom renovation covers

Where the waste leaves the building

Before a layout is fixed, the pipework on every outside wall is recorded and the route to the soil stack is traced, including any run across the front of the house. Where a different layout would take pipes off a front or side wall, that option is drawn and priced beside the simpler one, so the choice is made knowingly rather than left to the plumber on site.

Waterproofing and the room below

Every wet floor and wall is tanked before tiling, with upstands at the edges and sealed pipe entries, and the floor is checked for movement first. In a flat, the ceiling of the home below is inspected and any old leak marks are recorded before work starts, and the shut-off points for the flat and the shared riser are agreed with the managing agent.

Electrics and inspections

The council’s building control guide says work is required by law to be inspected and lists drainage and Part P electrical safety among the stages; as a general rule a day’s notice is needed, but drainage inspections, among others, need five days. Electrical work by a contractor in a government-approved competent person scheme can skip the council’s process; the council then receives only an electronic notification, not the certificate, so keep the certificate with the house papers.

LBHF: guide to building control applications

How we work

How we run a Brook Green bathroom renovation

  1. Visit

    We see the room, trace where the stack runs, and check which floor it is on and what lies beneath.

  2. Survey

    The drainage falls, the extract route and the floor build-up at the door are measured before a layout is drawn.

  3. Design

    The layout, waterproofing and storage are drawn; where a floor or wall changes, our own architects and structural engineers design it.

  4. Price

    You receive a fixed written price once the design and fittings are agreed.

  5. Installation

    The dates, and any days without a working bathroom, are agreed before work starts.

  6. Handover

    Testing, then care notes for the finishes and fittings. Completed work carries a 12-month defects-rectification period under the JCT contract terms.

Real projects, clearly located

Examples of our bathroom renovation work elsewhere in London

None of these projects is in Brook Green. 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. Say what the building is

    Say whether the building is listed or on the council’s local register, which conservation area the current map puts it in and, for a W14 address, whether the council has confirmed it is in Hammersmith and Fulham. Mention any earlier bathroom work and whether it had consent.

  2. Say what must keep working

    Tell us whether another bathroom or WC will stay usable during the works, and whether anyone in the household needs level access, grab rails or a shower in place of a bath, so that any adaptation is built in from the start rather than added later.

  3. Note any past water problems

    Mention any leak, damp patch or sewer backing up that you know of, especially in rooms below ground, and whether a non-return valve or pump is already fitted and when it was last serviced. The answers decide how far the drainage work reaches beyond the room.

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

Bathroom renovation in Brook Green: questions

Can I bring you just one bathroom to renovate in Brook Green?

Yes. A standalone bathroom renovation is welcome, whether the room is in a listed villa, a mansion-block flat or a terrace house. We look at that one room within its building: where its water drains, where its air and any flue leave, whether the floor or the home below needs protecting, and which consents the address brings. The quotation then covers that room alone.

Does the council set a minimum bathroom size for converted flats?

For flats created by conversion, Hammersmith and Fulham’s 2018 SPD says each room should meet a minimum net floor area, and for the bathroom that is 3.7 square metres in family and smaller flats alike. It also asks that, where practicable, the size and shape of rooms comply with the Building Regulations standards for accessible and adaptable dwellings and for wheelchair user dwellings. These standards are written for conversions, so they matter most where rooms are being created or reshaped.

LBHF Planning Guidance SPD, adopted 28 February 2018

Should a bathroom go through a Building Notice or full plans?

The council’s building control guide recommends the Building Notice route for very small works. For complex building work, or if you have little experience of construction, it advises against one, since that route puts more of the onus of making sure the work complies on you. A bathroom that moves drains or walls, or sits below ground, is worth discussing with the building control team before you choose a route.

LBHF: guide to building control applications

Can I get help adapting a bathroom for a disabled person?

The council’s Disabled Facilities Grant requires, among other conditions, that the disabled person be registered as disabled with Community Services or meet the criteria to be; that the applicant own and occupy the home, or be a private landlord, a private tenant or a Registered Social Landlord’s tenant; and that an occupational therapist recommend the work. A means test sets any contribution, except for under-18s, and the yearly budget is limited. No grant is promised before written formal approval, and earlier work cannot be paid for. Council-owned homes have their own adaptations policy.

LBHF: Disabled Facilities Grant · LBHF: private housing grants · LBHF: housing services aids and adaptations policy, council-owned homes, last reviewed December 2024

Who deals with a sewer backing up into a bathroom?

According to the council’s floods page, sewer flooding is more likely to reach people living in a basement flat, with water rising through toilets, baths, showers, sinks, drains and manholes, and it directs residents to Thames Water for sewer flooding. Its 2016 flood risk assessment, an evidence document, adds that some basements may not drain by gravity and then need a pumped installation, and that non-return valves must be installed with care and maintained regularly.

LBHF: floods, with the Strategic Flood Risk Assessment · LBHF: Strategic Flood Risk Assessment, final, December 2016 (evidence document)

What if I am a Hammersmith and Fulham Council leaseholder?

Only the council’s own leaseholders are covered by these rules. Its form requires a licence where work changes the internal layout or touches the plumbing, gas or electrics, combining a bathroom with a WC being one example, and requires Building Control clearance for such work, above all where it affects a kitchen, a bathroom or the means of escape, given the fire risk. Consent and competent contractors are also required for electrical work in a bathroom. Where relevant it asks for full plans approval, not a building notice, and it will not accept DIY.

LBHF: alterations to council properties, for council leaseholders and secure tenants, with the consent form (Rev. 5.1, 15 October 2026)

How much does a bathroom renovation cost in Brook Green?

A typical bathroom renovation in Brook Green costs £10,000–£30,000 excluding VAT. The final price depends on the scope, specification and complexity of the project. We give a fixed written price after the visit and the design.

Book a free feasibility visit

Talk to us about your Brook Green bathroom

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

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

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