Flat Refurbishment Streatham

Flat refurbishment in Streatham means renewing a home that shares its walls, floors and stairs with neighbours. Flats are 67% of homes here, and with Edwardian terraces and period conversions so common, many flats sit in a divided house with a shared hall. Others are in post-war blocks or newer developments, and 10% of all homes here were built in 2000 or later. We work inside the lease, the managing agent's rules and the block's hours, and keep the common parts protected.

For Streatham, 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 Streatham: 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 Streatham flat you are refurbishing

The building your Streatham flat is in sets the practical limits. In a converted period house, the flat has old timber floors and ceilings shared with the flat above or below, one staircase for everyone, and services that were split when the house was divided. With 43% of homes here built before 1919, a flat in a period house can have lath ceilings, lime plaster and floorboards that carry sound easily to the people below.

Purpose-built flats are different again. Post-war blocks, from a period that accounts for 29% of the stock, can have concrete floors, shared risers and heating renewed piecemeal. Blocks built since 2000, when 10% of all homes here were built, have newer services but can come with strict block rules on finishes and contractors. If the block is a higher-risk building under the Building Safety Act, building control for your works is the Building Safety Regulator, not Lambeth, unless the work is done under a competent person scheme. We look at the building, the lease and the survey together before pricing, because a kitchen that is simple in one block can be awkward in the next.

Housing in Streatham

The valuation list shows roughly 27,640 homes in Streatham, of which 43% are pre-1919, 27% interwar and 29% post-1945, split 67% flats to 33% houses.

Refurbishing a Streatham flat under a lease

In a Streatham flat, the lease and the managing agent come before the builder. Check whether your lease requires the freeholder's written licence to alter before you move walls, change the floor finish or touch the service risers. Some leases also restrict hard floors on upper storeys because of the noise below. Ask for the licence conditions early, since they can fix the working hours, the access arrangements and the floor build-up.

Lambeth allows building work Monday to Friday 8.00am to 6.00pm and Saturday 8.00am to 1.00pm, but a lease or licence to alter can narrow those hours inside a block, and where it does we follow the stricter rule. Deliveries through a common hallway need protection on the stairs and lift, and an agreed slot with the agent. We give the agent a method statement and a programme, so other residents know when noisy stages such as strip-out and chasing will happen.

Sound, fire and leaks inside a shared Streatham building

Three things in a Streatham flat affect the neighbours directly: noise through the floor, fire between flats and water leaking down. A floor that swaps carpet for boards needs a resilient layer under it, and many leases require that in writing. Before a new bathroom or kitchen goes in, we check the waste runs and the floor below the wet areas, because a slow leak into the flat below is a common cause of dispute after a flat refurbishment.

The flat entrance door and the fire separation of the common parts are generally matters for the freeholder or the responsible person, so changing the door usually needs their agreement. In an older converted house, Lambeth also says buildings converted entirely into self-contained flats that do not conform to the 1991 Building Regulations may require licensing if less than two thirds of the flats are owner occupied. That is the freeholder's question, but it can explain why the agent asks for fire-rated details.

Refurbishing a Streatham rental flat to the EPC minimum

A landlord refurbishing a Streatham flat between tenancies has a legal floor to meet. Since 1 April 2020, landlords can no longer let or continue to let properties covered by the MEES Regulations with an EPC rating below E without a valid exemption. Since 1 April 2018, no new tenancy can start on an F or G rating unless an exemption applies. Enforcement is by the local authority, so the flat must clear that bar when the next tenancy begins.

So check the scope against the EPC recommendations before the walls close. Electric storage heating in a small flat can be replaced with better controls or a new boiler, draught-proofing and low energy lighting go in during the works, and a fresh EPC is ordered at the end. The first phase of Lambeth's Selective Licensing Scheme came into force on 2 September 2024 in Knights Hill and three Streatham wards, so check whether the let needs a licence and build its safety conditions into the same scope.

• EPC improvements to meet the minimum standard for let flats
• Rewires inside the flat, signed off at the end by a registered electrician
• Hard floors, carpet and vinyl laid over a level, sound base

VOA Council Tax stock of properties, March 2025, for all 7 statistical areas in Streatham. Counts rounded by the VOA.

People planning flat refurbishment in Streatham may also want bathroom renovation in Streatham, flat refurbishment across Lambeth, flat renovations in London, kitchen fitters in London for flats, our London flat refurbishment page and Small Kitchen Ideas.

Why Choose GS Renovation in Streatham

Refurbishing a flat is as much about the building as the rooms. We read the licence to alter, give the managing agent a method statement and programme, protect the common parts, and keep noisy work to the agreed hours. One site lead runs the strip-out, the consumer unit and rewire, plumbing, kitchen, bathroom and decoration in order. Circuits are certified by the registered electrician who installs them, and gas work on a boiler is done by an engineer on the Gas Safe Register.

• Straight advice on what is and is not worth spending money on
• Deliveries timed around the lift, the stairs and the parking rules of the block
• Noisy days agreed with the managing agent and flagged to neighbours in advance

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