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West Kensington and Barons Court W14 · House refurbishment

House refurbishment in West Kensington and Barons Court

Parapet terraces, gault-brick houses and linked 1920s semis

The houses here include late Victorian terraces and linked 1920s houses, and Hammersmith and Fulham’s conservation-area profiles record them in detail. This page follows those profiles beyond the front elevation: backs seen from side streets, roof terraces on back extensions, low front walls, the Olympia & Avonmore terraces and one listed studio house, then the council’s guidance on extending, insulating, re-glazing and fitting solar panels or a heat pump.

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House refurbishment in West Kensington and Barons Court at a glance

Before anything outside a house is planned, find the group it belongs to in Hammersmith and Fulham’s profiles. The Barons Court profile covers the terraces on both sides of Hammersmith Cemetery and the linked 1920s houses on the Barton Road island site. The Queen’s Club Gardens profile records Nos. 2 to 52 (even) Musard Road as two-storey houses under shallow slate roofs with decorative ridge tiles. The Olympia & Avonmore profile names terraces on Avonmore Road, Stanwick Road, Lisgar Terrace and Matheson Road. Check the council as well: the W14 postcode is also used in Kensington and Chelsea.

LBHF: Barons Court Conservation Area character profile, April 2005 edition, pages 11–20 · LBHF: Queen’s Club Gardens Conservation Area character profile, approved 14 July 2004, updated October 2005 · LBHF: Olympia & Avonmore Conservation Area character profile, approved 10 July 2001, updated to May 2010 · RBKC: Holland Park conservation area appraisal, adopted 19 June 2017 · Find the council for the property

For the whole area, including conservation areas, permissions and working hours, read our West Kensington and Barons Court renovation guide.

Approved guide prices

What does a house refurbishment cost in West Kensington and Barons Court?

Cost in West Kensington and Barons Court depends on depth of work. A cosmetic refurbishment that keeps the existing layout runs £650–£1,250/sqm (typically £90,000–£180,000), while a back-to-brick renovation runs £2,250–£3,250/sqm (typically £275,000–£475,000), excluding VAT. A written scope and site assessment are needed before any project price can be fixed.

Scope of workGuide rateTypical total
Cosmetic — existing layout retained£650–£1,250/sqm£90,000–£180,000
Back-to-brick renovation£2,250–£3,250/sqm£275,000–£475,000
Typical programme16–32 weeks on site

Guide rates exclude VAT and are set by depth of work, not by postcode. Compare scopes in our London refurbishment cost-per-square-metre guide or try the cost calculator.

The buildings

What the Barons Court profile recorded on the houses’ backs, roofs and fronts

The April 2005 edition of the Barons Court profile records what had already changed in several groups of houses. Read its observations as a picture of that year; current policy is Hammersmith and Fulham’s 2018 Local Plan, with the council’s adopted planning guidance beside it.

Along Vereker Road, the profile noted that the backs of the terraces could be seen from the streets that cross it, and that these simpler, uniform rear elevations showed few alterations. On the island site bounded by Barons Court Road, Barton Road and Palliser Road, each of the linked 1920s houses was designed with doors to an integral garage or coach house and a round-headed recessed porch. Several had since turned that space into extra living accommodation, putting windows where the doors had been. The profile records these changes but does not say whether they needed permission.

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

West of Hammersmith Cemetery, in the two-storey terraces, the profile found the original windows generally remarkably intact, apart from the occasional sash replaced by a modern casement, although details such as glazing bars, stained glass and leaded fanlights had been lost in places. Some houses kept their terracotta copings and finials, but much of that detail had gone where roofs were re-covered, and the profile says this, with the use of fibrous slates, detracts from the area’s character. It adds that the few roof extensions here disturb the regular roofline and detract from the terraces and the conservation area.

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

At the front, the profile notes that many late 19th century houses here have low brick walls with features such as moulded stone copings or elaborate capped piers, and its guidelines say these should be retained and kept in good condition, or reinstated where missing. Its sketch of good and bad practice shows one house with its balustrading, sash windows, bay, railings and brickwork in good condition and unpainted, next to a roof extension on an unimpaired terrace that it labels unacceptable and as resulting in an unsightly gutter and downpipe.

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

Permissions and local rules

Outside a house here: what Hammersmith and Fulham’s guidance looks at

Roof terraces on back extensions

Can a roof terrace be cut into the back extension?

In the Barons Court Conservation Area, the April 2005 profile says rear roof terraces cut into the slates of rear extensions require planning permission and will be resisted, both for their detrimental visual effect on the building and for the possible overlooking of adjoining properties. The justification to Hammersmith and Fulham’s 2018 Local Plan makes a related borough-wide point: changes to terraced houses, extensions and roof terraces among them, can affect neighbours if not carefully designed, for example through overlooking and visual intrusion, and can also affect flooding, for example through surface water run-off.

LBHF: Barons Court Conservation Area character profile, April 2005 edition, pages 21–32 · LBHF Local Plan 2018: policy document

Massing in the Queen’s Club Gardens terraces

Can a Musard Road or Greyhound Road house grow?

The Queen’s Club Gardens profile of 2004, updated in 2005, describes the Musard Road group as homogeneous terraces of family houses, and the Greyhound Road and St Andrew’s Road group as terraces beside large freestanding buildings, adding that massing alterations would disrupt those patterns and are unlikely to be permitted. Check which conservation area covers a Musard Road or Greyhound Road address. Hammersmith and Fulham’s 2018 guidance adds that where the narrow space between back additions is already at the margins of acceptability, further extension, particularly above ground level, could create unacceptable conditions for neighbours and will generally be resisted.

LBHF: Queen’s Club Gardens Conservation Area character profile, approved 14 July 2004, updated October 2005 · LBHF Planning Guidance SPD, adopted 28 February 2018

Solar panels on a listed studio house

Do roof panels need consent on a listed house?

Hammersmith and Fulham’s guidance says solar panels do not normally need planning permission, but its exceptions include panels on a listed building, panels restricted by an Article 4 direction and panels on a wall fronting a highway in a conservation area. For one of the listed studio houses at St Paul’s Studios, the register records planning permission and listed building consent granted in 2014 for works including a rooflight, an access hatch and a solar panel, and a 2014 application to retain four panels on the roof that ended with an appeal dismissed. These were single decisions, not a rule.

LBHF climate change and planning: solar panels · LBHF: planning, building control and licensing applications search · Planning Data: 135–149 Talgarth Road (St Paul’s Studios), Grade II, list entry 1079780

Terraces in Olympia & Avonmore

What does that profile record about its houses?

The Olympia & Avonmore profile, last updated in May 2010, describes Nos. 24 to 76 (even) Avonmore Road as a uniform terrace of soft red brick, three storeys over semi-basements with full dormers in slate roofs, all linked by a continuous first-floor balcony with metal railings. Nos. 2 to 20 (even) Stanwick Road, a gault-brick terrace with an attic floor in full dormers, still had their original ornate cast-iron balcony and front area railings when it was written, as did Nos. 1 to 16 Lisgar Terrace.

LBHF: Olympia & Avonmore Conservation Area character profile, approved 10 July 2001, updated to May 2010

Working hours, skips, parking and the conservation area maps for the whole area are in our West Kensington and Barons Court guide. Local guidance checked ; requirements depend on the address, the building and the complete proposal.

What the work covers

What a whole-house refurbishment here covers

Back, roof and front recorded first

The survey begins with the parts the profiles here describe most closely: the rear elevation and any back addition, the roof covering with its copings and chimneys, the windows, and the front wall, piers and railings. Each is recorded as original, altered or replaced, with photographs from the garden and the street. That record shows what can be repaired, what might be reinstated and which changes will need drawings for the council.

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

Windows: repair, re-glaze or replace

Hammersmith and Fulham’s guidance says replacing the windows of a single house does not generally need planning permission unless the frame material changes, for example from timber to PVCu; permission may be required where an Article 4 direction removes rights for external alterations. On a listed house, replacement windows need planning permission and listed building consent, and internal secondary glazing needs listed building consent. The same guidance points to slim double-glazed units that can be fitted into existing timber sashes or casements without losing their original character.

LBHF climate change and planning: replacement double and triple glazing windows

Insulation, heating and older walls

Internal insulation needs no planning permission unless the house is listed, the council’s retrofit guide says; external cladding must match the appearance of the existing materials or permission is needed, and, among other cases, in a conservation area cladding a house with stone, artificial stone, pebble dash, render, timber, plastic or tiles needs permission. Its Climate Change SPD, adopted in October 2023, encourages alternatives to gas boilers, such as heat pumps, and says insulation should be breathable and chosen to suit the original construction and materials.

LBHF climate change and planning: insulating your home · LBHF: Climate Change Supplementary Planning Document, adopted 25 October 2023

How we work

How we run a West Kensington and Barons Court house refurbishment

  1. Free feasibility visit

    We walk round the house with you and discuss what is feasible.

  2. Survey

    Rooms, levels and features to keep are measured, with opening-up or asbestos checks where needed.

  3. Design and consents

    Our own architects and structural engineers design the layout and structural openings, plan the service routes with them, and identify which consents and party wall notices apply.

  4. Price and contract

    A fixed written price and a JCT contract follow the survey, scope and specification. It records allowances, exclusions and how changes are priced.

  5. On site

    Work is inspected before it is covered, and a director reviews key decisions.

  6. Handover

    Testing, commissioning and snagging. Completed work carries a 12-month defects-rectification period under the JCT contract terms.

Real projects, clearly located

Examples of our house refurbishment work elsewhere in London

None of these projects is in West Kensington and Barons Court. Each card names where the work was done, so you can judge the finish and the approach before you brief your own.

Your brief

Before you ask for a quotation

  1. Find the house in its profile

    Send the full address and tell us whether the house is in the Barons Court, Queen’s Club Gardens, Olympia & Avonmore or another conservation area, and whether it is listed or a locally listed Building of Merit. If you know of earlier planning or listed building decisions on the house, list them too.

  2. Photograph the back, roof and front

    Photograph the rear elevation, any back addition, the roof covering and chimneys, and the front wall, piers and railings. List what has changed since the house was built, if you know: a roof extension, a terrace over the back addition, a converted garage, new windows or painted brick.

  3. Settle what the household needs

    Say how many bedrooms and bathrooms you need, whether you will live in the house during the work and which rooms must stay usable. If you are weighing a rear or roof addition, say so at the start, since the profiles and the borough’s extension guidance can decide whether it is worth drawing.

Ready to take the next step? Send the address and a short outline of the work.

Book a free feasibility visit

Questions before you begin

House refurbishment in West Kensington and Barons Court: questions

How does the council judge a rear extension beside a neighbour?

Hammersmith and Fulham’s 2018 Local Plan says extensions will be considered acceptable where it can be shown that there is no detrimental impact on neighbours’ privacy, daylight and sunlight to their rooms, outlook from their windows or the openness between properties. Its Planning Guidance SPD adds a general rule that an extension should not breach a 45-degree line, measured from the rear boundary at ground level where the neighbour’s garden is under 9 metres, or 2 metres up where it is longer; where any part goes past those lines, on-site judgement is a determining factor.

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

Can I repaint, render or repoint the brick front?

In a conservation area, Hammersmith and Fulham’s Planning Guidance SPD says external brick or stone walls should be kept in their original condition and should not be painted, rendered or clad in any material, and that repointing is usually with lime-based mortar in a flush finish. Where brick has already been painted or rendered, as the Olympia & Avonmore profile found on some houses in the gault-brick Matheson Road terraces, ask the council’s conservation officer before choosing a finish or taking one off.

LBHF Planning Guidance SPD, adopted 28 February 2018 · LBHF: Olympia & Avonmore Conservation Area character profile, approved 10 July 2001, updated to May 2010

Is a locally listed Building of Merit treated like a listed house?

Not in the same way. Hammersmith and Fulham’s Climate Change SPD of 2023 says listed building consent is not required for works to a locally listed building, but where a retrofit to one needs planning permission, the council will only grant it if the proposals would conserve the building, unless the public benefits outweigh any harm. Before a retrofit is designed, ask the council whether your house is on its local register of Buildings of Merit, and if it is, plan each change to conserve the building.

LBHF: Climate Change Supplementary Planning Document, adopted 25 October 2023 · LBHF: Local Register of Buildings of Merit, as at August 2015

What if an earlier owner removed a chimney breast or converted the loft without approval?

Hammersmith and Fulham accepts regularisation applications for work begun on or after 11 November 1985. Its building control guide names loft conversions and structural alterations, such as removing a chimney breast, as common alterations that must be considered within the Building Regulations, and says the work may have to be opened up for inspection. The council calls the completion certificate a very important document when a property is sold, so ask the seller for certificates and settle any gap before the refurbishment is designed.

LBHF: guide to building control applications

Can I fit an air source heat pump?

Usually without planning permission, Hammersmith and Fulham’s guidance says, but there are exceptions, among them a unit, with its housing, larger than 1.5 cubic metres on a house, and, in a conservation area, one on a wall or roof that fronts a highway. The council suggests siting them at the rear and away from neighbouring properties. Its 2018 Planning Guidance SPD adds that, in a conservation area, heat pumps needing external grilles should be designed to be sympathetic to the exterior character.

LBHF climate change and planning: air source heat pumps · LBHF Planning Guidance SPD, adopted 28 February 2018

Do I need permission to rebuild the front wall or add railings?

Possibly. In a conservation area, Hammersmith and Fulham’s Planning Guidance SPD says any new structure over one metre high on a boundary adjoining the highway, or over two metres on a boundary at the rear, would require planning permission, and that destroying planted front gardens to create crossovers, access and hard standings will be resisted. Before rebuilding a front wall, piers or railings, show the council the design and ask whether permission is needed.

LBHF Planning Guidance SPD, adopted 28 February 2018

How much does a house refurbishment cost in West Kensington and Barons Court?

It depends on scope. In West Kensington and Barons Court, a cosmetic refurbishment keeping the existing layout runs £650–£1,250/sqm (typically £90,000–£180,000); a back-to-brick renovation runs £2,250–£3,250/sqm (typically £275,000–£475,000), excluding VAT. A written scope and site assessment come before any fixed price.

Book a free feasibility visit

Talk to us about your West Kensington and Barons Court house

Tell us the address and what you want to change in your West Kensington and Barons Court house. We reply within one working day, Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm.

Or call 020 7101 3168. We serve West Kensington and Barons Court from our studio at Unit 3, Palace Court, 250 Finchley Road, London NW3 6DN.

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