Central London · SW3 · SW5 · SW7 · SW10
Refurbishments in Kensington and Chelsea
The Smart Solution for Refurbishments. Family-run since 2008, working across Kensington and Chelsea and all 32 London boroughs.
Extension + loft, North Finchley
Rear extension and loft conversion in London stock brick with French doors, North FinchleyRefurbishments for Kensington and Chelsea homes
For total peace of mind, online project tracking and a complete one-stop-shop — from plastering and tiling to the installation of underfloor heating or spotlight fittings — look no further than S S Builders London. We refurbish period terraces, ex-local-authority flats and new-build apartments across all 32 London boroughs, and we take the whole job: no chasing six different trades, no gaps between them where the programme quietly slips.
Stucco-fronted Georgian and Victorian terraces of exceptional value, almost entirely within conservation areas and with a high proportion of listed buildings. Basement works are subject to some of the strictest controls in the country.
That housing mix matters more than it sounds. It determines whether your refurbishments is a straightforward job or a structural one — how the loads transfer, whether a Party Wall Award is likely, and what the council will accept on the elevation. We survey before we price, so the number you get reflects your actual house rather than an average one.
Included as standard
- Full survey and fixed written scope before any work starts
- Strip-out, waste removal and skip management
- Plastering, tiling, carpentry and decorating by our own trades
- Electrical first and second fix, certified on completion
- Plumbing, heating and underfloor heating installation
- Kitchen and bathroom supply and fit
- Online project tracking with photo updates
- Payment in arrears of work completed
- Timescale
- 2–10 weeks depending on scope
- Planning authority
- Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea
- Postcodes
- SW3, SW5, SW7, SW10
- Housing stock
- Mainly flats
What Kensington and Chelsea housing means for the structure
Refurbishing a flat is mostly a leasehold question rather than a planning one. Internal works rarely need planning permission, but the lease almost certainly requires the freeholder's written consent for structural alterations, moving bathrooms and kitchens, and sometimes for changing floor coverings. Part E sound insulation applies where works affect the separating floor, and that is the item most often overlooked.
What needs approval in a refurbishment
Internal refurbishment rarely needs planning permission, but plenty of it is notifiable under the Building Regulations. Electrical work in a dwelling falls under Part P; new or altered drainage, structural openings and replacement windows all require building control involvement.
Removing a wall is the usual trigger. If it is load-bearing — and in most London terraces the spine wall is — it needs a structural engineer's calculation, an adequately sized beam, correctly sized padstones, and a building control inspection before it is covered up.
Listed buildings are a separate regime entirely: listed building consent is required for internal alterations as well as external ones, and it applies to features people often assume are cosmetic, such as original panelling, staircases and fireplaces.
Where the property is a flat, the lease usually requires the freeholder's written consent for alterations, and often for changing floor coverings. That consent takes time to obtain and should be started before the programme is fixed.
Those are the national rules. In Kensington and Chelsea they are administered by Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, and they can be tightened locally by a conservation area or an Article 4 direction covering your street. We confirm the position for your address in writing before you commit to anything.
Working in Kensington and Chelsea
We are based in Chadwell Heath, RM6. Kensington and Chelsea is a regular run for us, and we resource jobs there properly rather than stretching a crew across the city. Scaffolding licences, skip permits and highway licences are all applied for in our name as part of the contract, because they have to be — they are the contractor's responsibility, not yours.
Access shapes the programme in London more than anywhere else. Narrow streets, controlled parking and shared alleys all affect how materials get in and waste gets out, and we plan for it at survey stage rather than discovering it in week two. Where a job needs a wait-and-load skip or a grab lorry instead of a standing skip, we say so in the quote.
You get a named project manager for the duration — Jagpreet (Sandeep) or Simarjit (Sonu) depending on where the job sits — and you pay in arrears of work completed rather than handing over a deposit and hoping.
Our work
Refurbishments we have completed
Our own photographs, not stock images. Ask and we will send you jobs closest to your Kensington and Chelsea postcode.
Answers
Refurbishments in Kensington and Chelsea — common questions
Do I need planning permission for refurbishments in Kensington and Chelsea?
It depends on the property type and what is proposed. Many single-storey rear extensions and loft conversions fall under permitted development, but those rights do not apply to flats and are restricted in conservation areas or where an Article 4 direction applies. We check the planning position for your specific address before quoting, and tell you in writing which route applies.
How do you price the work?
From a site survey, written up as a fixed and itemised scope before any deposit is discussed. If something genuinely unforeseen appears once work is opened up, it is priced and agreed in writing before we continue — never added to the final invoice after the fact.
When do I pay?
In arrears of work completed. You pay for work that has been done and inspected, not for work that has been promised. This has been how the company operates since 2008.
Which postcodes in Kensington and Chelsea do you cover?
We work across the whole borough, including SW3, SW5, SW7, SW10, W8, W10 and the surrounding districts.
Who is the planning authority for Kensington and Chelsea?
Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea is the local planning authority and also runs building control for the borough. Planning applications, prior approval submissions and building control applications for your property all go to them, and we handle those submissions as part of the contract.
Do you handle Party Wall notices?
Yes, where the work requires them. Under the Party Wall etc. Act 1996, notifiable work on a shared wall needs 2 months written notice to the adjoining owner, while excavation near a neighbouring structure and building at the line of junction need 1 month. We serve the notices and manage the award process as part of the job.
Will I get certificates at the end?
Yes. Electrical work is tested and certificated under Part P, and building control issues a completion certificate where an application was required. You receive the handover pack — it is what a buyer's solicitor will ask for when you eventually sell.
How long will it take?
It depends entirely on scope, and we give a programme with the written quote rather than a guess on the phone. What we will not do is start a job we cannot resource, which is the usual reason a build stalls halfway through.
Also in Kensington and Chelsea
Our other services in Kensington and Chelsea
Nearby
Refurbishments in nearby areas
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Get a price for refurbishments in Kensington and Chelsea
A picture and a postcode tells us more than any enquiry form. You will get a straight answer about cost and whether it needs planning permission.