Home Improvements · South LondonRenovations in Peckham, SE15
Kitchens, bathrooms and full-home renovations across Peckham — the late-Victorian terraces around Bellenden, Holly Grove and Choumert Road, and the flat conversions those houses were divided into.
What we are working with in Peckham
Peckham is mostly substantial late-Victorian housing, and a lot of it is no longer being used the way it was built.
Late-Victorian terraces
The streets around Bellenden Road, Holly Grove, Lyndhurst Way and Choumert Road have generous late-Victorian terraces — good ceiling heights, deep plans, and an original rear closet wing that leaves an L-shaped gap beside the kitchen. Filling that gap is the single most common structural job in this postcode.
The side-return infill
Widening a narrow galley kitchen into the side return needs a structural beam over the new opening, a party wall agreement with the neighbour whose wall you are building against, and a plan for the existing rear drainage, which usually runs straight through the area you want to build on. Done properly it transforms the ground floor; done without those three things it stalls.
1970s and 1980s flat conversions
A large share of those terraces were subdivided decades ago, often to standards well below what Building Regulations now ask for. Sound insulation between flats is the usual weak point, and any work that opens up a party floor is a chance — occasionally an obligation — to bring it up to current Part E standards.
Postwar estates and newer infill
Concrete-framed blocks with no service voids, plus pockets of newer infill housing with modern ventilation and warranty considerations.
Permissions and constraints in Peckham
Peckham has one designation that catches more owners out than anything else in the area.
The Bellenden Article 4 direction
In the Bellenden area an Article 4 direction removes permitted development rights that owners elsewhere take for granted. Front windows, front doors, front boundary walls and rooflights on front-facing slopes all need planning permission. Swapping original timber sashes for uPVC there requires an application, and it is normally refused — so the budget question becomes repair or like-for-like timber replacement, not which plastic profile.
Conservation areas
Several conservation areas cover the Victorian core, including around Bellenden and Holly Grove. Rear extensions are generally achievable; the scrutiny falls on anything visible from the street and on materials.
Sound insulation between flats
Part E of the Building Regulations applies to work on a party floor or wall between separate dwellings. In an older conversion this often means a proper resilient floor build-up rather than simply relaying boards, which affects both floor height and cost.
Party walls and drainage
A side-return infill is notifiable to the adjoining owner, and it usually sits over a shared drain. Both need resolving before the beam is ordered.
What we renovate in Peckham
How a job runs from first visit to handover: how we work. See recent projects and case studies →
Peckham renovation FAQs
Can I replace my sash windows in Peckham? +
It depends which street. Under the Bellenden Article 4 direction, front windows need planning permission, and replacement in uPVC is normally refused. Repair of the original boxes and sashes, or like-for-like timber replacement with matching glazing bar profiles, is the route that gets consent.
What does a side-return kitchen extension involve? +
Structurally: a beam over the new opening and foundations for the new flank wall. Legally: a party wall notice to the neighbour, and building regulations approval. Practically: rerouting the rear drainage that almost always crosses the footprint. It is a well-trodden job in these houses, but all four strands need to be sequenced together.
The flat above me is noisy. Can that be fixed during a renovation? +
Often substantially, yes. Older conversions frequently have little more than the original joists and boards between flats. If a floor or ceiling is coming up as part of the work, a resilient build-up with isolation and mass makes a real difference, and where the work is notifiable it has to meet current Part E standards anyway.
Other areas we cover
Near Peckham
Planning a renovation in Peckham?
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