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West Kensington and Barons Court W14 · Houses, flats & bathrooms

Renovations in West Kensington and Barons Court

Terraces, mansion flats and artists’ studios

A home here may be a terrace house of three or four storeys east of Hammersmith Cemetery, a two-storey terrace house west of it, one of the linked 1920s semi-detached houses by Palliser Road or a flat in a Queen’s Club Gardens mansion block. Each type brings its own limits, so shape your house, flat or bathroom plans around how the building was made, then around the controls tied to its address.

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Our Hampstead studio · Finchley Road, NW3 6DN

Start with your project

Choose the work your West Kensington and Barons Court 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 Terraces, 1920s semis and mews

House refurbishment in West Kensington and Barons Court

East of Hammersmith Cemetery the Barons Court profile finds four-storey terraces, or three-storey ones over semi-basements, most with roofs behind a balustraded parapet; west of it, parts of Margravine Gardens, St Dunstan’s Road and Claxton Grove are two-storey terraces. Survey roof, rear wall and front garden: the profile judges front roof extensions generally unacceptable, wants the uniformity of rear elevations kept and says digging out front gardens for basement light will not normally be permitted where their planting is integral to the street or terrace.

  • Address checked against the conservation map
  • Roof, parapet and rear elevation surveyed
  • Front garden and lightwell limits checked
Read about house refurbishment in West Kensington and Barons Court

02 Mansion blocks, estates and conversions

Flat renovation in West Kensington and Barons Court

Flats here range from the red-brick mansion blocks of Queen’s Club Gardens, begun in 1892 around a communal garden, and the five-storey Kensington Hall Gardens off Beaumont Avenue to homes on the West Kensington and Gibbs Green estates and basement flats in some terraces west of Vereker Road. Flats lack householder permitted development rights, so development such as an extension or a roof alteration needs planning permission; inside, the lease’s alterations clause and the route to the shared soil stack shape the layout.

  • Landlord’s consent clause read first
  • Who maintains the stack confirmed
  • Acoustic floor make-up cleared under the lease
Read about flat refurbishment in West Kensington and Barons Court

03 Mansion-flat and terrace bathrooms

Bathroom renovation in West Kensington and Barons Court

We are glad to renovate a bathroom here as a standalone job, whether it serves a Queen’s Club Gardens flat, a flat carved out of a terrace house or a two-storey house west of the cemetery. The waste run, the floor build-up and the way out for extract air come before any choice of tiles, and a bathroom with new plumbing, or electrical changes near the bath or shower, may also need Building Regulations approval.

  • Drainage route to the stack agreed early
  • Extract outlet cleared with the building
  • Another bathroom or shower kept in use
Read about bathroom renovation in West Kensington and Barons Court

Real projects, clearly located

Ideas for your West Kensington and Barons Court 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

One Hammersmith and Fulham profile credits the Gibbs and Flew partnership with much of the housing in the Barons Court area, and the council’s profiles also record mansion flats, artists’ studios and 1920s houses. Pin down which of these you own, which council answers for the address and what designations and shared parts come with it before a layout is drawn.

Designated on 10 April 1989, the Barons Court Conservation Area was extended on 2 July 2002 to include Gledstanes Road, Beaumont Crescent and parts of Greyhound Road and North End Road; in the April 2005 profile its northern edge follows Talgarth Road to include West Kensington and Barons Court stations. East of Hammersmith Cemetery, and particularly east of Vereker Road, the profile finds terraces noticeably grander than much of the locality, at four storeys or three over semi-basements; west of Vereker Road they become plainer red brick, generally three storeys, some with basement flats or roof dormers.

LBHF: Barons Court Conservation Area character profile, April 2005 edition, pages 1–10

West of the cemetery the scale drops. Nos. 38 to 90 (even) and 51 to 71 (odd) Margravine Gardens, most of St Dunstan’s Road and the north side of Claxton Grove are two-storey terraces with suburban front gardens, mostly red stock brick under slate roofs with protruding party walls. The island site formed by Barons Court Road, Barton Road and Palliser Road holds 34 linked 1920s semi-detached houses in the style of Voysey, roughcast under steep clay-tiled mansards, and the present Comeragh Mews houses were made by converting the original two-storey mews buildings into three-storey units.

LBHF: Barons Court Conservation Area character profile, April 2005 edition, pages 11–20

Queen’s Club Gardens was begun in 1892 by W. H. Gibb, formerly of the Gibbs and Flew partnership, as mansion flats around a communal garden and tennis courts; most blocks are four storeys with a basement, late Victorian red brick with white-painted timber sashes. Gibbs and Flew had begun Auriol Road, the Gunter Estate’s first phase, in 1882. The Fitzgeorge and Fitzjames Conservation Area, designated in September 1982 and described in March 2000 as the two avenues, was extended on 2 July 2002 to three eight-storey North End House blocks built from 1930 and the North End Parade shops.

LBHF: Queen’s Club Gardens Conservation Area character profile, approved 14 July 2004, updated October 2005 · LBHF: Fitzgeorge and Fitzjames Conservation Area character profile, March 2000, pages 6–10 · LBHF: Fitzgeorge & Fitzjames character profile addendum, for the 2 July 2002 extension

The first local check

A W14 postcode will not settle the council

W14 is not exclusive to Hammersmith and Fulham: Kensington and Chelsea’s Holland Park appraisal, adopted on 19 June 2017, gives W11, W14 and W8 as that conservation area’s postcodes, and Hammersmith and Fulham’s 2018 Local Plan has the Earl’s Court and West Kensington Opportunity Area spanning both boroughs. Of the 21 wards that a 2020 order set for Hammersmith and Fulham’s elections from 2022, one is West Kensington and none is Barons Court, and each ward is defined on a map, not street by street. The council, a conservation boundary, a listing, an Article 4 direction and the consent route all have to be established for the address itself, not inferred from either name or from the postcode. Begin with GOV.UK’s council finder; then check that council’s current conservation maps, Historic England’s list and the council’s list of properties under Article 4 directions, and finish with the title or lease and any earlier planning decisions on the site.

Find the council for the property · RBKC: Holland Park conservation area appraisal, adopted 19 June 2017 · LBHF Local Plan 2018: policy document · The London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham (Electoral Changes) Order 2020 · LBHF: conservation areas, character profiles and maps · LBHF: Barons Court Conservation Area, with its current boundary map · LBHF: statutory listed buildings · LBHF: properties affected by Article 4 directions, list last amended 1 October 2011 · 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 and householder permitted development

Which West Kensington and Barons Court works need planning permission?

Internal works are not generally development, so a new internal layout or kitchen does not usually call for a planning application. Flats have no Part 1 householder permitted development rights, so the owner of a flat in a mansion block or converted house needs planning permission for development such as an extension or a roof alteration. For a house the rights come with limits and conditions, and three stand out here: roof extensions on conservation-area land are not covered; since 26 April 2018 a borough-wide Article 4 direction has taken basement and lightwell work out of them; and at Nos. 1 to 6 Queen’s Club Terrace a 1981 direction also removes rights to alter roofs, build rear extensions or paint unpainted brickwork. Confirm with the council which directions cover your own address.

When planning permission is required · Householder permitted development technical guidance · LBHF: Article 4 directions, including the borough-wide basement direction · LBHF: borough-wide basement Article 4 direction, in force 26 April 2018 · LBHF: properties affected by Article 4 directions, list last amended 1 October 2011 · LBHF: Queen’s Club Gardens Conservation Area character profile, approved 14 July 2004, updated October 2005

Listing and conservation-area control

What does listing mean for the work?

Listing protects the whole building, inside and out. Work inside or outside a listed building that needs listed building consent but goes ahead without it is, Hammersmith and Fulham warns, a criminal offence, whether or not the owner knew of the listing. Grade II entries here include Barons Court station, St Paul’s Studios at 135–149 Talgarth Road, the studio at 17 St Dunstan’s Road and St Andrew’s Church on Greyhound Road; 22 and 22A Avonmore Road is Grade II*. A conservation area is a different regime, explained in a character profile where the council has published one.

LBHF: statutory listed buildings · Planning Data: Barons Court Underground Station, Grade II, list entry 1358562 · Planning Data: 135–149 Talgarth Road (St Paul’s Studios), Grade II, list entry 1079780 · Planning Data: 17 St Dunstan’s Road, Grade II, list entry 1261962 · Planning Data: St Andrews Fulham Fields (St Andrew’s Church, Greyhound Road), Grade II, list entry 1393119 · Planning Data: 22 and 22A Avonmore Road, Grade II*, list entry 1079838 · LBHF: conservation areas, character profiles and maps

Building Regulations

What do the Building Regulations cover?

Compliance with the Building Regulations is checked on its own track; a planning permission, a listed building consent or a landlord’s licence does not cover it. GOV.UK’s examples of alterations that might need approval include fitting a bathroom with plumbing, changing electrics close to a bath or shower and replacing windows or doors, and Hammersmith and Fulham takes building control applications, Full Plans included, by email. Before work starts, decide which body signs off each part of the job and who keeps the final certificates for the handover file.

When Building Regulations approval is needed · LBHF: make a building control application · LEASE: alterations and home improvements

Leaseholder consent and party walls

When do a landlord or the Party Wall Act come in?

If you hold a flat on a lease, whether in a mansion block, on an estate or in a converted terrace, start there: its terms can require the landlord’s or freeholder’s permission for alterations, however the planning and Building Regulations questions are answered. The Party Wall Act is narrower and reaches three kinds of work: building on or at the boundary line, work to an existing party wall or party structure, and excavating close to a neighbour’s building to below its foundation level. Making one of the protruding party walls of the slate-roofed two-storey terraces west of the cemetery taller or shorter would count; replastering or rewiring would not.

LEASE: alterations and home improvements · Party-wall work requiring notice · LBHF: Barons Court Conservation Area character profile, April 2005 edition, pages 11–20

Local facts that affect the brief

Apply the controls to the work you actually need

Designated 1989; profile April 2005

The Barons Court Conservation Area profile

The profile was approved by the council’s Planning Applications and Transport Sub-Committee on 14 December 1998 as supplementary planning guidance to the since-replaced Unitary Development Plan, and updated after the boundary changes of 14 July 2004, when properties in St Andrews Road and Greyhound Road moved to Queen’s Club Gardens, and 23 February 2005. It calls itself an appraisal with some broad design guidelines. Read it with the 2018 Local Plan and the council’s current boundary map; controls on estate agents’ boards were added in part of the area in November 2006.

LBHF: Barons Court Conservation Area character profile, April 2005 edition, pages 1–10 · LBHF: Barons Court Conservation Area, with its current boundary map · LBHF: Local Plan, adopted 28 February 2018

Its guidance for the outside of houses is specific. Front roof extensions will only be considered where a terrace is already significantly impaired by them, and raising a ridge for more internal ceiling height is considered unacceptable. Excavating a front garden for basement windows or light will not normally be permitted where its planting is integral to the street or terrace, though carefully designed lightwells may be acceptable. It notes open views to the rear of terraces in many places, with the rears of Barons Court Road highly visible from the railway, and says the uniformity of rear elevations should be preserved.

LBHF: Barons Court Conservation Area character profile, April 2005 edition, pages 21–32 · LBHF: Barons Court Conservation Area character profile, April 2005 edition, pages 11–20

Designated 1975; profile updated October 2005

Queen’s Club Gardens Conservation Area

Conservation Area No. 11 was designated on 8 August 1975 to control demolition and works to trees, extended on 18 November 1991 to Nos. 2 to 106 (even) Musard Road, Normand Mews and Normand Mansions, and extended again on 14 July 2004. Its profile, approved by committee that day and updated in October 2005, says significant changes to the massing or appearance of the core mansion blocks should not be permitted, and records Nos. 2 to 112 (even) Musard Road, of 1885, as locally listed Buildings of Merit. St Andrew’s Church has since been listed at Grade II.

LBHF: Queen’s Club Gardens Conservation Area character profile, approved 14 July 2004, updated October 2005 · LBHF: Queen’s Club Gardens Conservation Area · Planning Data: St Andrews Fulham Fields (St Andrew’s Church, Greyhound Road), Grade II, list entry 1393119

An Article 4 direction of 3 July 1981 removes the permitted development rights to alter the roofs, build rear extensions or paint previously unpainted brickwork at Nos. 1 to 6 (consec.) Queen’s Club Terrace. The profile adds that a new or enlarged front lightwell needs planning permission and will not normally be permitted where it would take more than half the front garden, that removing original chimney stacks seen from the street needs permission and should be resisted, and it encourages owners of PVCu windows to change them for designs and materials matching the originals.

LBHF: Queen’s Club Gardens Conservation Area character profile, approved 14 July 2004, updated October 2005 · LBHF: properties affected by Article 4 directions, list last amended 1 October 2011

Article 4 list amended 1 October 2011; basements 2018

Article 4 directions and the basement rule

Hammersmith and Fulham’s summary list of properties under Article 4 directions was last amended on 1 October 2011, and for Barons Court, Queen’s Club Gardens, Gunter Estate, Fitzgeorge and Fitzjames, Olympia & Avonmore and Turneville / Chesson its only entry is Nos. 1 to 6 Queen’s Club Terrace. The Barons Court profile of April 2005 and the Fitzgeorge and Fitzjames profile of March 2000 each recorded no directions at the time, and the council’s directions page names none for those areas, but a list last amended in 2011 may not show later changes, so ask about the exact address.

LBHF: properties affected by Article 4 directions, list last amended 1 October 2011 · LBHF: properties affected by Article 4 directions · LBHF: Barons Court Conservation Area character profile, April 2005 edition, pages 21–32 · LBHF: Fitzgeorge and Fitzjames Conservation Area character profile, March 2000, pages 16–21

Basement work answers to a different direction, which reaches every part of the borough other than the Old Oak and Park Royal Development Corporation’s area; the council made it on 25 April 2017, and it has applied since 26 April 2018. Under it, digging a basement, forming a lightwell or carrying out other development below a house or its curtilage is no longer householder permitted development, whether or not the house is in a conservation area.

LBHF: Article 4 directions, including the borough-wide basement direction · LBHF: borough-wide basement Article 4 direction, in force 26 April 2018

Local Plan adopted 28 February 2018

Hammersmith and Fulham’s Local Plan

Adopted on 28 February 2018, the Local Plan replaced the borough’s plans of 2011 and 2013 and is now the basis for planning decisions; the council warns that conservation boundaries have changed since its Policies Map was published. Policy HO2 permits converting an existing home into two or more where the original has a net floor area over 120 square metres, at least half the new homes have two or more bedrooms, family homes have access to any garden or amenity space and on-street parking stress is not worsened; its justification allows more flexibility in some places, such as above shops.

LBHF: Local Plan, adopted 28 February 2018 · LBHF Local Plan 2018: policy document

The plan makes North End Road (West Kensington) a Key Local Centre whose frontages include 1 Barons Court Road, 2 Castletown Road and 1 and 2–6 Charleville Road, and the Barons Court shops at 45–55 Palliser Road, 1, 3 and 3a Margravine Gardens and the station shops a Neighbourhood Parade. Policy DC11 sets tests for any new or extended basement, among them: a single storey, although exceptions may be made on large sites; a reach into or under the garden of at most half the host building’s depth, measured from the principal rear elevation, and at most half the garden’s depth; and, submitted with the planning application, a Construction Method Statement carried out by a qualified structural or civil engineer.

LBHF Local Plan 2018: policy document

Ordering windows, booking roof work and agreeing any excavation should wait until the address has been checked regime by regime. Building Regulations approval is one strand. Planning permission is another: conservation-area status, the Queen’s Club Terrace direction and the borough-wide basement direction each narrow what a householder may do without it, while Policy DC11 for basements and, inside their areas, the Barons Court and Queen’s Club Gardens profiles shape the answer. Listed building consent, a landlord’s licence under the lease and Party Wall notice are further strands, and none answers for another.

When planning permission is required · Householder permitted development technical guidance · When Building Regulations approval is needed · LBHF: conservation areas, character profiles and maps · LBHF: properties affected by Article 4 directions, list last amended 1 October 2011 · LBHF: borough-wide basement Article 4 direction, in force 26 April 2018 · LBHF Local Plan 2018: policy document · LBHF: Barons Court Conservation Area character profile, April 2005 edition, pages 21–32 · LBHF: Queen’s Club Gardens Conservation Area character profile, approved 14 July 2004, updated October 2005 · LBHF: statutory listed buildings · LEASE: alterations and home improvements · Party-wall work requiring notice

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

Parapet roofs, timber sashes, mansion-block stacks and front gardens

Sash windows and replacement frames

Record which windows are original and how sound each one is, since that evidence decides between repair with draught-proofing, added secondary glazing and a new frame. The Queen’s Club Gardens profile records white-painted timber sliding sashes on its blocks and encourages owners of PVCu replacements to go back to designs and materials that match the originals. Householder rights do not apply to a flat, and listing brings its own consent; replacement windows and doors may need Building Regulations approval too, and the lease may have its own say.

LBHF: Queen’s Club Gardens Conservation Area character profile, approved 14 July 2004, updated October 2005 · Householder permitted development technical guidance · LBHF: statutory listed buildings · When Building Regulations approval is needed · LEASE: alterations and home improvements

Bathrooms in mansion blocks and conversions

Before a Queen’s Club Gardens or Kensington Hall Gardens flat gains a new bathroom layout, find the soil stack: the distance and fall to it decide which positions will drain. Ask the managing agent or freeholder who maintains the stack and risers, where the supplies are isolated and how the ceiling below can be reached. Fix the waterproofing, the floor make-up and the extract route while the room is stripped back. Also confirm whether the plumbing and any electrical work by the bath or shower needs Building Regulations approval.

LEASE: alterations and home improvements · When Building Regulations approval is needed · LBHF: Queen’s Club Gardens Conservation Area character profile, approved 14 July 2004, updated October 2005 · LBHF: Barons Court Conservation Area character profile, April 2005 edition, pages 11–20

Structural checks and acoustic floors

Have a structural engineer confirm what an internal wall carries, which way the joists span and whether pipe runs have notched them, before anything is removed or a heavier floor finish is laid. Where a terrace west of Vereker Road has a basement flat, or a house has been divided, one home sits over another: settle the floor make-up, the sound insulation and what the lease permits together, with Approved Document E in view. Dividing one house into several homes is tested against Policy HO2 on floor area, bedroom mix, amenity space and parking.

When Building Regulations approval is needed · GOV.UK: Approved Document E, resistance to sound · LEASE: alterations and home improvements · LBHF Local Plan 2018: policy document · LBHF: Barons Court Conservation Area character profile, April 2005 edition, pages 1–10

Front gardens, mews setts and a private square

West of the cemetery the Barons Court profile describes two-storey terraces with suburban front gardens, and its guidance says digging out front gardens for basement light will not normally be permitted where their planting is integral to the street or terrace. It records the Comeragh Mews entrance arches and granite setts as Buildings of Merit. The Queen’s Club Gardens profile says a front lightwell taking more than half the garden will not normally be permitted, and that the central square is private, normally open only to the leaseholders of the surrounding mansion flats.

LBHF: Barons Court Conservation Area character profile, April 2005 edition, pages 11–20 · LBHF: Barons Court Conservation Area character profile, April 2005 edition, pages 21–32 · LBHF: Queen’s Club Gardens Conservation Area character profile, approved 14 July 2004, updated October 2005

Lower floors, basements and protected trees

Except in the Old Oak and Park Royal area, Hammersmith and Fulham’s basement direction removes householder rights for basement work, and DC11 normally keeps it to one storey, among other limits, with an engineer’s Construction Method Statement. The council needs six weeks’ written notice before a tree on private land in a conservation area is pruned or removed, if its trunk is 75 mm or more across. Tree preservation orders are separate: the council’s list includes 21B Barons Court Road and the north side of Beaumont Avenue, but ask the council about any particular tree.

LBHF: borough-wide basement Article 4 direction, in force 26 April 2018 · LBHF Local Plan 2018: policy document · LBHF: trees and tree preservation orders · LBHF: tree preservation orders by address (TPO list) · Tree preservation orders and conservation-area trees

Insulation, heating and the roofline

Changes to insulation, heating or ventilation can alter the moisture balance of older brick walls, so plan them together; Historic England’s guidance takes a whole-building approach. Inside the Barons Court Conservation Area, check roof insulation against the profile, which considers raising a ridge for more ceiling height unacceptable; roof extensions are not permitted development in any conservation area. The Queen’s Club Gardens profile says removing an original chimney stack seen from the street needs planning permission and should be resisted, so plan flue and vent routes that leave the stacks in place.

Historic England: a whole-building approach · LBHF: Barons Court Conservation Area character profile, April 2005 edition, pages 21–32 · Householder permitted development technical guidance · LBHF: Queen’s Club Gardens Conservation Area character profile, approved 14 July 2004, updated October 2005

A practical plan for the street and building

Working hours, deliveries and shared access

Skips, scaffolds, bay suspensions and TfL roads

Settle the delivery and waste arrangements with the street in mind before anything is booked. Hammersmith and Fulham grants skip licences to skip companies alone, for no less than 14 days; no skip may stand on the footpath, and one in a parking bay needs a suspension as well. Scaffold licences go only to scaffolding companies, for a minimum of one month. Bay suspensions need notice: 8 days for up to six bays for up to three days, and two weeks or more for bigger or longer ones. The council lists Talgarth Road and West Cromwell Road among roads where Transport for London is responsible for the pavements; on TfL red routes, TfL issues the licences and would rather materials were loaded straight into a vehicle than into a skip.

LBHF: skip licences · LBHF: scaffolding licences · LBHF: parking suspensions and road closures · LBHF: roads, bridges and pavements, naming the roads TfL manages · TfL: highway licences on red routes

Noisy-work hours, the managing agent and neighbours

Hammersmith and Fulham’s timetable for noisy building work starts at 8am every weekday and Saturday, ends at 6pm on weekdays and 1pm on Saturdays, and leaves out Sundays and bank holidays; builders working noisily outside those hours may be liable for prosecution, and contractors can apply under section 61 for prior consent to go beyond them. A lease or a mansion block may carry stricter rules of its own, so ask the managing agent before setting the sequence of work. Tell neighbours when the loudest stages are due, and settle at the outset whether the household moves out or which rooms it keeps.

LBHF: construction site noise and permitted hours · LEASE: alterations and home improvements

A clear scope before a price

Plan your renovation budget and quotation

A West Kensington or Barons Court quotation can only be compared with another when both price one written scope. Separate room-by-room work from repairs to parapets, sashes, chimneys and front boundaries, and show apart anything that waits on the council, a landlord, a managing agent or a neighbour.

Condition before work starts

Capture the present state of the building, so that each price answers to evidence.

  • Scaled survey drawings and dated photos
  • Parapet, roof and sash repairs listed
  • Floors and drains opened where doubts remain

Layouts, fittings and service runs

Give each room its own drawn layout and schedule, so that all the contractors price identical fittings, finishes and service runs.

  • Finishes and fittings counted room by room
  • Drainage, heating, extract and cabling routes
  • Anything you are buying directly, with its delivery date

Approvals, notices and street licences

Name every approval, notice and licence the scheme calls for, and who will secure each.

  • Council, listing, Article 4 and lease checks named
  • Party Wall steps limited to notifiable work
  • Street licences from the council or TfL allowed for

Open items and sequence

Before signing, set down in writing what is still undecided, what is excluded and who answers for what.

  • VAT position and provisional sums stated
  • Order dates for long-lead items
  • Final certificates and inspection records due

Your West Kensington or Barons Court address triggers no fixed surcharge, and the programme follows the scope, not the location. Ask every contractor to state how VAT is treated, which professional fees are included and how they will price defects uncovered once work begins. Bathroom-only work is treated as a standalone job, with its own quotation for the room.

From an idea to a workable scope

Prepare your brief and renovation budget

  1. Where the home is and what it is

    Tell us which building the work is in: the full address, whether it is a house or a flat, and for a flat its floor and whether it sits in a mansion block, on an estate or in a converted house. Photographs of the rooms, the street front and front garden, any visible roof and any staining or cracks also help.

  2. Papers and what you already know

    Send what you hold: earlier planning and listed building decisions, building control completion certificates, the lease or title, any managing-agent rules and old drawings. Mention anything already established, such as the conservation area, a statutory listing or Building of Merit entry, an Article 4 direction or a protected tree close to the work.

  3. Decided points and open questions

    Divide the brief into decisions already made and questions still open, such as what a wall carries, the state of the drains or the landlord’s answer. Give every contractor the same provisional allowance for each open question, so that the totals can be read side by side.

  4. Who arranges what, and when

    Allocate the tasks: who submits applications and notices, who arranges the skip, the scaffold and any bay suspension, and who calls building control out to inspect. Plan the noisiest work within Hammersmith and Fulham’s permitted hours and any rules from the lease or managing agent, say if the household will remain in residence, and fix in writing how any change to the scope is priced and logged.

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

Discuss your West Kensington and Barons Court project

Our Hampstead base, serving West Kensington and Barons Court

Talk to our Finchley Road studio

Our studio is in Hampstead on Finchley Road, at NW3 6DN. We serve West Kensington and Barons Court 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.

Book a free feasibility visit
Hampstead Renovations
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 West Kensington and Barons Court: practical answers

Do you take on bathroom-only projects?

Yes. Bathroom-only work is welcome here as a standalone renovation, whether the room serves a terrace house or a mansion-block or estate flat. For a first look, measure the room, photograph the fittings and any marks of damp, and say what lies below it, since a flat or ceiling underneath changes how waterproofing and access are planned.

Does my address fall inside a conservation area?

Only the full address answers that, and some addresses lie outside every area: Hammersmith and Fulham Council lists 44 conservation areas of its own, covering about half the borough, among them Barons Court, Queen’s Club Gardens, Gunter Estate, Fitzgeorge and Fitzjames, Olympia & Avonmore and Turneville / Chesson, each with its own boundary. The Barons Court profile is dated April 2005, the Queen’s Club Gardens profile was updated in October 2005 and the Fitzgeorge and Fitzjames profile was published in March 2000, while Gunter Estate and Turneville / Chesson have none yet, so check the council’s current maps.

LBHF: conservation areas, character profiles and maps · LBHF: Barons Court Conservation Area, with its current boundary map · LBHF: Barons Court Conservation Area character profile, April 2005 edition, pages 1–10 · LBHF: Queen’s Club Gardens Conservation Area character profile, approved 14 July 2004, updated October 2005 · LBHF: Fitzgeorge and Fitzjames Conservation Area character profile, March 2000, pages 6–10 · LBHF: Queen’s Club Gardens Conservation Area · LBHF: Gunter Estate Conservation Area · LBHF: Turneville and Chesson Conservation Area

How do I find out about Article 4 directions and listing here?

Check each by address. In the Barons Court, Queen’s Club Gardens, Gunter Estate, Fitzgeorge and Fitzjames, Olympia & Avonmore and Turneville / Chesson conservation areas, the council’s Article 4 list, last amended on 1 October 2011, has one entry: Nos. 1 to 6 Queen’s Club Terrace, where a 1981 direction removes rights to alter roofs, build rear extensions or paint previously unpainted brickwork. A borough-wide direction removes householder permitted development for basements and lightwells. Barons Court station, St Paul’s Studios and 17 St Dunstan’s Road are listed Grade II, and 22 and 22A Avonmore Road Grade II*.

LBHF: properties affected by Article 4 directions, list last amended 1 October 2011 · LBHF: Queen’s Club Gardens Conservation Area character profile, approved 14 July 2004, updated October 2005 · LBHF: borough-wide basement Article 4 direction, in force 26 April 2018 · Planning Data: Barons Court Underground Station, Grade II, list entry 1358562 · Planning Data: 135–149 Talgarth Road (St Paul’s Studios), Grade II, list entry 1079780 · Planning Data: 17 St Dunstan’s Road, Grade II, list entry 1261962 · Planning Data: 22 and 22A Avonmore Road, Grade II*, list entry 1079838 · LBHF: statutory listed buildings

Can I replace or double-glaze the windows?

First establish what the windows are and what governs them. To swap windows or doors you may need Building Regulations approval; listed building consent can apply on a listed building; and since no householder permitted development rights attach to a flat, ask the council whether a flat’s new frames need planning permission. On the Queen’s Club Gardens mansion blocks the profile records white-painted timber sliding sashes, and it encourages owners of PVCu windows to change them for designs and materials matching the originals.

When Building Regulations approval is needed · LBHF: statutory listed buildings · Householder permitted development technical guidance · LBHF: Queen’s Club Gardens Conservation Area character profile, approved 14 July 2004, updated October 2005

Whose consent do I need for work inside my flat?

Internal works are not generally development, although splitting one home into two or more is, and Policy HO2 sets the tests for that. Read the lease first: its terms may require the landlord’s or freeholder’s permission before any alteration. Even inside, a bathroom with new plumbing or new electrics close to the bath or shower may need Building Regulations approval, and internal changes to a listed building can require listed building consent; Hammersmith and Fulham reminds owners that going ahead without that consent is a criminal offence.

When planning permission is required · LBHF Local Plan 2018: policy document · LEASE: alterations and home improvements · When Building Regulations approval is needed · LBHF: statutory listed buildings

What decides whether two rooms can be joined or the bathroom moved?

It depends on two checks. An engineer’s inspection shows whether the wall supports the floor or roof above and what a new beam would bear on; a drainage check shows whether waste from the new bathroom position can fall to the stack, which in a mansion block may serve other flats. The lease, the Building Regulations, any Party Wall notice for work on a shared wall and, if the building is listed, listed building consent then follow.

When Building Regulations approval is needed · LEASE: alterations and home improvements · Party-wall work requiring notice · LBHF: statutory listed buildings

Can a basement be dug or a lower ground floor deepened?

A new or deeper basement is a bigger step than a refit. Outside the Old Oak and Park Royal area, Hammersmith and Fulham’s Article 4 basement direction ends householder permitted development for basements and lightwells, so a planning application is judged against Policy DC11, which limits a basement’s reach under the garden and its number of storeys and asks for an engineer’s Construction Method Statement. The Barons Court profile says digging out front gardens for basement light will not normally be permitted where their planting is integral to the street or terrace.

LBHF: borough-wide basement Article 4 direction, in force 26 April 2018 · LBHF Local Plan 2018: policy document · LBHF: Barons Court Conservation Area character profile, April 2005 edition, pages 21–32

Which hours are set aside for noisy building work?

On a Hammersmith and Fulham address, keep noisy work inside the council’s two windows, weekdays 8am–6pm and Saturdays 8am–1pm, with Sundays and bank holidays kept quiet. Builders who work noisily outside those hours may be liable for prosecution, although contractors can apply under section 61 for prior consent. Stricter terms in a lease or from a block’s managing agent can narrow those hours further, so ask before the work is booked.

LBHF: construction site noise and permitted hours · Find the council for the property · LEASE: alterations and home improvements

What is the fairest way to compare quotations?

Issue one written scope to every builder and read the replies line by line: quantities, services, finishes and the repairs to parapets, sashes or chimneys you want. Then compare their assumptions on VAT, professional fees, consents, street licences, protection of shared stairs and provisional sums, resolving the biggest uncertainties before looking at totals. The location itself justifies neither an extra charge nor a set finishing date.

From which studio do you serve West Kensington and Barons Court?

Hampstead is our base, at Unit 3, Palace Court, 250 Finchley Road, London NW3 6DN, and we serve West Kensington and Barons Court from this office. An email with the address, the rooms concerned and a few pictures is enough for a first conversation, and the lease, drawings or council correspondence can be sent once you have them to hand.

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Guides for your property and project

Explore the relevant property guide, then check the current official sources above for your address and proposed work.

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I would like to thank Ross and his team for their consistent commitment to quality and their unerring reliability. They delivered our property to specification and on time, proving to be an extremely effective, experienced, and proactive contractor.

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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.

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A company where you get value for your money while at the same time achieving excellent quality. Their work is carried out on time and within budget. We've worked with them on multiple projects and they never disappoint.

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Hampstead Renovations operates alongside Hampstead Chartered Surveyors & Building Consultancy — an RICS Regulated firm providing chartered building surveying, fire safety and project advisory services, under shared directorship. Both practices are based in Hampstead NW3, giving West Kensington and Barons Court clients access to professional oversight from survey through to handover.
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