Chimney Breast Removal Old Street
Chimney breast removal with steel beam support in Old Street, the beam sized by the engineer we appoint and the work signed off by building control.
- Rated 4.9 from 31 reviews on MyBuilder
- London guide: £2,200 to £3,250
- Free site survey, itemised quote
Building regulations approval is not optional for this work, even in an apartment near Old Street that feels entirely modern. We submit, arrange inspections at propping and at completion, and hand over the certificate for your file. A structural engineer specifies the support for the retained masonry and we build to that drawing, nothing else.
In Old Street, removing a breast on one floor typically costs £2,200 to £3,250 on a steel beam, and £3,000 to £5,000 across two floors (indicative London ranges, MyBuilder and Checkatrade, 2026). GS Renovation Ltd, a building contractor based in Potters Bar, does the work in Old Street.
Price guide
| Work | Indicative London range |
|---|---|
| One floor, steel beam (the usual route) | £2,200 to £3,250 |
| One floor, gallows brackets where the engineer and building control accept them | £1,500 to £2,500 |
| Two floors | £3,000 to £5,000 |
Indicative London ranges (MyBuilder and Checkatrade, 2026), not a quotation. Prices checked September 2026. Full breakdown: Chimney Breast Removal Guide.
How the job runs
- Free site survey at your Old Street address: which floors the breast runs through, a shared stack, any live flue.
- The engineer we appoint designs the support, and the work is registered with Islington Council building control or an approved inspector. On a shared wall you serve the party wall notice as building owner; we supply the drawings.
- The floor above is propped and the breast comes down in courses from the top; what remains sits on the support the engineer specified.
- Building control inspects the support before it is covered. We make good, and the completion certificate follows.
Supporting the stack in Old Street conversions
Not every Old Street home has a chimney breast; the post-war blocks and newer apartments rarely do. But converted warehouses and older EC1 buildings often keep original brick flues, and if you remove a breast on a lower floor you must support whatever masonry remains above. Leaving a stack hanging unsupported is never an option, so we begin with a structural engineer confirming exactly what the breast is carrying.
Where masonry is retained higher up, we support it on a steel beam bearing onto padstones, or on gallows brackets only where the engineer and building control accept them for that particular structure. In many conversions the redundant stack runs the full height and can be taken out entirely, with the roof or floor above made good afterwards. Either way the load path is engineered, propped and inspected before any breast comes down.
Housing in Old Street
On the valuation list Old Street counts about 6,800 homes, 99% flats and 1% houses; 16% predate 1919, 5% are interwar and 76% post-war. Where most homes are flats, post-war blocks in Old Street rarely have breasts, so one in a flat is checked by the engineer first.
Old Street chimney breasts belong to the older buildings
Only 16% of Old Street homes were built before 1919, and those older buildings are where brick chimney breasts are found. Some of them are listed. Islington Council states that the borough currently has around 4,500 listed buildings, and in a listed building consent is needed for internal work as well as for the outside. A chimney breast removal in a listed Old Street building therefore needs listed building consent as well as building control approval, and the answer may be that the breast stays.
Locally listed buildings are treated differently. Islington Council says it is not necessary to apply for Listed Building Consent for works to a locally listed building, though the usual planning controls apply. In that case, and in an unlisted building, a breast removal comes down to the support design the structural engineer we appoint prepares for the masonry above, the freeholder's written consent, and building control approval of the steel or brackets. We establish which list applies before a design is started, because it decides which of those paths the job follows.
Party wall and consents in EC1
In an Old Street conversion the flue you are removing may share a wall with the flat next door, which can bring the Party Wall Act into play; where it does, you serve notice on the adjoining owner as building owner before work starts, using the drawings we supply. As almost all these apartments are leasehold, we also secure the freeholder's licence to alter and work within the block's management rules on noise and access.
The structural support is notifiable under the Building Regulations, so Islington Council's building control inspects the beam (or brackets, where accepted) and certifies the work. We manage the full sequence: appointing the engineer who produces the calculations, the freeholder consent and safe removal, propping, capping any redundant flue with ventilation to prevent damp, and replastering so the room reads as though the breast was never there.
- Bedroom breast removal to reclaim usable floor space
- Rubble bagged and carried out rather than dropped inside
- Fireplace opening infill and new plasterboard finish
VOA Council Tax stock of properties, March 2025, for Old Street & St Luke's. Counts rounded by the VOA.
Why Choose GS Renovation in Old Street
Old Street homeowners choose GS Renovation because we treat chimney breast removal as the structural job it is. You get an engineer-designed support solution, freeholder consent and Islington building control all handled, tidy working in an occupied leasehold flat, and a fully certified result, backed by our founder's 30+ years on the tools.
We loved working with George and Ibrahim and would highly recommend them. They have done splendid job on our new kitchen refurb which including new…
George always kept to commitments and arrived on time. He offered helpful suggestions during his initial visit and promptly provided a reasonably…
Saaid is the best craftsman I have worked with. He knows what he is doing from the very beginning. He has a great knowledge of construction…
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions about Chimney Breast Removal Old Street
How much should chimney breast removal in Old Street cost?
Expect chimney breast removal at an Old Street address to cost £2,200 to £3,250 for one floor on a beam (indicative), with the property rather than the postcode deciding the figure. At the EC1 survey GS Renovation confirms the detail that matters most, because whether the stack above is kept or taken down decides the support and roof work. Labour, materials and the Islington Council building control fee are then itemised, so another Islington quotation can be compared line by line.
What consent is needed to alter a chimney breast in an EC1 warehouse flat?
The freeholder's licence to alter comes first, then Building Regulations approval. Warehouse buildings around Old Street were built with load-bearing brick piers, and the projection in a converted flat is often one of those or a boxed service riser rather than a domestic breast. An engineer's opening-up inspection and Islington Council building control follow. We investigate a small area before anyone designs anything, because the answer changes the whole scheme.
If I remove the chimney breast in my Old Street flat, what happens to the flat above?
Their breast still has to stand on something, so it is carried on a steel beam below it or on gallows brackets only where the engineer and building control accept them, sized by the engineer. That masonry sits in another leaseholder's home, which is why the freeholder's written consent comes before design is finalised. In the older EC1 buildings that still have flues, this vertical chain is the main constraint.
What proof should I keep after a chimney breast removal in an Old Street flat?
Three documents belong together. The engineer's calculations and drawing show how the masonry above is supported; the building control completion certificate confirms it was inspected and signed off; the freeholder's licence proves the lease was respected. Buyers' solicitors for EC1 flats ask for all three, and a missing licence can hold up a sale as much as a missing certificate.
Do old flues in an Old Street building need ventilating once a breast is removed?
Yes. A redundant flue left sealed at both ends collects condensation, which stains plaster in whichever flat it passes. The usual answer is a ventilated cap at the top and an air vent where your breast used to be. In a block, other flats may still share the stack, so their flues are left open and only yours is capped, with the freeholder agreeing any roof-level work.
Can the chimney breast in a top-floor Old Street flat be taken out completely?
Often more cleanly than a lower one, because there may be nothing above you except the stack itself. The choice is then between supporting that stack in the roof space or taking it down, which means roof-level work on the freeholder's structure and their written consent. Removing the stack also affects any neighbour whose flue shares it, so that is established before a price is fixed.
Should an Old Street owner seek listed building pre-application advice before removing a breast?
Where the building is listed and the fireplace is original, yes. Islington runs a householder listed building pre-application service, with written advice after a site visit. The officer sees the breast, the surround and the room as they stand, and can indicate whether removal is acceptable before full drawings and a consent application are paid for. We supply the engineer's outline of how the retained masonry would be supported.
What record proves an Old Street chimney breast was removed properly?
The completion certificate, supported by the engineer's design. Islington Council issues completion certificates after satisfactory completion of works in accordance with the building regulations and full payment of fees. A removal without one tends to surface when the flat is sold, and the question then is whether the masonry above was ever supported. We hand over the certificate, the calculations and the inspection dates as one set.
Does Islington get involved if an Old Street breast is on a shared wall?
Not in the neighbour side of it. Islington Council says it plays no part in preparing, reviewing or monitoring a Party Wall Agreement. If the breast is bonded into a wall you share, you serve notice on the adjoining owner as building owner and any dispute goes to surveyors. The council inspector only checks that the support meets the regulations, so we plan both tracks and start when both are clear.
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