Kitchen renovation
for a Holland Park period home

Once a building is listed, RBKC says, every part of it is protected, from the interior and its internal features to any later extension. Kitchen work can touch several items on the council's list of smaller works that need listed building consent: vents, air conditioning, recessed lighting, suspended ceilings and new openings, as well as re-plastering and taking out skirtings, fireplaces, internal doors or floorboards.

In a listed house, knocking a kitchen through to a dining room means removing an internal wall, a larger change for which RBKC requires consent. The Local Plan 2024 adds that a listed building's special interest reaches past its appearance to where its rooms sit and how they rank, and to its historic floor plans and levels; Policy CD5 holds out against removing internal features of architectural importance unless the case is clear and convincing.

Locally this covers the three streets of stuccoed houses called Holland Park, listed grade II as an Italianate group with the mews between them, and Holland Park Mews, listed for its relationship to those houses. RBKC treats works that affect a listed building's interest without consent as a criminal offence.

Sources: Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea: listed buildings explained, Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea: Local Plan (adopted July 2024), Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea: Holland Park Conservation Area Appraisal (adopted June 2017)

An extension is a planning question before it is a kitchen one. Local Plan 2024 Policy CD13 resists an extension that would push past the general rear line of the neighbours' extensions, rise above their general height, or reach the original main eaves or parapet, and the Holland Park appraisal counts oversized or out-of-character extensions, painted or rendered brick, moved or altered windows and lost rhythm and uniformity as harm to rear elevations.

Houses have permitted development rights, but RBKC says stricter controls apply in conservation areas, and Article 4 directions withdraw rights for small external changes such as windows and front doors on streets including Holland Park Avenue, Holland Park Road and Holland Villas Road. On the Ilchester Estate, any external alteration to the appearance of a house also needs Ilchester Estates' written consent.

Sources: Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea: Local Plan (adopted July 2024), Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea: Holland Park Conservation Area Appraisal (adopted June 2017), Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea: conservation areas, RBKC, Article 4 Directions in Conservation Areas, Ilchester Estate consent requirement, as published in RBKC's Holland Park Conservation Area Appraisal (2017)

After a feasibility visit we measure the room and trace where water, waste, power and extract can run, then check the list entry, the lease and any Article 4 direction for the address. The design is drawn by our in-house designers and architects to suit the building, and if a wall or chimney breast is to come out, the support is designed by our in-house structural engineers.

We prepare the written quotation once the scope and the consent route are clear, No Deposit Required applies, and fitting is timed to the arrival of the cabinetry, worktops and appliances.

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.