Renovations · Forest Hill
Building renovations in Forest Hill
Design-led: we plan the room before we price the work, so the drawing and the build match.
Build-led: our own builders, plumbers and electricians on site, one team from strip-out to finish.
We renovate houses from the services up: rewiring, heating, kitchens, bathrooms and joinery, in the right order.Good building renovations in Forest Hill start with what the house needs, not with the finishes.
SE6 · SE23 · SE26 · Lewisham
Start with the house
Building renovations in Forest Hill: where to start
Forest Hill's Victorian and Edwardian houses often need more than one room doing.
A rewire, new heating, a kitchen and a bathroom all affect each other.
Plan the order of work so the services go in once, before any finish.
Decide early which original features stay, because they set the standard for everything around them.
We set out the sequence before anything is stripped out, so the trades follow each other rather than undoing each other's work.
A renovation can be phased if you are living in the house; we plan which rooms stay usable at each stage.
Make it buildable
Home refurbishments in Forest Hill
Under Lewisham's Article 4 direction, changes seen from the street need planning permission.
That applies across most of the Forest Hill conservation area.
That covers windows, doors, roofs and front boundaries.
Inside, a rewire, new circuits, structural openings and replacement windows all need Building Regulations sign-off.
On a hillside house, room for a skip and a route for materials are part of the plan.
One team covers the building work, plumbing, electrics, joinery and decoration.You get one programme and one point of contact.
The local check
What changes from one property to another
Forest Hill sits in Lewisham, and several of its streets are conservation areas.
There, permitted development rights are cut back, and windows, doors and front boundaries come into the application.
The hills matter too, and not just for the view.
A level change across a rear garden can pull retaining work and a party wall agreement into a simple extension.
Lewisham has also made an Article 4 direction across most houses in the Forest Hill conservation area.
Changes to windows, doors, the roof and front boundaries seen from the street need planning permission there.
Much of this area is a conservation area, which removes permitted development rights that apply elsewhere.
Windows, doors, roofs and front gardens come into the application.
Each conservation area has its own appraisal of the materials the council considers appropriate.
They differ, so the answer on one street is not the answer on the next.
We check the actual address and the proposed work before saying what consent is needed.
Check the rules for your address
These are the local authority and estate sources relevant to Forest Hill.
The national rules
The rules, in plain terms
These apply across England.Article 4 directions, conservation areas and listing add to them, which is why the address comes first.
- Most redecoration and like-for-like repair need no permission.Removing a structural wall, a rewire, new circuits or consumer units, and replacement windows fall under Building Regulations.
- In a conservation area or under an Article 4 direction, street-facing changes can need planning permission.That covers windows, doors and roofs.
- Houses built or refurbished before 2000 can contain asbestos, which has to be identified before anything is disturbed.
- Work to a party wall needs notice under the Party Wall etc. Act 1996.
- Where more than one trade works on site, the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015 apply to homes too.The contractor takes on the client's duties.
From our work
A closer look at our work
Finished rooms from our work across South East London, from joinery to whole rooms.
Talk it through
Start with a call, then a site visit if it helps.
Tell us the postcode, the house as it is and what needs doing.The calculator gives a free provisional bracket; anything firmer comes from a call and a site visit.
Keep exploring
Related work nearby
Further reading
The regulations: the official guidance
- GOV.UK: Planning permission: when you need it
Extensions and other major changes usually need planning permission; your local planning authority decides.
- Planning Portal: Common projects: planning permission and building regulations
Whether a home improvement needs planning permission, is permitted development, or needs Building Regulations approval.
- GOV.UK: Building regulations approval: when you need it
Building Regulations approval is separate from planning permission, and you may need both.
- GOV.UK: The Party Wall etc Act 1996: explanatory booklet
Notices to neighbours for work on a shared wall, at the boundary, or excavating near their foundations.
- Historic England: Practical advice for home improvements in older houses
What to check before altering a period house, including listed status and conservation areas.