Flat Refurbishment Kennington

Four in five Kennington homes are flats: the VOA counts 82%. They include post-war council estate flats, newer blocks (18% of homes were built in 2000 or later) and flats in older converted houses. We renew the flat inside its own walls, kitchen, bathroom, wiring, heating and floors, while working to the lease, the managing agent's rules and a building shared with neighbours above, below and beside.

For Kennington, published UK averages put a full flat refurbishment at £33,000 to £48,000 and a basic one, with budget kitchen and bathroom fittings, at £15,000 to £18,000, and London flats usually cost more (Checkatrade and MyJobQuote, 2026). GS Renovation Ltd, a building contractor based in Potters Bar, does the work in Kennington: we refurbish the flat within the terms of your lease and licence to alter, protect the common parts throughout, and a registered electrician certifies the new consumer unit and circuits.

Which kind of Kennington block your flat sits in

The type of block decides how a Kennington flat refurbishment is run. Kennington's housing is largely post-war council estates around Georgian and Victorian squares, and the VOA dates 60% of homes to after 1945 and 18% to 2000 or later. On an estate, the freeholder is often the council or a housing association, with its own repair team, so the rules on access, lifts and bin stores come from them.

A flat in a converted townhouse is a different job. The walls and floors are old lath, plaster and timber, the stair is narrow, and the flat below may have a ceiling that cracks at the first heavy knock. In a newer Kennington block the lifts, concrete floors and service risers make logistics easier, but the building owner usually has stricter rules on penetrations, fire stopping and who may open a riser.

Housing in Kennington

By the valuation list's count, Kennington holds about 8,500 homes, 18% houses and 82% flats; by age, 28% were built before 1919, 12% between the wars and 60% since 1945.

Leases, licences to alter and the managing agent

Before a Kennington flat refurbishment starts, check the lease, because anything beyond decoration may need the landlord's written licence to alter. A licence usually covers new wet rooms, moved plumbing, new electrics to the consumer unit, window work and any change to hard floors. It often attaches conditions: working hours, protection of the common parts, a deposit against damage and the acoustic standard for floors. We price from those conditions rather than from guesswork.

The managing agent is the day-to-day contact. We send the programme, method statement and trade details the agent asks for, and agree a named person for lift bookings and access. Before the first delivery we photograph the stairs, lift car and hallway, and again at handover. Where a Kennington lease sets hours tighter than Lambeth's Monday to Friday 8.00am to 6.00pm, the lease wins and we plan the noisy work inside it.

Floors, leaks and fire safety in a Kennington block

Sound and water are the two ways a Kennington flat refurbishment affects the neighbours. Swapping carpet for timber or tile raises impact noise below, so many leases require an acoustic underlay or a resilient batten system to a stated standard, and we build the floor to that detail. Kitchens and bathrooms are renewed inside the existing footprint, with new isolation valves, tanking behind showers and a leak test before the flat below is at risk.

Fire safety inside a block is shared. The flat entrance door and the compartment walls and floors between flats are usually matters for the freeholder or the building's responsible person, so changes to them need their agreement. Where we run new cables or pipes through a compartment wall or floor, we seal the hole with fire stopping to suit. In a higher-risk building, a tall block with two or more homes, the Building Safety Act makes the Building Safety Regulator the building control body, and the accountable person has duties of their own, so we follow their process. A rewire by a competent person scheme electrician does not need the Regulator's approval.

Letting a refurbished Kennington flat: EPC and licensing

A landlord refurbishing a Kennington flat between tenancies has an energy floor to meet. GOV.UK says that since 1 April 2020 landlords cannot let or continue to let properties covered by the MEES Regulations with an EPC rating below E without a valid exemption, and the regulations are enforced by local authorities. In a flat the usual gains come from electric heating controls or a new boiler, low energy lighting, and draught-proofing to windows the lease allows you to touch.

Licensing is the second check. Lambeth lists Kennington among its Phase 2 selective licensing wards, so a flat let privately to one household may need a selective licence, and the conditions can call for alarms, ventilation or repairs to be done first. The landlord or agent applies, and we build to the schedule. For a buy-to-let Kennington flat we keep the finish hard-wearing and the programme short, because each empty week costs rent.

• Method statements and product details for the freeholder's licence to alter
• Rewires inside the flat, signed off at the end by a registered electrician
• Acoustic underlays and floating floors to the lease specification

VOA Council Tax stock of properties, March 2025, for Lambeth Walk & North Kennington and Oval. Counts rounded by the VOA.

Before committing to flat refurbishment in Kennington, it is worth looking at bathroom renovation in Kennington, flat refurbishment across Lambeth, London builders who work inside occupied blocks, kitchen fitters in London for flats, flat refurbishment across London and Bathroom Renovation Cost.

The GS Renovation Difference in Kennington

Refurbishing a flat means answering to more than one person: you, the managing agent, and the neighbours on every side. We give the agent the paperwork before we start, protect the common parts, keep deliveries tidy on the stairs, and run every trade under one site lead with a written programme. A registered electrician certifies the new wiring and a Gas Safe engineer does any gas work, inside the same programme.

• Void periods between tenancies planned to a fixed handover date
• Founder with 30+ years of hands-on experience
• Acoustic floor build-ups laid to the specification in your lease

Checked by Abdelaaziz Saaid, founder and director of GS Renovation Ltd (Companies House no. 14611254).