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Kingston upon Thames KT1 and KT2 · Houses, flats & bathrooms

Renovations in Kingston upon Thames

Coombe estates, hillside houses and red-brick streets

The council’s conservation area pages describe 20th-century houses built in the grounds of two 19th-century mansions on Coombe Hill, early Victorian to early 20th-century houses in a woodland setting on Kingston Hill, and red-brick late Victorian and Edwardian houses around Richmond Road in North Kingston. Each address carries its own consents, so shape the house, flat or bathroom project around the building that is actually there.

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Serving Kingston upon Thames from our Hampstead studio · NW3 6DN
020 7101 3168

Hampstead Renovations design and build studio on Finchley Road
Our Hampstead studio · Finchley Road, NW3 6DN

Start with your project

Choose the work your Kingston upon Thames home needs

Choose a focused room renovation or a coordinated refurbishment. Each service page explains the scope in more detail and gives you a direct route to discuss the work.

01 Coombe, hillside and Victorian houses

House refurbishment in Kingston upon Thames

Houses here run from the Domestic Revival detached houses of Renfrew Road, laid out in 1908, to the earlier two-storey detached Victorian houses of Liverpool Road and the gabled red-brick semi-detached houses of Richmond Road. In a conservation area, the council’s 2023 guidance says an extension to a single house needs planning permission unless it meets set single-storey rear criteria, that dormers need permission, and that roof extensions visible from the road are unlikely to be supported.

  • Conservation area, listing and local list checked for the address
  • Extension tested against the single-storey rear criteria
  • Bays, tile hanging and chimneys recorded
Explore house refurbishment across London

02 Conversions, parades and riverside blocks

Flat renovation in Kingston upon Thames

The council’s pages here mostly describe houses. The flats they mention include the former Robin Hood Inn in Kingston Vale, now converted, the parade at 1–13 Park Road with flats above, and three eight-storey blocks of 1960 on the riverside in Riverside North. Householder permitted development rights do not apply to flats, the council says work on a flat may need the full planning permission form, and the lease may require the landlord’s consent.

  • Lease alterations clause and freeholder contact found
  • Stack shared with other flats traced
  • Planning route for any external change confirmed
Explore flat refurbishment across London

03 En-suites, family bathrooms and flats

Bathroom renovation in Kingston upon Thames

A standalone bathroom renovation is welcome, whether it is a family bathroom in a Coombe house, an en-suite under the sweeping roof of a Liverpool Road house or the shower room of a flat above a Park Road shop. Kingston’s building control pages list putting in washing and toilet facilities among the work that needs approval, and the council’s conservation guidance says soil and vent pipes are ideally run inside the building.

  • Drop available for the new waste pipe measured
  • Soil and vent pipes run inside, as the council prefers
  • Fan duct exit settled before tiles go up
Explore bathroom renovation across London

Real projects, clearly located

Ideas for your Kingston upon Thames refurbishment

Photographs of our work elsewhere in London

Explore a whole house in Belsize Park, an apartment on Chesterfield Street in Mayfair and a bathroom in Pimlico. Use these examples to discuss the scale of work and finishes you have in mind for your own home.

Completed exterior at Belsize Park Gardens after refurbishment

Whole-house refurbishment · Belsize Park, NW3

Belsize Park Gardens, NW3

Full-house refurbishment in Belsize Park with basement, extension and loft works.

Conservation Area · 5 Storeys · Documented programme: 12 months

Documentary programme, not verified elapsed construction time or a timetable for another project.

View the project

More London project records: Carlton Lodge, Belgravia · King’s Road, Chelsea.

103+
Completed Projects
RIBA
In-House Chartered Architects
Structural
Engineering Calculations
Planning
Applications & Consents
Building Control
Compliance Support
Leasehold
Licence for Alteration
£5M · £10M
Public · employers' liability
Independent
Surveying via Hampstead Chartered Surveyors

Local knowledge with a purpose

Understand the building before changing it

On this page Kingston upon Thames means homes in three parts of the Royal Borough: Coombe, Kingston Hill with Kingston Vale, and North Kingston. The borough has 26 conservation areas, and the descriptions below come from the council’s pages and documents for those in these three places.

Coombe has three conservation areas, which the council’s pages date to January 1990 for Coombe Wood, January 1996 for Coombe Hill and February 1997 for Coombe House. Coombe Hill is largely 20th-century houses within the grounds of two 19th-century mansions, with several mid-19th-century buildings by George Devey. Coombe Wood has large Victorian, Edwardian and 20th-century houses in the triangle of Kingston Hill, George Road and Warren Road. Coombe House is the core of a demolished 16th-century manorial estate, whose high brick walls survive on Warren Rise and Fitzgeorge Avenue.

Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames: Coombe Wood conservation area · Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames: Coombe Hill conservation area · Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames: Coombe House conservation area

Kingston Hill Conservation Area, designated in November 2004, is a group of early Victorian to early 20th-century large houses in a woodland setting, notable for its relationship with Richmond Park and the park’s listed boundary wall. The council’s 2004 report describes mature, dense landscaping, low-key boundaries and buildings set well within their plots. The Liverpool Road area has individually designed detached and semi-detached houses from the 1850s on the edge of Richmond Park, and the Park Road appraisal of July 2008 picks out Nos. 9–29 Kingston Hill as a high-quality group on long plots.

Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames: Kingston Hill conservation area · Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames: Kingston Hill and Kingston Vale designation reports, 2002 and 2004 · Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames: Liverpool Road conservation area · Park Road conservation area character appraisal and management strategy, July 2008

In North Kingston, the Richmond Road conservation area occupies land between Albany Park Road and Richmond Road that once formed part of the Bank Grove Estate. Most of the houses on those two roads went up between 1891 and 1898, detached on Albany Park Road and semi-detached along Richmond Road, with gabled fronts, bay windows, tile hanging and decorative brickwork. It lies close to Riverside North, designated in November 2004, a linear area shaped by the Thames, where the 2002 appraisal records four substantial houses of about 1895 on Lower Ham Road and three eight-storey blocks of flats.

Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames: Richmond Road conservation area · Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames: Riverside North conservation area · Canbury Gardens conservation area appraisal, November 2002 (linked as the Riverside North appraisal)

The first local check

Coombe, Kingston Hill or North Kingston: the address decides

Neither a place name nor a postcode tells you the council, a conservation boundary, a listing or the consent route. A Coombe Lane West address in KT2 carries the post town New Malden, Kingston Vale addresses can carry SW15, Merton has its own Westcoombe Avenue conservation area and Richmond upon Thames its own Richmond Road (East Twickenham) conservation area. Check the exact address against the council’s conservation area pages, the list entry, the Article 4 and Local Area of Special Character pages, then the title or lease and the property’s planning history.

Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames: polling places · Planning Data: Westcoombe Avenue conservation area (London Borough of Merton) · Planning Data: Richmond Road (East Twickenham) conservation area (Richmond upon Thames) · Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames: list of conservation areas · Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames: listed and locally listed buildings · Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames: Article 4 directions · Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames: is your property in a Local Area of Special Character · LEASE: alterations and home improvements

Separate checks, one coordinated brief

Planning, listed buildings, building control and leases

One approval does not settle every requirement. Identify the applicable routes before ordering work, and record who will prepare submissions, arrange inspections and provide the relevant completion information.

Planning permission and householder rights

Which jobs on a house or flat in Coombe, Kingston Hill or North Kingston need a planning application?

GOV.UK lists interior alterations among works that are not development, so refitting rooms inside a house or flat does not usually need planning permission. Outside, Part 1 householder permitted development rights do not apply to flats, and the council says work on a flat may need the full planning permission form. For a house in Coombe, on Kingston Hill or in North Kingston, check each outside item against the permitted development limits and conditions; the council recommends a Lawful Development Certificate for anything you believe is permitted development. None of the council’s conservation area pages for these places records an Article 4 direction.

When planning permission is required · Householder permitted development technical guidance · Planning Portal: flats and maisonettes · Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames: check if you need planning permission · Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames: Conservation Area General Guidance, adopted June 2023 · Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames: Coombe Hill conservation area · Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames: Kingston Hill conservation area · Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames: Richmond Road conservation area

Listed and locally listed buildings, and conservation areas

If a Coombe or Kingston Hill house is listed, does work inside it need consent?

It can. The council says listed building consent is needed for internal or external works that affect a building’s special architectural or historic interest. Listed buildings here include Dorich House and Galsworthy House in the Kingston Hill area, Coombe Warren Lodge with its garden walls in Coombe Hill, Gallows Conduit House, Grade II*, in Coombe Wood, and the Grade II Church of St Paul and The Vicarage and Vicarage End in the Liverpool Road area. A conservation area is a separate control: the council’s 2023 guidance asks for a Heritage Statement with any application that could affect one. Local listing is a further, local designation.

Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames: listed and locally listed buildings · Planning Data: Dorich House, Grade II (1300092) · Planning Data: Galsworthy House, Grade II (1300085) · Planning Data: Coombe Warren Lodge, with garden walls to Coombe Lane West and Coombe Hill Road, Grade II (1080098) · Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames: Coombe Hill conservation area · Planning Data: Gallows Conduit House (in grounds of Hampton Spring), Grade II* (1080062) · Planning Data: Church of St Paul, Grade II (1080086) · Planning Data: The Vicarage and Vicarage End, Grade II (1080047) · Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames: Conservation Area General Guidance, adopted June 2023 · Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames: locally listed buildings

Building Regulations

Which Kingston upon Thames jobs does building control have to approve?

Building control is its own regime: the council states that building regulation approval is different from planning permission and that a project may need both, and a landlord’s consent under a lease is a separate matter again. Kingston’s building control pages list removing internal walls or chimney breasts, putting in washing and toilet facilities and replacing windows and external doors among the work that needs approval, and say a building notice suits smaller domestic jobs such as removing a wall. Before work starts, put in writing whether you or your builder will deal with building control.

Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames: check if you need planning permission · Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames: when you will need building control approval · Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames: building control · When Building Regulations approval is needed · LEASE: alterations and home improvements

Freeholders, neighbours and party walls

Could a freeholder or a neighbour have a say in work on a Kingston upon Thames home?

In a flat, start with the lease: LEASE notes that a lease can make alterations subject to the freeholder’s permission, and that this still applies where planning permission or Building Regulations approval has been obtained. Party Wall rules are separate and cover only some work. The council’s boundaries page lists work on a shared wall and excavating below the level of a neighbour’s foundations among the cases where the Party Wall Act is likely to apply; each semi-detached pair on Richmond Road, for example, shares one wall. The notice rules for neighbours are on GOV.UK. The council adds that boundary disputes are a civil matter.

LEASE: alterations and home improvements · Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames: boundaries, party walls and garden walls · GOV.UK: party walls and building work · Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames: Richmond Road conservation area

Local facts that affect the brief

Apply the controls to the work you actually need

Designations 1980–2004

The conservation areas of Coombe, Kingston Hill and North Kingston

The council’s pages give these designation dates: Liverpool Road, November 1980, extended October 1990; Park Road, June 1989; Coombe Wood, January 1990; Coombe Hill, January 1996; Kingston Vale, September 1996, extended January 2002; Coombe House, February 1997; and Kingston Hill and Riverside North, both November 2004. Kingston Vale grew out of the Richmond Park (Kingston) conservation area, after part of the park area at Robin Hood Gate passed from Richmond upon Thames to Kingston in a 1995 boundary review.

Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames: Liverpool Road conservation area · Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames: Park Road conservation area · Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames: Coombe Wood conservation area · Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames: Coombe Hill conservation area · Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames: Kingston Vale conservation area · Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames: Coombe House conservation area · Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames: Kingston Hill conservation area · Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames: Riverside North conservation area · Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames: Kingston Hill and Kingston Vale designation reports, 2002 and 2004

Among the documents the council links are the Park Road character appraisal and management strategy of July 2008, and the Canbury Gardens appraisal of November 2002, prepared by consultants for the council and linked as the Riverside North appraisal. Two advisory committees of local residents, whose main activity is reviewing planning applications, cover these areas: New and Old Malden for Kingston Vale, Kingston Hill, Coombe Wood and Coombe House, and Kingston and North Kingston for Coombe Hill, Liverpool Road, Park Road, Richmond Road and Riverside North.

Park Road conservation area character appraisal and management strategy, July 2008 · Canbury Gardens conservation area appraisal, November 2002 (linked as the Riverside North appraisal) · Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames: conservation area advisory committees and their areas · Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames: Conservation Area General Guidance, adopted June 2023

Article 4: 2023 and 2024

The borough’s three Article 4 directions

The council explains that an Article 4 direction leaves development possible but means planning permission must be sought for the type of work it covers. It lists three directions: one for the Seething Wells filter beds in Surbiton, one on changing commercial premises to homes, and one for North Lodge and South Lodge in the Kingsnympton Park estate off Kingston Hill. The Coombe Hill, Coombe Wood, Coombe House, Kingston Hill, Kingston Vale, Liverpool Road, Park Road, Richmond Road and Riverside North pages each record no Article 4 direction.

Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames: Article 4 directions · Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames: Coombe Hill conservation area · Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames: Coombe Wood conservation area · Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames: Coombe House conservation area · Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames: Kingston Hill conservation area · Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames: Kingston Vale conservation area · Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames: Liverpool Road conservation area · Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames: Park Road conservation area · Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames: Richmond Road conservation area · Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames: Riverside North conservation area

The lodges direction, made on 29 August 2023 and confirmed by the Place Committee on 8 February 2024, removes the right to demolish buildings on those two plots without planning permission; both lodges are locally listed. The commercial direction, in its modified form in force from 14 June 2023, covers local centres including Kingston Hill and Park Road, Richmond Road, Coombe Road and Kingston Vale. It concerns turning commercial premises into homes, not alterations to an existing house or flat.

Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames: Article 4 direction, North Lodge and South Lodge · Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames: Article 4 direction, commercial to residential use · Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames: notice of the modified commercial-to-residential Article 4 direction, June 2023

Local list and special character areas

Locally listed buildings and Local Areas of Special Character

Locally listed buildings, once called Buildings of Townscape Merit, are those the council finds of enough historic, architectural, townscape and environmental interest to be of local value. Its conservation area pages name Tudor Cottage, The Wall Cottage and Soames House on Coombe Hill Road, the Dorincourt group, Holmwood and Kingston Hill Place on Kingston Hill, several houses on Liverpool Road and Crescent Road, and the Albany Boathouse at 92 Lower Ham Road.

Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames: locally listed buildings · Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames: Coombe Hill conservation area · Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames: Kingston Hill conservation area · Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames: Liverpool Road conservation area · Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames: Riverside North conservation area

The borough also has 19 Local Areas of Special Character. They leave permitted development rights unaffected and do not prevent demolition, but the council asks you to show that any environmental change has a positive impact, and it applies Core Strategy policies CS 8 and DM 12 within them. Its Kingston and North Kingston list includes The Drive, which the Coombe Wood page names as adjacent, and Woodside Road and Eastbury Road, which the 2002 appraisal describes as a grid running east from Canbury Gardens.

Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames: Local Areas of Special Character · Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames: is your property in a Local Area of Special Character · Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames: Coombe Wood conservation area · Canbury Gardens conservation area appraisal, November 2002 (linked as the Riverside North appraisal)

Core Strategy 2012; draft plan 2026

The adopted plan, its guidance and the emerging Local Plan

The adopted Development Plan is the London Plan, the Core Strategy adopted on 17 April 2012, the Kingston Town Centre Area Action Plan of 2008 and the South London Waste Plan of 2022. Core Strategy Policy DM 12 allows alterations that preserve or enhance a heritage asset’s character, DM 10 asks designs to respect building line, set-back and front boundary, and the plan expects the large residential plots of Coombe Hill to remain a characteristic of the area. Alongside sit the Residential Design SPD, adopted on 9 July 2013, and the Conservation Area General Guidance of June 2023, which the council treats as a material consideration.

Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames: adopted Development Plan · Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames: Core Strategy, adopted 17 April 2012 · Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames: Residential Design SPD, adopted 9 July 2013 · Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames: Conservation Area General Guidance, adopted June 2023

A new Local Plan for 2028 to 2043 is still a draft and is not adopted policy. Consultation on the main plan ran from July to September 2026; the council expects to submit it in December 2026, with examination in 2027 and possible adoption in 2028, when it would replace the Core Strategy. North Kingston has a neighbourhood area, designated on 30 March 2017, and the North Kingston Forum is preparing a neighbourhood plan, which is not part of the development plan.

Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames: new Local Plan (emerging) · Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames: neighbourhood planning in North Kingston

Settle the consent route for the exact address before windows are ordered, a roof is opened or ground is dug. Keep each regime apart: planning permission; listed building consent; conservation area controls and any Heritage Statement; Article 4, which none of the council’s pages for the conservation areas here records; Building Regulations approval; any landlord’s consent under the lease; Party Wall notice for shared walls and nearby excavation; notice of tree work in a conservation area; and the council’s consent for work affecting the flow of an ordinary watercourse. In a conservation area, the council’s guidance says roof enlargements and alterations need planning permission, although rooflights that meet set criteria can be permitted development.

Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames: Conservation Area General Guidance, adopted June 2023 · Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames: listed and locally listed buildings · Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames: Article 4 directions · Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames: when you will need building control approval · LEASE: alterations and home improvements · GOV.UK: party walls and building work · Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames: get permission to work on a protected tree · Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames: managing flood risk in development and building works

Local guidance checked . The linked sources help you prepare a brief; requirements depend on the address, building and complete proposal.

From retained details to shared services

Windows and bays, stacks, walls, front gardens, trees and retrofit

Windows, bays and front doors

In a conservation area the council’s 2023 guidance says replacement windows should match the original design, material, finish, profiles and detailing; uPVC or aluminium harms historic character, though it might be acceptable at the rear if it mimics the original. Removing or altering bay windows is generally unacceptable, traditional doors should be kept where possible and recessed porches not infilled. The 2008 Park Road appraisal suggested enforcement against unauthorised upper-window installations at 3–13 Park Road. In a flat, householder permitted development rights do not apply, so confirm the planning route and the lease first.

Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames: Conservation Area General Guidance, adopted June 2023 · Park Road conservation area character appraisal and management strategy, July 2008 · Planning Portal: flats and maisonettes · LEASE: alterations and home improvements

Bathrooms, stacks and moisture

Where one building holds several homes, such as the former Robin Hood Inn in Kingston Vale, now flats, or the Park Road parade with flats above its shops, a bathroom may drain to a shared stack, so trace it and read the lease before the room moves. The council’s guidance says soil and vent pipes are ideally run inside, and that where a house becomes flats, meter boxes should stay off street-facing elevations. Putting in washing and toilet facilities is on the council’s list of work needing building control approval.

Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames: Kingston Vale conservation area · Park Road conservation area character appraisal and management strategy, July 2008 · LEASE: alterations and home improvements · Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames: Conservation Area General Guidance, adopted June 2023 · Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames: when you will need building control approval

Internal walls, chimney breasts and shared walls

Removing an internal wall or a chimney breast is structural work that Kingston’s building control pages list as needing approval, and a building notice can cover a smaller domestic job such as removing a wall. Before any wall goes, our own structural engineers check the loads it carries. Above the roof, the council’s guidance asks for original chimney stacks to be kept even where the flues are no longer used. In a semi-detached house, work on the shared wall, or digging below a neighbour’s foundations, can need Party Wall notice.

Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames: when you will need building control approval · Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames: Conservation Area General Guidance, adopted June 2023 · Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames: boundaries, party walls and garden walls

Front gardens, walls and drives

The Residential Design SPD treats front gardens as part of the public realm, albeit private land, and the council’s conservation guidance encourages keeping them. In a conservation area, demolishing part of a gate, wall or fence generally needs planning permission (walls under one metre beside a highway, or two metres elsewhere, are exempt outside a listed building’s grounds), dropped kerbs will be resisted and an impermeable driveway over 5 square metres without permeable run-off needs permission. The council records front boundaries mostly intact on Liverpool Road and boundary walls that contribute on Richmond Road.

Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames: Residential Design SPD (document) · Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames: Conservation Area General Guidance, adopted June 2023 · Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames: Liverpool Road conservation area · Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames: Richmond Road conservation area

Basements, trees and water

The Residential Design SPD says lightwells should not exceed one storey underground, that new sleeping accommodation needs natural light and ventilation, and that groundwater, drainage and levels weigh in basement decisions. In a conservation area a tree is protected once its trunk measures 75 millimetres across at 1.5 metres, and the council replies to tree work notices within six weeks. Its conservation guidance expects an arboricultural report, tree protection plan and method statement to show how trees will be protected, and work affecting the flow of an ordinary watercourse or culvert needs its consent.

Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames: Residential Design SPD (document) · Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames: protected trees · Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames: get permission to work on a protected tree · Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames: Conservation Area General Guidance, adopted June 2023 · Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames: managing flood risk in development and building works

Insulation, glazing and historic walls

Settle insulation, heating and ventilation as one design, not piece by piece. The council has an online retrofit toolkit for conservation areas and pre-1919 buildings, and its guidance describes secondary glazing behind original windows. It says external wall insulation is unlikely to be supported, particularly on street-facing elevations, unless shown to cause no harm to the area’s significance, that rendering or cladding needs permission in a conservation area, and that lime-based mortars suit traditional buildings. Clay tile hanging, part of the character of the Richmond Road houses, should be kept.

Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames: Conservation Area General Guidance, adopted June 2023 · Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames: Richmond Road conservation area

A practical plan for the street and building

Working hours, deliveries and shared access

Skips, scaffolds, hoardings and parking

Plan the street side before fixing a start date. A skip on any part of the public highway needs a licence, which the council issues only to skip companies; a skip on private land needs none, and a licensed skip may not stand within 15 metres of a junction, bend or other hazard. Scaffolding on the highway needs a licence that only scaffold companies with the required public liability cover can obtain, with a 1.2-metre pedestrian route; a hoarding needs one even on private land, as do building materials stored on the highway. Parking suspensions are charged per five-metre space per day and can be up to 75 metres away, and red routes are managed by TfL.

Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames: skip licences · Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames: skip licence conditions · Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames: scaffolding licences · Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames: hoarding licences · Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames: licences for building materials on the highway · Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames: parking suspensions · Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames: apply to suspend parking restrictions

Noise, dust and who stays at home

Kingston’s noise pages say the council can act on building-site noise outside specified working hours, but they do not set those hours out, so confirm them with the council before planning early, late or weekend work. Its advice is to talk to neighbours first and agree the least intrusive times for noisy work, and it names construction as the most common cause of dust complaints. Give any managing agent or freeholder the start date and the loud stages in writing, and decide whether the household moves out for the noisiest part.

Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames: noise nuisances · Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames: don't be a noise nuisance yourself · Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames: airborne dust

A clear scope before a price

Plan your renovation budget and quotation

Start from a measured survey and a written scope, so that every builder prices the same work. In Kingston’s conservation areas, list the outside items, such as windows, bays, chimneys, front walls and trees, apart from the rooms, and mark anything that waits on a planning decision, a Heritage Statement, a landlord’s reply, a tree notice or a Party Wall notice.

Existing condition

Record the building as it stands, and send the same drawings and photographs to every bidder.

  • Plans and sections drawn from a measured survey
  • Windows, roof and boundary walls assessed
  • Hidden construction to expose before pricing

Rooms, finishes and services

Describe each room: what comes out, what goes in, and the finish you want on each wall, floor and piece of joinery.

  • Finishes and fittings decided before builders price
  • Drainage and extract runs shown on plan
  • Who supplies each item made clear

Approvals and site arrangements

Note which consents and street licences the job depends on, and who obtains each one.

  • Conservation area, listing and local list status
  • When lease consent and Party Wall notices are due
  • Which highway licences and bay suspensions are needed

Written allowances and sequence

Name every allowance for work not yet visible, list the exclusions and set out the order of trades.

  • A provisional sum for each unknown
  • VAT included or added, stated plainly
  • Final building control inspection allowed for

The address itself adds no set surcharge and fixes no programme; those follow from the building and the scope. Ask each builder to show VAT and any professional fees, such as drawings or engineering, in the same way. A bathroom on its own is standalone work, with a separate quotation based on that room’s survey and fittings.

From an idea to a workable scope

Prepare your brief and renovation budget

  1. The address and the building

    Begin with the full address, including the house or flat number: an address here can carry another town’s name, and conservation areas, Local Areas of Special Character and listings apply to exact boundaries or buildings. Say whether a flat is in a converted house, above a shop or in a purpose-built block, and add photographs of the front, rear, roof and rooms.

  2. Documents you already hold

    Old drawings, building control records and any earlier planning or Lawful Development Certificate decisions all help, as does the lease or title register. Flat owners can add the managing agent’s name and whatever rules the block applies to works. Note anything already known, such as a tree preservation order, a local listing or a listed garden wall.

  3. Decided and open choices

    Separate the choices already made, such as a chosen bath or the rooms to redecorate, from those that depend on a survey, an engineer’s check, a tree report or a council decision. Every builder you invite should then show those undecided items as identical named allowances.

  4. Living with the work

    Say by when you need to be back in, which rooms have to stay usable during the work and whether the household will move out. Then agree in writing who applies for the skip, scaffold, hoarding and parking licences, any tree notice, the Building Regulations approval and any Party Wall notices.

Ready to take the next step? Send the property address and a short outline of what you want to change.

Discuss your Kingston upon Thames project

Our Hampstead base, serving Kingston upon Thames

Talk to our Finchley Road studio

Our studio is in Hampstead on Finchley Road, at NW3 6DN. We serve Kingston upon Thames from this office. Bring us the practical questions about your house, flat or bathroom and the result you want to achieve.

Contact the studio to discuss your brief and arrange the next step. If you already have drawings, a lease or planning correspondence, tell us what is available.

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Unit 3, Palace Court
250 Finchley Road
London NW3 6DN

020 7101 3168
contact@hampsteadrenovations.co.uk

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Questions before you begin

Renovating in Kingston upon Thames: practical answers

Does a single bathroom in a Coombe, Kingston Hill or North Kingston home count as a job on its own?

Yes. We take on a bathroom as a standalone renovation, with no other rooms involved, in a Kingston upon Thames house or flat. To start, tell us the floor the room is on, what sits below it, where the waste seems to reach the stack and how the room is ventilated now; a sketch with rough sizes and some photographs will do. In a conservation area the council’s guidance says soil and vent pipes are ideally run inside, so mention any pipework on the outside walls.

Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames: Conservation Area General Guidance, adopted June 2023

Is my home in Coombe, Kingston Hill or North Kingston inside a conservation area, and which one?

Check the exact address with the council. Coombe has three separate areas, Coombe Hill, Coombe Wood and Coombe House. Kingston Hill has its own area, which adjoins Kingston Vale. Liverpool Road and Park Road are separate areas, and the 2008 Park Road appraisal includes Nos. 9–29 Kingston Hill. North Kingston has Richmond Road and Riverside North. Local Areas of Special Character, such as The Drive, are a separate local designation that leaves permitted development rights unaffected. Ward, neighbourhood and post-town names settle none of this.

Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames: Coombe Hill conservation area · Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames: Coombe Wood conservation area · Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames: Coombe House conservation area · Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames: Kingston Hill conservation area · Park Road conservation area character appraisal and management strategy, July 2008 · Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames: Park Road conservation area · Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames: Liverpool Road conservation area · Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames: Richmond Road conservation area · Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames: Riverside North conservation area · Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames: Local Areas of Special Character · Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames: polling places

How do listing and Article 4 apply in Coombe, Kingston Hill and North Kingston?

Listing attaches to particular buildings, not to whole areas. In the Kingston Hill conservation area the list includes Dorich House and Galsworthy House; in Coombe Wood, Warren House and Four Acres; in Coombe House, Miramonte. The council also names the Richmond Park boundary wall as listed. For a listed building, consent can extend to work inside. For Article 4, none of the council’s conservation area pages here records a direction, and the borough’s three directions cover the Seething Wells site, commercial-to-residential change in defined centres and demolition at two Kingsnympton Park lodges.

Planning Data: Dorich House, Grade II (1300092) · Planning Data: Galsworthy House, Grade II (1300085) · Planning Data: Warren House, Grade II (1379939) · Planning Data: Four Acres and attached terrace, wall and steps, Grade II (1389652) · Planning Data: Miramonte, Warren Rise, Grade II (1080056) · Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames: Kingston Hill conservation area · Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames: Kingston Vale conservation area · Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames: listed and locally listed buildings · Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames: Article 4 directions

Can I replace the windows of a period house in Kingston upon Thames?

Survey them first. In a conservation area the council’s guidance says replacements should match the original design, material, finish, profiles and detailing, and that uPVC or aluminium harms historic character though it might be acceptable at the rear if it mimics the original; altering bay windows is generally unacceptable. Secondary glazing is one alternative it describes. Replacing windows can also need building control approval, a listed house can need listed building consent, and in a flat check the planning route and the lease.

Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames: Conservation Area General Guidance, adopted June 2023 · Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames: when you will need building control approval · Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames: listed and locally listed buildings · Planning Portal: flats and maisonettes · LEASE: alterations and home improvements

What consent does a refit inside a Kingston upon Thames flat need?

The lease comes first. As LEASE points out, its terms may require the freeholder’s permission for alterations whatever planning or Building Regulations approval you hold. Interior alterations alone are not development, so planning rarely comes into a refit, but new washing and toilet facilities can need building control approval, and in a listed building listed building consent can reach internal works.

LEASE: alterations and home improvements · When planning permission is required · Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames: when you will need building control approval · Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames: listed and locally listed buildings

What has to be checked before a wall comes down or a bathroom moves in Kingston upon Thames?

Start with the structure. Removing an internal wall or a chimney breast needs building control approval, and our structural engineers confirm what the wall carries before it goes. In a semi-detached house, such as those on Richmond Road, work on the shared wall can need Party Wall notice. If the bathroom moves, its waste still needs enough fall to reach the stack; in a converted building the stack may be shared and the lease may require consent, and the council’s guidance prefers soil and vent pipes inside.

Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames: when you will need building control approval · Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames: boundaries, party walls and garden walls · Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames: Richmond Road conservation area · LEASE: alterations and home improvements · Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames: Conservation Area General Guidance, adopted June 2023

Is a basement possible under a house in Coombe, Kingston Hill or North Kingston?

Possibly. The Residential Design SPD, which covers subterranean development, limits lightwells to one storey underground, asks for natural light and ventilation in any new sleeping accommodation and treats groundwater, drainage and levels as considerations. Near mature trees, as on Kingston Hill, where the 2004 report describes dense landscaping, the council’s conservation area guidance expects an arboricultural report, tree protection plan and method statement to show how trees will be protected. Digging below a neighbour’s foundations can need Party Wall notice, and work affecting the flow of an ordinary watercourse or culvert needs the council’s consent.

Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames: Residential Design SPD (document) · Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames: Kingston Hill and Kingston Vale designation reports, 2002 and 2004 · Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames: Conservation Area General Guidance, adopted June 2023 · Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames: boundaries, party walls and garden walls · Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames: managing flood risk in development and building works

Has the Royal Borough published hours for noisy building work?

The council’s noise pages say it can act on noise from building sites outside specified working hours, but they do not list the hours, so ask the council before planning early, late or weekend work. Its advice for noisy jobs is to talk to neighbours beforehand and agree the least intrusive times. In a flat, also check what the lease says about works and tell the managing agent the start date and the loud stages.

Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames: noise nuisances · Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames: don't be a noise nuisance yourself

When quotations arrive for a Coombe or Kingston Hill job, what should each one show?

The same written scope, priced line by line, with VAT and professional fees shown the same way. Look for the skip licence, which only a skip company can hold; the scaffold licence, which only a scaffold company can apply for; any hoarding or materials licence; parking suspensions; provisional sums for hidden work; and repairs to the windows, bays, chimneys or front walls the scope keeps. Check who applies for building control approval and serves any Party Wall notices.

Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames: skip licences · Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames: scaffolding licences · Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames: hoarding licences · Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames: licences for building materials on the highway · Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames: parking suspensions

Which office covers Kingston upon Thames, and what should a first message contain?

Our studio is at Unit 3, Palace Court, 250 Finchley Road, London NW3 6DN, and we serve Kingston upon Thames from this office. A first message needs only the full address, a list of the rooms in question and some photographs; the lease, old drawings and planning papers can follow once the scope is clearer, ahead of a free feasibility visit.

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