Commercial Fit-Out Kennington
Shop, cafe, restaurant, salon and clinic fit-outs in Kennington, shopfront to counter under one contract, built around your opening date.
- Rated 4.9 from 31 reviews on MyBuilder
- UK guide: £1,500 to £3,000 per m²
- Free site survey, itemised quote
Commercial fit-out in Kennington means ground floor units: a shop, cafe, restaurant, salon, clinic or small gym studio on Kennington Road, near the Oval or in a local parade. Where there are flats above, they shape the job. We fit out the unit from strip out to opening, including counters, floors, lighting, services and a shopfront that meets Lambeth's Policy Q16.
For Kennington, published UK guides put refurbishing a retail space at £1,500 to £3,000 per m² and a restaurant or cafe at £2,000 to £4,500 per m², and London units usually cost more (MyBuilder, 2026). GS Renovation Ltd, a building contractor based in Potters Bar, does the work in Kennington: our own trades do the strip-out, back of house, counter fitting and finishes, and we coordinate the shopfront, extraction, electrical and fire specialists the unit needs.
Price guide
| Work | Indicative range |
|---|---|
| Retail space refurbishment | £1,500 to £3,000 per m² |
| Restaurant or cafe refurbishment | £2,000 to £4,500 per m² |
| Shop fitting only: counters, display and fixtures, 2024 guide | £60 to £140 per sq ft |
| Aluminium shopfront, single bay up to about 4m wide | £2,000 to £5,000 |
| Cafe kitchen extraction with basic odour control | £5,000 to £12,000 |
Indicative ranges from published cost guides (MyBuilder, Checkatrade, Urban Shopfronts and Fan Rescue, 2026), not a quotation. Most are UK-wide figures and London work usually costs more; a row marked London is a London figure. Prices checked September 2026.
Quick estimate from UK guide figures
Guide range: choose above
Kennington's parades and main road units
Customer-facing units in Kennington sit along the main roads and in local parades. The London Plan grades larger town centres as International, Metropolitan, Major and District, and leaves Local and Neighbourhood centres to be designated in Local Plans. Ask Lambeth whether your unit on Kennington Road or near the Oval sits in a designated local centre or parade, because frontage policy follows from that. Units in older main road terraces tend to be narrow, with a rear store, a yard or cellar, and flats above.
That setting shapes the fit-out. Deliveries come off a busy road, so we agree times and keep the pavement clear. Where hoarding, scaffold for the fascia or materials on the pavement are needed, Lambeth issues highways licences for scaffolding, hoarding, fencing or gantries and for storing building materials on the road. Trading neighbours stay open, so dusty cutting happens behind sealed screens and the loudest work is kept to agreed Kennington hours.
Shopfronts and signs under Lambeth Policy Q16 in Kennington
A new shopfront in Kennington has to meet Lambeth's shopfront policy, and security is the part to settle first. Lambeth Local Plan Policy Q16 (Shop fronts) says shop fronts should not have solid or perforated roller shutters or exposed externally mounted shutter housings. On Kennington Road and the parades near the Oval, that means planning security inside the glass from the start, with laminated glazing, internal lattice grilles or shutters behind the display.
The front also sets the programme. Frames, glazing and signage all have lead times, and the stallriser and fascia need to line up with the neighbouring units. We take down the old front, check the lintel or beam above it and make good the brickwork before the new frame goes in. A front that changes the look of the building generally needs planning permission, and many illuminated signs need advertisement consent. If the building is listed, alterations to the shopfront or the interior also need listed building consent. Your designer secures those, and we fit to the approved drawing.
Use classes, extraction and drainage for a Kennington cafe or takeaway
Before fitting out a food unit in Kennington, confirm the planning use. Class E covers shops, cafes, restaurants, clinics, gyms and offices, so moving between those needs no planning permission for the use, unless a condition on the unit restricts it. A hot food takeaway, a pub or a bar sits outside Class E as sui generis, so a change to one of those needs planning permission. Your planning adviser confirms the lawful use of the unit, and the landlord's consent to the works is agreed, before you commit to the fit-out.
Food units carry the heaviest services. A commercial kitchen needs extraction and odour control, and the duct route to roof level past the flats above is often the hardest part of the design, and an external duct usually needs planning permission in its own right. Grease traps and the kitchen drainage connection are shown on the building control drawings from the start. We install the extract, the kitchen drainage and the grease trap to the approved drawings in the Kennington unit.
Access, fire escape and the flats above Kennington units
Where a Kennington shop or cafe sits directly under homes, the fit-out is planned around the people upstairs. Noisy stripping out, core drilling and floor grinding go into the agreed working day, and quieter first fix and decoration run later. As the business commissioning the work you are the client under the CDM Regulations, so pass on the landlord's asbestos survey before strip out. We seal the ceiling void before dusty work, protect the shared entrance where the flats above use one, and keep the escape route for the flats clear and lit throughout the Kennington job.
The building regulations cover the customer side too. Part M applies to the entrance and to any WC provided for customers, which in a narrow Kennington unit can decide where the counter goes. Part B covers escape and the fire separation between the unit and the homes above. A cafe extract, a salon's plumbing or a gym studio floor all put noise, smell or vibration upward, so acoustic ceilings and resilient flooring go in to the approved specification.
- Back-of-house stores, wash-up areas and staff rooms
- Gym and fitness studio fit-outs with hard-wearing floors
- Display, shelf and window lighting, certified by a registered electrician
VOA Council Tax stock of properties, March 2025, for Lambeth Walk & North Kennington and Oval. Counts rounded by the VOA.
Working With GS Renovation in Kennington
A shop or cafe has rent running from the day you take the keys, so the opening date matters as much as the finish. We give you a written programme tied to the building control and shopfront dates, run strip out, services, counters, floors, lighting and the front under one site lead, and keep the flats above informed. You deal with one firm from the first survey to a unit ready for your own equipment and stock.
- Programme worked back from the date you want to open to customers
- Site left safe and secure at the end of every day
- Shopfront, sign and extract consents checked before anything is ordered
George was brilliant. Lovely bloke, very reasonably priced and a perfectionist to boot. He completed our small kitchen renovation with care and great…
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 Commercial Fit-Out Kennington
Why do shop fit-out quotes in Kennington differ?
They rarely price the same scope. One includes the extract route, the grease trap, an accessible WC and making good to the landlord's specification; another leaves them out. The published UK guide of £1,500 to £3,000 per square metre for a retail refurbishment (MyBuilder, 2026) is a starting point, not a Kennington price. Compare quotes against one written scope.
Can a shop in Kennington have an external roller shutter?
Lambeth's shopfront policy is against it. Policy Q16 says shop fronts should not have solid or perforated roller shutters or exposed externally mounted shutter housings. Security is normally handled inside the glass with laminated glazing and an internal grille, which we can build into the new front from the outset.
Does fitting out a listed Kennington shop need listed building consent?
Yes, for works that affect the building's special character, and that covers the interior as well as the front. Taking out old shelving, panelling or a cornice can need consent just as a new fascia does. Consent controls the works, not the use, so a move within Class E is a separate question. Your designer applies, and we build to the consent and its conditions.
Can a Kennington shop become a takeaway without planning permission?
No. A hot food takeaway is sui generis, outside Class E, so changing a shop to a takeaway needs planning permission. Moving between uses inside Class E, such as a shop becoming a cafe or a clinic, needs no planning permission for the use unless a condition on the unit restricts it. Your planning adviser confirms the position for the Kennington unit before the lease is signed.
What kind of commercial units are there in Kennington?
Small ground floor units on main roads such as Kennington Road, near the Oval and in local parades, often with flats above. The fit-outs here are shops, cafes, restaurants, salons, clinics and studios rather than large stores. Each one needs structure, services and finishes run in one programme.
Is a highways licence needed for hoarding outside a Kennington shop?
Yes, where the hoarding, scaffold or stored materials stand on the road or pavement. Lambeth issues highways licences for scaffolding, hoarding, fencing or gantries and for storing building materials on the road. The scaffold or hoarding contractor normally applies, and we set the shopfront dates around the licence.
How long does a small shop or cafe fit-out take?
A few weeks on site for a simple retail shell with new lighting, floor and decoration. A cafe with an extract system, a new shopfront and a kitchen takes longer, and the longest waits are usually the approvals and the made-to-measure items, such as glazing and the extract. We give you a written programme after the survey with those lead times marked, so the opening date is realistic.
Can you reduce noise to the flats above a Kennington unit?
Yes, by building separation into the fit-out rather than adding it later. That usually means a suspended acoustic ceiling with insulation, resilient floor layers, sealed service penetrations and isolated mounts for extract fans and plant. The specification comes from the approved drawings or an acoustic consultant's report, and we photograph each layer before it is covered.
Does a shopfront in a Kennington conservation area need extra care?
Yes. Lambeth has 62 conservation areas covering approximately 30% of the borough, including the Kennington Conservation Area (CA 08), so check whether your unit sits in one. A replacement front there is judged on how it fits the street, so frame material, stallriser and fascia depth matter. A listed building also needs listed building consent. Your designer secures the consents and we build to the approved drawing.
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