Bathroom renovation
in Holland Park's villas and flats
Your bathroom might be in a listed stucco house on one of the three streets called Holland Park, in a villa converted to flats after the Second World War or in an Oakwood Court mansion flat. Planning, listed building consent and building regulations are separate checks, and in a listed home the protection can include internal features and vents, so the extract and outlet positions are settled before fittings are chosen.
Listed houses, converted villas and mansion blocks
The appraisal lists the three streets of stuccoed houses called Holland Park, and the mews between them, at grade II as an important Italianate group, and Holland Park Mews is listed for its relationship to those houses. RBKC says listing protects a building as a whole, its inside and internal features included, as well as any later extensions, so a bathroom in a later addition to a listed house is still within the listing.
Local Plan 2024 Policy CD5 resists alterations to a listed building that remove or modify features of architectural importance, inside or out, and harm its historic fabric, unless the justification is clear and convincing; RBKC treats unconsented works affecting a listed building's interest as a criminal offence.
Many of the area's houses were converted to flats after the Second World War and given roof extensions, and Oakwood Court is a group of mansion blocks with a private central garden. In a flat, lease terms decide what alteration consent is needed and can restrict work affecting shared floors, external walls or other retained parts of the building; a written scope, plans and agreed shared-access arrangements help reach that agreement.
Sources: Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea: Holland Park Conservation Area Appraisal (adopted June 2017), Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea: listed buildings explained, Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea: Local Plan (adopted July 2024), Leasehold Advisory Service: alterations and home improvements
Single houses, flats and back again
The large Holland Park houses have stayed fit for their first purpose, the appraisal notes, some converted to flats and others kept, or turned back, into single family homes, while the mansion flats introduced higher-density living that the 1960s tower blocks continued.
At the front, the half-basement windows sit behind railed lightwells, and the servants' floor still has its own gate, so a lower-floor bathroom takes its air and light from that front area.
Source: Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea: Holland Park Conservation Area Appraisal (adopted June 2017)
Stripping out a bathroom under RBKC's rules
Breaking out tiles, screed and old pipework is noisy work. RBKC allows noise audible beyond the site between 8am and 6pm, Monday to Friday, limits demolition and concrete breaking to the weekday spells from 9am to noon and from 2pm to 5.30pm, and its Code of Construction Practice bans noisy construction on Saturdays.
Internal refurbishment, largely decorative and usually non-structural work that leaves the envelope of the building alone, is Category 3 under the Code, and neighbours should be told at least two weeks before work starts; in a converted villa we tell the flats above and below first. Tiles, sanitaryware and screed can be delivered between 9.30am and 4.30pm on weekdays.
Depositing a skip on the highway, like putting up scaffolding or a hoarding there, needs a licence from the council first, and the footway must keep at least 1.2 metres of clear width unless a closure has been agreed.
Sources: Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea: construction site enforcement, Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea: Code of Construction Practice (April 2019)
Half basements, sewer flooding and building regulations
The area's Victorian houses were generally built with two generous main storeys over half basements. Where a bathroom forms part of new basement development, Policy CD11 asks for a suitable pumped device to protect the basement against sewer flooding, and the Local Plan rejects a non-return valve on its own, because such a valve does not send sewage away from the building.
Building regulations are a separate check again. Gov.uk's list of exempt projects includes swapping baths, toilets, basins and sinks, but the exemption for new electrical points and circuit changes stops short of the areas around baths and showers, and repairs or replacements involving heating systems or glazing units are not exempt either.
Sources: Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea: Holland Park Conservation Area Appraisal (adopted June 2017), Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea: Local Plan (adopted July 2024), GOV.UK: when you don't need building regulations approval
How we plan a Holland Park bathroom
Every bathroom project opens with a feasibility visit to the room and the floors around it, and the list entry and, in a flat, the lease are read before design starts. Our in-house designers and architects plan the room; where a heavy bath or stone floor calls for a stronger structure, our in-house structural engineers design the change.
You receive a written quotation once the survey findings and the consent route are known, with No Deposit Required.
Holland Park bathrooms: questions
Will a new bathroom extract need consent in a listed house?
Ask RBKC first: vents are on its list of smaller works that can need listed building consent. Planning permission and building regulations are separate checks, and address-specific controls must be checked for any external alteration, such as a new outlet through a wall.
Does my lease affect a bathroom renovation in a Holland Park flat?
It can. LEASE advises that, depending on how the lease is worded, a leaseholder might need the landlord's permission before making alterations, even with planning permission or building regulations approval.
Which days can a bathroom strip-out happen in Holland Park?
Weekdays. Noisy work that can be heard outside the site is allowed between 8am and 6pm, Monday to Friday, and RBKC does not permit it at weekends or on public holidays without written permission given in advance.
What does the bathroom survey look at?
Drainage, water supply, extraction, floor construction and waterproofing, along with supplier responsibilities, access, temporary arrangements and testing. These are design and quotation decisions, not promises that a particular layout is feasible.
How much does a bathroom renovation cost in Holland Park?
Pricing: bathroom renovation is typically £10,000–£30,000, excluding VAT, confirmed after a feasibility visit.
Sources: Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea: listed buildings explained, RBKC listed buildings explained, LEASE: alterations and home improvements, Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea: construction site enforcement
Rooms and elevations typical of Holland Park
Design, joinery and the build, under one contract in Holland Park
The same team stays with the project from the first visit to handover. In-house RIBA chartered architects, interior designers and IStructE chartered structural engineers draw and specify the work. Master joiners make the fitted furniture. Licence to alter, party wall matters, schedules of condition and Building Regulations sign-off sit with the sister practice, Hampstead Chartered Surveyors & Building Consultancy (RICS Firm No. 923064). One JCT contract covers the building work. Electrical installation is certified to BS 7671 by a registered competent person. Completed structural work carries a 12-month defects liability period. Cover is £5M public liability, £10M employers' liability and contractors' all risks cover. Main office: 250 Finchley Road, Hampstead, London NW3 6DN. Central London client consultation address: 2 Eaton Gate, Belgravia, London SW1W 9BJ. Telephone 020 7101 3168.
Licence to alter · Surveying support from the sister practice
What clients have said about the work
I would like to thank Ross and his team for their consistent commitment to quality and their unerring reliability.
We have worked with Ross and his company many times. They are extremely professional and hardworking individuals who can work under any circumstances. There was no variation to the works.
Verified Planning, Estate & Conservation Sources
- Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea: Holland Park Conservation Area Appraisal (adopted June 2017)
- Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea: listed buildings explained
- Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea: Local Plan (adopted July 2024)
- Leasehold Advisory Service: alterations and home improvements
- Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea: construction site enforcement
- Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea: Code of Construction Practice (April 2019)
- GOV.UK: when you don't need building regulations approval
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Completed renovation project examples
