Builders in Barnet
Renovations, extensions and structural work across Barnet. Founder-led, with 30+ years' hands-on experience, fully insured, building control compliant.
- Steel beam over one opening: £1,500 to £4,000
- Rated 4.9 from 31 reviews on MyBuilder
- Free site survey, itemised quote
GS Renovation covers Barnet across EN4 and EN5 in the north of the borough and the N2, N3, N11, N12, N20, NW4, NW7, NW9, NW11 and HA8 postcodes running south through Whetstone, Finchley, Hendon, Mill Hill, Edgware, Colindale and Golders Green. High Barnet and New Barnet sit minutes from our registered office in Potters Bar, which is why the north of the borough is regular working territory for us rather than an occasional trip.
The firm is run by Abdelaaziz Saaid, who has more than 30 years of hands-on experience on London properties. GS Renovation Ltd was incorporated in 2023 to formalise that trade. We are a building contractor with a structural specialism, which means we install the steel beams and take out the load-bearing walls ourselves rather than subcontracting the part of the job that carries the most risk. We are not structural engineers: on any structural work we appoint an independent engineer, build to their calculations and put the work in front of building control.
Barnet's housing stock and what it usually needs
Barnet is half flats and half houses. Of about 160,000 homes on the Valuation Office list, 50% are flats, 46% were built after 1945, 34% between the wars and 20% before 1919. Among the houses, semi-detached and detached homes outnumber terraces, and the 1930s semi was built in quantity across Finchley, Hendon and Mill Hill, alongside Edwardian houses in Golders Green and Finchley, post-war estates around Colindale and Burnt Oak, and detached homes on the larger plots. Much of it was not designed for how people live now, which is why so much of our Barnet house work is reconfiguration rather than repair.
Flats bring their own rules. In a converted house or a purpose-built block, structural work usually needs the freeholder's licence to alter, and the managing agent sets working hours and delivery rules before anything starts.
The commonest Barnet house project is the ground floor. A through lounge formed by removing the wall between the front and back reception rooms, a kitchen opened into the dining room, or a side return filled in to widen a narrow galley kitchen. All three normally involve a load-bearing wall, an engineer-designed steel beam and building control. Upstairs, chimney breast removal to square off a bedroom is the other regular request, and it needs the stack above properly supported on a steel beam, which is the usual route since LABC withdrew its standard gallows detail in 2024, with gallows brackets only where the engineer and building control accept them.
The older housing brings its own list: original wiring well past its service life, single-glazed metal casements in interwar bays, and rear additions built cheaply in the 1970s and 1980s that are now the coldest part of the house. A full refurbishment in Barnet usually means a rewire, a replumb and replastering alongside the visible work.
- Full house refurbishments, rewiring, replumbing, heating, plastering and decoration
- Kitchen and bathroom installation, from strip out to final seal
- Steel beam (RSJ) installation and load-bearing wall removal
- Chimney breast removal with the stack above properly supported
- Rear, side return and double storey extensions
- Structural openings, new joists and supported alterations
- Building control notification, inspection and sign-off on all notifiable work
Barnet Council, conservation areas and Hampstead Garden Suburb
Building control sits with Barnet Council, or with a registered building control approver if you choose one, and notifiable work must be notified, inspected and certified. We make the application and book the inspections as part of the project.
Barnet is more heavily controlled than its suburban character suggests. The borough has a long list of conservation areas, and Hampstead Garden Suburb is a special case: as well as conservation area status and Article 4 restrictions, properties there are subject to a private scheme of management administered by the Hampstead Garden Suburb Trust, which means separate consent is required for changes that elsewhere would be permitted development. If your property is in the Suburb, assume nothing is permitted development until it has been checked.
Outside the Suburb, many single storey rear extensions on Barnet semis fall within permitted development, and in a conservation area that right survives unless an Article 4 direction removes it, while side extensions, two storey rear extensions and roof enlargements need planning permission there. Flats have no householder permitted development. As everywhere in London, the shared wall means the Party Wall Act applies to beams and chimney breast removals on semi-detached and terraced houses, and you serve the notice as building owner.
Practicalities on Barnet projects
Parking is easier here than in inner London, and most streets outside the town centres are uncontrolled, so deliveries and skips are usually straightforward. Skip licences from the council are still needed where a skip stands on the highway.
Many Barnet semis have a side passage and a driveway, which makes access, muck away and materials storage far simpler than a terraced street or a block of flats. On the larger detached plots there is usually room to keep the site tidy and contained, which matters when you are living in the house through the work.
What building work costs in Barnet
Barnet is priced at London rates, and the ranges below are the ones we publish across the site so you can check any quotation against them. Every project is priced properly from a site survey, itemised, and with no obligation.
| Type of work | What it covers | Typical London cost |
|---|---|---|
| Steel beam over one opening | Beam, padstones, installation, building control. The engineer's fee sits in the knock-through figure | £1,500 to £4,000 |
| Full knock-through | Wall removal, beam, engineer's fee, propping and making good | £2,500 to £6,500+ |
| Chimney breast removal | One floor. A steel beam is the usual route; gallows brackets only where the engineer and building control accept them | £2,200 to £3,250 on a steel beam; £1,500 to £2,500 where brackets are accepted |
| Kitchen renovation, mid-range | Quality units, stone worktops, integrated appliances, new layout | £20,000 to £40,000 |
| Bathroom renovation, mid-range | Quality suite, porcelain tiling, new layout, heated rail | £7,500 to £12,000 |
| Full refurbishment, mid-range | Strip out, rewire, replumb, heating, kitchen, bathrooms, decoration | £1,500 to £2,200 per m² |
| Single storey extension | Standard finish, per m² of new floor area | £2,000 to £2,800 per m² |
Our services in Barnet
Every service we offer has its own Barnet page, with the detail specific to that trade and this borough.
The kitchen has been fitted to the high standard. Saaid was polite, professional, tidy, he pays attention to a little details that make huge difference on terms of the harmony of all kitchen elements. We are so happy to find such a good…
Saiid did a complete refurbishment of our small bathroom. This involved ripping out the existing bath/shower, basin, toilet, pipework, and tiles and replacing with new. Saiid was very helpful during the planning stage giving useful advice…
George was a great find. The job required re-plastering the walls before fitting acrylic panels. He also re-plumbed the shower waste under the solid floor and then re-tiled the bathroom floor. He had to build a timber frame for a new…
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
Which parts of Barnet do you cover?
The whole borough: EN4 and EN5 in the north, and N2, N3, N11, N12, N20, NW4, NW7, NW9, NW11 and HA8 running south through Whetstone, Finchley, Hendon, Mill Hill, Edgware, Colindale and Golders Green. High Barnet and New Barnet are only minutes from our registered office in Potters Bar.
Do I need special permission to alter a house in Hampstead Garden Suburb?
Almost certainly. As well as conservation area status and Article 4 restrictions removing permitted development rights, properties in Hampstead Garden Suburb are subject to a private scheme of management administered by the Hampstead Garden Suburb Trust, so separate consent is needed for many changes. Treat nothing there as permitted development until it has been checked with both the council and the Trust.
Can you form a through lounge in a Barnet semi?
Yes, it is one of the most common jobs we do in the borough. The wall between the front and rear reception rooms in a 1930s semi is usually load bearing, so the structural engineer we appoint sizes a steel beam and specifies the padstones, we prop and install to that design, and building control inspects and signs it off. Where the beam bears into the party wall, you serve a Party Wall Act notice as building owner, and we give you the drawings it needs.
How long does a full refurbishment of a Barnet semi take?
It depends on the scope, but a whole-house refurbishment involving a rewire, a replumb, new heating, replastering, a kitchen, bathrooms and structural changes is typically a matter of months rather than weeks. We issue a programme with the quotation, and the sequence matters as much as the duration: structure and first fix before plaster, kitchens and bathrooms before second fix, decoration last.
What does building work cost in Barnet?
Barnet is priced at London rates. A steel beam over one opening runs £1,500 to £4,000, a full knock-through £2,500 to £6,500 or more, chimney breast removal on one floor £2,200 to £3,250 on a steel beam (£1,500 to £2,500 where gallows brackets are accepted), a mid-range kitchen £20,000 to £40,000 and a mid-range full refurbishment £1,500 to £2,200 per square metre. These are indicative London ranges from MyBuilder and Checkatrade, 2026.
Nearby and Related
Building Work Around Barnet
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