Flat
refurbishment
in Hammersmith, W6
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Hampstead Chartered Surveyors & Building ConsultancyHammersmith flats range from the 1929 courtyards of Riverside Gardens and the 131 flats of Aspen Gardens to floors of converted Victorian terraces. Each starts with the lease and the building it sits in.
Hammersmith mixes historic riverside with dense Victorian and Edwardian streets. Hammersmith Terrace and Black Lion Lane carry fine Georgian river houses, Brook Green brings handsome Victorian villas and family terraces, and Glenthorne Road and the surrounding streets add the Edwardian mansion flats and conversions that hold much of the area's flat stock. Conservation areas protect Brook Green and the historic riverside terraces, so external change is guided closely.
For flats, tenure leads the work. These are leasehold homes, and Hammersmith's own heritage guidance singles out Licences to Alter for W6 flats, so a refurbishment starts with the freeholder's requirements and any planning position. Structure, acoustics and services upgrades are then handled together with the managing agent, while the elevation and sashes are treated to conservation standards where they show.
Leasehold approvals and the access limits of the busy central-W6 streets load the figure more than the square footage, and the flats we refurbish cluster around Brook Green, Glenthorne Road, Hammersmith Terrace and Black Lion Lane.
Shared floors in an Edwardian mansion flat
Refurbishing a Hammersmith flat in a shared building
In a Hammersmith house divided into flats, the floor of one home is the ceiling of the next, and the soil stack and stair are often shared. Before rooms are redrawn, read the lease to find out which walls, floors and services belong to the flat and which the building keeps.
Source: LEASE: alterations and home improvements
In a converted house, decide the floor build-up, the acoustic separation from the home below and what the lease allows together, as Approved Document E may apply. Settle the acoustic layers before choosing timber or stone, and agree how the ceiling below will be protected while boards are up.
Source: GOV.UK: Approved Document E, resistance to sound · LEASE: alterations and home improvements · When Building Regulations approval is needed
A flat has no householder permitted development rights, so check the planning route before ordering any window. Where the frames are original, compare repair, draught-proofing and secondary glazing; where they are PVC in a conservation area, Hammersmith and Fulham's Planning Guidance SPD encourages owners to change them. Read the lease on who is responsible for the frames.
Source: Householder permitted development technical guidance · LBHF Planning Guidance SPD, adopted 28 February 2018 · LEASE: alterations and home improvements
Who must agree before a Hammersmith flat is altered
Landlord's consent runs on its own track: where the lease requires it, it can still be needed after planning permission or Building Regulations approval is in hand, and it may come with conditions. Read the alterations clauses on floors, services, windows and working hours before drawings are finalised.
Source: LEASE: alterations and home improvements
Rearranging rooms inside a flat is not usually development, but where the address falls to Hammersmith and Fulham, dividing or joining homes is assessed under its Policy HO2. Any change to the outside of the building needs its own planning check, and if the building is listed, internal work can need listed building consent too.
Source: When planning permission is required · LBHF Local Plan 2018: policy document · LBHF: statutory listed buildings · Historic England: listed-building consent
Source: When Building Regulations approval is needed · GOV.UK: Building Regulations approval · Party-wall work requiring notice
Working around neighbours in a Hammersmith building
Work out how materials and waste will travel between the street and the flat, including the shared stair, and agree with the freeholder or managing agent how the common parts are protected. Fix the days when shared supplies will be isolated, and give the other households notice.
Source: LEASE: alterations and home improvements
Source: LBHF: construction site noise and permitted hours · LBHF Code of Construction Practice, version 1.0, February 2023 · LEASE: alterations and home improvements
Strip-out waste has to cross the pavement whichever floor the flat is on, so find out whether the road outside is a council road or a TfL red route before a skip is ordered. King Street, Hammersmith Road and Goldhawk Road were not TfL roads at the points checked, but confirm your own frontage on TfL's map.
Source: LBHF: roads, bridges and pavements, naming the roads TfL manages · TfL: red routes and the TLRN map · LBHF: skip licences
What to send before a Hammersmith flat is priced
Describe the flat: the full address, the floor it occupies, whether it sits in a divided house or a purpose-built block, and who else uses the stair. Add photographs of every room to change, the shared entrance and any staining on ceilings or walls, which can point to a leak from above.
Attach the lease and any building rules, with the freeholder's or managing agent's requirements for works, existing plans, earlier planning or listed building decisions and completion certificates. If you already know the conservation area, an Article 4 entry, a listing or the flood zone for the address, say so.
Source: LEASE: alterations and home improvements
What does a flat refurbishment cost in Hammersmith?
A written scope and site assessment are needed before any project price can be fixed.
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.
Hammersmith flats: courtyard estates, mansion blocks and converted terraces
Hammersmith's flats come in several forms. The Town Hall profile describes Riverside Gardens, laid out in 1929 around courtyards, and the 131 flats of Aspen Gardens, built in 1948 to the public housing design of the time, while in Fulham Reach some of the mid-Victorian terraced houses have been converted into flats.
The Local Plan works both ways on conversions: to add family housing, the council may support the de-conversion of smaller flats so a single family house can be reinstated, which matters if you own more than one floor of a converted terrace.
LEASE warns that an alteration made without a permission the lease requires can put the leaseholder in breach, even if a previous owner made it, and can make a flat harder to sell, remortgage or insure, so we read the lease before the drawings.
Outside the flat, Hammersmith & Fulham makes a new flue, pipe or chimney on a flat a planning matter, so a new boiler flue or extract terminal is agreed before the kitchen and bathroom layouts are fixed.
In a courtyard estate such as Riverside Gardens, laid out in 1929 around central courtyards, materials and waste cross shared ground, so we agree the route, the working hours and the protection of common parts with the estate's managers before the first delivery.
Outside Hammersmith: Chevalier House, Knightsbridge, a flat refurbishment in a Knightsbridge apartment building.
Sources: Hammersmith & Fulham: Hammersmith Town Hall Conservation Area character profile (November 2018); Hammersmith & Fulham: Fulham Reach Conservation Area character profile, pages 5–8; Hammersmith & Fulham: Local Plan (February 2018); LEASE: alterations and home improvements; LBHF - Planning frequently asked questions.
Flat Refurbishment in Hammersmith: Questions
Can a Hammersmith flat refurbishment involve a party wall notice?
Sometimes. GOV.UK says you must tell your neighbour before building on or at the boundary between your properties or working on an existing party wall or party structure, and where a house has been divided into flats the floor separating two of them can count as a party structure.
Do I need a Licence to Alter to refurbish a Hammersmith flat?
If the lease requires one. GOV.UK says the lease sets out whether you need permission for alterations, so we ask the landlord or managing agent for their requirements early and leave time for their approval before work starts.
Which Hammersmith buildings do you refurbish flats in?
Chiefly the Edwardian mansion flats and conversions around Glenthorne Road and Brook Green, set among the Victorian villas and the historic Georgian houses of the riverside, so a project spans both leasehold and heritage work.
How much does a flat refurbishment cost in Hammersmith?
Hammersmith flats range from the courtyards of Riverside Gardens and Aspen Gardens to floors of converted Victorian terraces, and the building sets the cost. A purpose-built block brings a managing agent, shared services and agreed working arrangements, while a conversion may need more sound insulation and structural checks. In either case the lease comes first. We read it, visit the flat, agree the scope and specification with you and confirm the price in a written quotation.
What drives the cost of a Hammersmith flat project?
Leasehold approvals, acoustic and services upgrades, and the access constraints of the busy central-W6 streets shape a Hammersmith budget, alongside any facade or sash decisions the conservation area guides.
Does Hammersmith's conservation status affect a flat refurbishment?
For changes you can see, it can. Bridge Avenue Mansions and Aspen Gardens are both in the Hammersmith Town Hall Conservation Area, so windows, balconies and the street front of a flat there are judged against its profile; inside the flat, the lease and the Building Regulations govern most work.
