Flat
refurbishment
in Earl's Court, SW5
Architects, Engineers, Surveyors & Builders Under One Roof.
One Studio. One Contract. One Team.
RICS surveying support for party walls, licence to alter, conservation-area works & neighbour mattersWe've completed flat refurbishments across Earl’s Court Mansions, Nevern Mansions, Philbeach Mansions - mansion blocks and period conversions where freeholder approvals, acoustic compliance and access logistics need handling properly.
Earl's Court is built around its great garden squares. Nevern Square and Philbeach Gardens carry sweeping stuccoed Italianate terraces, while Penywern Road and Earl's Court Square add tall white-fronted houses, most of them long divided into flats. The area sits within the Earl's Court conservation areas, and it holds one of the highest concentrations of period conversions anywhere in the Royal Borough.
That makes flat refurbishment the characteristic work here, and it is governed by both RBKC and the freeholders. In the leasehold conversions we handle structure, acoustics and freeholder consent together, with party-wall awards where openings pass through shared period walls. RBKC Article 4 directions withdraw permitted-development rights for small external changes on named streets, so windows, doors and roof coverings need consent, and reuniting two flats back into a single house, restoring the stucco as it goes, is increasingly common.
A full two-bedroom flat refurbishment runs £60,000 to £110,000 excluding VAT, and each Earl's Court flat is assessed within that range by its own building, lease and access. The conversions we refurbish group around Nevern Square, Philbeach Gardens, Penywern Road and Earl's Court Square.
Flat Refurbishment in Earl's Court: Applied to the Local Stock
RBKC Article 4 directions withdraw permitted development rights for small-scale external changes - windows, front doors, boundary walls and roof coverings - on Earl's Court streets including Earls Court Square, Eardley Crescent, Nevern Square and Philbeach Gardens. RBKC has adopted conservation area appraisals covering Earl's Court: Earl's Court Square (adopted 6 June 2016), Earl's Court Village (16 February 2017), Nevern Square (4 October 2018) and Philbeach (4 October 2018). Earl’s Court sits in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, within the Earl’s Court conservation areas, on grand stuccoed garden squares.
Sources: RBKC, Article 4 Directions in Conservation Areas (2026); RBKC, Conservation area appraisals and proposal statements (2026); RBKC conservation area maps (register of the borough's 38 conservation areas) (2026)
What a Flat Refurbishment Involves
Refurbishing a flat means renovating inside a building you share — so the job is as much about leases, neighbours and building rules as it is about kitchens and finishes. We plan every project around the consents your lease demands and the protocols your block expects, then deliver the technical work under one fixed-price contract. A typical scope covers the elements below.
- Licence to Alter — lease review, application pack and freeholder’s surveyor queries handled on your behalf
- Acoustic build-up — separating floors and walls upgraded to meet Building Regulations Part E and any stricter freeholder schedule
- Wet-room tanking — certified waterproofing beneath every bathroom, flood-tested before tiling and covered by a 12-month defects period
- Rewire & replumb — new circuits, pipework and heating, coordinated with the building’s risers and stacks
- Layout changes — internal openings engineered, approved by building control and cleared with the freeholder where the lease allows
- Kitchens & bathrooms — designed, supplied and fitted to the specification tier you select
- Period detail — cornicing, sash windows and fireplaces retained and repaired in conversion flats
- Block protocols — lift protection, booked deliveries, restricted noisy hours and daily cleaning of communal areas
How We Run Your Project
Six stages, sequenced so freeholder consent never holds up the start on site.
- Survey & lease review — we measure the flat, inspect the services and read your lease to identify exactly which consents apply.
- Design & consents — our architects develop the layout while the Licence to Alter application runs in parallel, not afterwards.
- Fixed-price contract — an itemised specification agreed in full, with the acoustic and tanking details written in.
- Strip-out & first fix — soft strip, structural openings, cabling, pipework and the acoustic carcass, all removed and delivered through agreed routes.
- Second fix & finishes — kitchen, bathrooms, joinery, flooring and decoration.
- Testing & handover — snagging, certification and reinstatement of any communal areas before the keys come back to you.
Read the full flat refurbishment guide for flat typologies, specification tiers and the Licence to Alter process in detail.
Almost every leasehold flat needs formal freeholder consent — a Licence to Alter — before structural work, new flooring or services alterations can begin, and proceeding without one puts your lease at risk. Building Regulations apply on top: Part E sound insulation between dwellings, electrical and heating sign-off, and fire safety where walls or floors are opened. Flats and maisonettes also have no permitted development rights, so external changes always need a planning application. Our planning guide library covers the rules borough by borough.
Why Hampstead Renovations
Flat refurbishment rewards a team that already knows what freeholders and managing agents will ask for. Design is led by our in-house RIBA Chartered Architects, lease and party-structure matters are supported by RICS surveying through our sister company, Hampstead Chartered Surveyors, and the build is carried out by our own long-standing teams. Every contract is fixed-price on JCT terms, backed by £10M public liability insurance — the level major London freeholders require — plus a 12-month defects period and a 10-year workmanship warranty. Enquire before 2pm on a weekday and we will call you back the same day.
What does a flat refurbishment cost in Earl's Court?
A flat refurbishment in Earl's Court runs £900–£1,700/sqm excluding VAT, and a full two-bedroom refurbishment typically lands between £60,000 and £110,000. Most programmes take 16–32 weeks on site. A written scope and site assessment are needed before any project price can be fixed.
| Scope of work | Guide rate | Typical total |
|---|---|---|
| Full flat refurbishment (2-bed) | £900–£1,700/sqm | £60,000–£110,000 |
| Typical programme | 16–32 weeks on site | |
Guide rates exclude VAT and are set by depth of work, not by property type. Compare scopes in our London refurbishment cost-per-square-metre guide.
Flat Refurbishment in Earl's Court: Questions
Is Earl's Court really a flat-refurbishment area?
Very much so. Earl's Court has one of the highest concentrations of period conversions in the Royal Borough, its tall stuccoed houses long since divided into flats, so flat refurbishment governed by RBKC and the freeholders is the defining work here.
Whose consent does an Earl's Court flat refurbishment need?
In these leasehold conversions, structure, acoustics and freeholder consent are handled together under RBKC control, and party-wall awards apply where openings pass through the shared period walls, so we settle the consents before work is planned.
Can you reunite two Earl's Court flats back into a single house?
Yes, and it is increasingly common. Many of Earl's Court's tall garden-square houses were split into flats, and reuniting them into one home, restoring the stucco and reconfiguring the plan, is a substantial part of the work here.
Do Article 4 directions affect an Earl's Court flat?
They can. RBKC Article 4 directions withdraw permitted-development rights for small external changes, windows, front doors, boundary walls and roof coverings, on streets including Earl's Court Square, Nevern Square and Philbeach Gardens, so those alterations need consent.
How much does a flat refurbishment cost in Earl's Court?
A full two-bedroom flat refurbishment runs £60,000 to £110,000 excluding VAT, and each Earl's Court flat is assessed within that range by its own building, lease and access.
Local character & heritage: renovating flats in Earls Court
Earls Court sits in the Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea, and a large share of its homes are leasehold flats — within grand stucco terraces and garden squares, mostly now mansion and converted flats. Refurbishing one is a full interior project: reconfiguring the layout, renewing services and finishes, and often combining or reworking rooms within the existing footprint.
The work runs under the lease, so the freeholder's or managing agent's consent sits alongside Building Regulations and the Party Wall Act usually applies between flats; external elements such as windows stay controlled in conservation areas. Because most homes are leasehold flats and many buildings are listed, we coordinate the lease, the freeholder and the build as one fixed-price contract.
Earls Court heritage & architecture: Renovating a flat · Kitchens in period flats · Licence to alter · Mansion flats · Conservation areas · Roof developments & conservation
Flat Refurbishment in Earl’s Court: Planning & Local Context
the Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea · SW5
Planning for flat refurbishment in Earl’s Court
Flat refurbishment in Earl’s Court sits across two consent regimes: the Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea for planning and building control, and your freeholder for a licence to alter covering structural changes, new services and floor build-ups — essential within Earl’s Court's conservation areas and most mansion blocks.
the Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea context
Earl’s Court SW5 sits within Earl’s Court's conservation areas, and the Royal Borough operates one of the country's strictest planning regimes — its basement policy limits excavation to a single storey beneath the footprint, and listed-building and conservation control is extensive. Earl’s Court spans the Royal Borough and Hammersmith & Fulham. Our in-house RIBA Chartered Architects prepare and submit every application to the Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea and handle pre-application discussions where early planning advice is useful.
Building Regulations
Flat Refurbishment in Earl’s Court must satisfy Building Regulations — covering sound insulation to Part E, fire compartmentation to Part B, and certified electrical and plumbing works. Our in-house engineers manage Building Control from initial notice to completion certificate.
Recent work & local links
Explore our other Earl’s Court services — Kitchen Renovation Loft Conversions — or the Earl’s Court renovation hub.
Our in-house planning team prepares and submits every the Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea application and manages building control end to end. View our planning track record →
Guides & Local Reading
Flat Refurbishment in Nearby Areas
More Services in Earl's Court
Book a Free Consultation
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Free Consultation
We survey your property, discuss your vision and provide a clear budget framework.