Flat Conversions Shepherd's Bush

In the VOA statistical areas covering Shepherd's Bush and White City, 87% of homes are already flats and only 12% are houses, many of them period terraces. A flat conversion here is therefore one of three jobs: splitting one of the remaining large houses under Local Plan Policy HO2, re-planning an older conversion where the number or mix of flats changes, or joining flats back into a single house. Splitting always needs planning permission and the other two can; all three change the number or layout of dwellings under building regulations, and we build to the consent you or your designer obtain.

In Shepherd's Bush, converting a house into two or three flats is published at £50,000 to £120,000 including professional and council fees, and an England-wide guide puts a straightforward two-flat split at £40,000 to £80,000 in construction alone, which is the part a builder prices (indicative London ranges, Architectural Drawings and Mayfair Studio, 2026). GS Renovation Ltd, a building contractor based in Potters Bar, does the work in Shepherd's Bush: we build the conversion to the approved drawings, building control inspects the fire and sound separation, and a registered electrician certifies each flat's electrics.

Which Shepherd's Bush houses can be split into flats

Local Plan Policy HO2 (Housing Conversion and Retention) permits converting a dwelling into two or more flats only where the original dwelling's net floor area is more than 120m2. With so few houses left whole in Shepherd's Bush, the candidates are the larger period houses that remain whole. Splitting one into flats is a change of use that needs planning permission, which you or your designer apply for. Have the net floor area measured before anything else, because a house under the threshold stops the scheme at the first question.

The same policy requires at least 50% of the new units to have two or more bedrooms, and family housing to have access to garden or amenity space. On a terrace that points to a garden flat with two or more bedrooms on the ground floor, with smaller units above. The garden access, bin store and cycle storage are then planned around the side passage and hallway, which in a Shepherd's Bush house also fixes the ground floor layout, the drainage runs and the escape route.

Housing in Shepherd's Bush

About 13,640 homes are listed for Shepherd's Bush, and the mix is 12% houses to 87% flats, with 29% built after 1945, 17% in 1919 to 1939 and 53% earlier. Where most homes are flats, a flat in Shepherd's Bush can be split or combined only with the freeholder's consent, and changing the number of homes usually needs planning permission as well.

Space standards and ceiling heights for new Shepherd's Bush flats

Local Plan Policy HO11 applies floor area and room size standards, including the Nationally Described Space Standards, to conversions as well as new build. The London Plan space standards table also counts a conversion as a new dwelling. A one-bedspace single bedroom must be at least 7.5 square metres and 2.15m wide. A double or twin bedroom needs at least 11.5 square metres. In a Shepherd's Bush terrace those minimums, not the count of existing rooms, decide how many flats the floor plan can hold.

London Plan Policy D6 also sets a minimum floor to ceiling height of 2.5m for at least 75 per cent of each dwelling's Gross Internal Area. Pre-1919 principal floors tend to clear that, while a rear closet wing or a top floor under the roof can fall short, so measure the heights before a layout is fixed, including the thickness the new acoustic floors will add. The drawings for the conversion should show the heights from the start.

Sound and fire between the new flats in Shepherd's Bush

When a house becomes flats, every floor between them has to meet Part B for fire and Part E for sound. In a timber-joisted Shepherd's Bush terrace that means lifting the boards, adding mineral wool, a resilient layer and a second ceiling board below, and fire stopping around every pipe and cable that passes through. Approved Document E sets the performance for flats formed by material change of use at 43 dB airborne for walls, floors and stairs, and 64 dB maximum impact for floors and stairs, so the build-up is chosen to pass the test.

Pre-completion sound testing is booked once the floors and separating walls are finished but before decoration, so a failure can be put right without ruining the finishes. The common stair becomes a protected escape route, with fire-rated flat entrance doors, smoke detection and a ceiling that holds fire for the required period. Each flat then needs its own electricity and water supply, its own meter and heating, and a postal address from the council's street naming and numbering service before the Shepherd's Bush flats can be sold or let.

Levies, party walls and reversing a Shepherd's Bush conversion

In Hammersmith and Fulham, developments that create a new dwelling are liable for CIL, as are those adding 100m2 or more of new floorspace. A Shepherd's Bush house split into flats creates new dwellings, so your designer or agent should settle the CIL forms before work starts. Where the conversion cuts into a party wall for new steels or builds on it, the council's planning guidance strongly recommends following the Party Wall Act 1996 before any building work, and the building owner serves the notices.

The reverse job also comes up here, where many period terraces were split into flats decades ago. Merging flats back into one house can need planning permission because it removes a dwelling, so check with the council before planning it. The build removes the second kitchen and the fire lobby, the suppliers take out the extra meters, the staircase is restored as the main stair, and the heating and electrics in the Shepherd's Bush house are joined into one system.

• Separating floors with independent ceilings and acoustic insulation
• Fire detection in every flat and the common hall, laid out to the fire strategy
• Bin stores, cycle stores and external works to the planning conditions

VOA Council Tax stock of properties, March 2025, for Shepherd's Bush North, Shepherd's Bush West, Shepherd's Bush South and White City. Counts rounded by the VOA.

If this is your first project in Shepherd's Bush, these are worth a look: structural alterations in Shepherd's Bush, flat conversions across Hammersmith and Fulham, a building contractor for the whole conversion, the Party Wall Act when a conversion cuts a shared wall, flat conversions anywhere in London and Structural Engineer Report Cost.

Trusted Flat Conversions in Shepherd's Bush

A conversion changes how a whole building works, so the build has to satisfy the planning consent and building control at the same time. We work from the approved drawings, set the programme around the inspections and the sound tests, and price fire doors, separate services and floor build-ups as separate items. Abdelaaziz Saaid, the founder and director, prices after walking the building. Gas work is done by a registered gas engineer and the electrics are certified by a registered electrician, and the structural engineer we appoint designs any new steels.

• Separate meters, supplies and consumer units arranged for every flat
• Itemised pricing, so you can see what every stage costs
• Common parts, bin stores and cycle stores finished to the planning conditions

Checked by Abdelaaziz Saaid, founder and director of GS Renovation Ltd (Companies House no. 14611254). Structural design is by the consulting engineer appointed to your project.