A whole house renovation is a sequencing problem before it is a decorating one: structure first, then services, then finishes. GS Renovation runs the lot with one point of contact, from strip out to final decoration. We appoint the structural engineer for any structural element and coordinate the building control applications and inspections.
Borehamwood's housing and how it is held
Borehamwood is divided into four wards, Brookmeadow, Cowley Hill, Hillside and Kenilworth, and the 2021 Census recorded 14,197 households across them. Hertsmere's Core Strategy describes Borehamwood as the borough's principal town. Of those households, 3,973 were social rented, of which 474 rent from the council and 3,499 from other social landlords.
Tenure decides who can commission what. A social rented home is the landlord's to alter, so a renovation brief there begins with their consent rather than with a survey. Where you own the house the decisions are yours, and the constraints are the building fabric and the Building Regulations. We are clear about which of the two we are quoting for before any programme is drawn up.
Garage conversions Hertsmere expects to approve
Hertsmere names Borehamwood streets in its own guidance. Shakespeare Drive, Wordsworth Gardens and Coleridge Way, on the former Fire Research Station and Furzehill School sites, are named as places where garages are smaller than current standards allow, as is the Studio Way development. Hertsmere states it will generally look favourably on applications to convert garages into habitable rooms on those developments, subject to its guidance being followed.
The test is dimensions. A garage is treated as too small to park a car if its internal width is under 3 metres, a requirement applied since 2006, or its opening width is under 2.5 metres, applied since 2012. Hertsmere expects internal dimensions of at least 3 by 4.8 metres before a garage counts towards off street parking. Where a garage is too narrow, there is a general presumption in favour of converting it.
Checking the restrictions, and where the forms go
Ask Hertsmere in writing, for nothing. Hertsmere offers a free written check on whether a planning condition restricts your garage to parking use, and states it will reply within 10 working days. The guidance itself, Appendix A to Planning and Design Guide Part E, was adopted on 28 January 2015, so it is a settled position rather than a recent change.
The council is close at hand. Hertsmere's Civic Offices are at Elstree Way, Borehamwood WD6 1WA, so the planning authority sits inside the town it serves, and the main telephone number is 020 8207 2277. Planning application forms can be emailed to admin.planning@hertsmere.gov.uk or delivered as a single paper copy to the Civic Offices. We handle that submission as part of the job.
Building control, and the plan Hertsmere is rewriting
Building control is not the council office. Hertfordshire Building Control describes itself as a not for profit organisation that returns all profit to Hertfordshire local councils and their residents. On a renovation it is the body that inspects any structural element, and we coordinate the application and the visits so the programme is not held up waiting on a slot.
Policy is moving in the background. Hertsmere ran a Regulation 18 consultation on its Draft Local Plan 2026 between 16 April and 29 May 2026, and is now preparing the Regulation 19 version. A renovation that stays inside the existing shell is largely untouched by that. One that adds floor area is judged against whatever policy is current when the application is determined, which is worth knowing if your project is phased.
- Kitchen and bathroom design, supply and installation
- Staircase repair, replacement and balustrade work
- Damp treatment, tanking and timber repairs
- Plastering, flooring, painting and decorating
- Planning permission and building control coordination
The GS Renovation Difference in Borehamwood
Borehamwood is 4.5 miles from our base in Potters Bar, so this is core service area rather than a job we travel for, and a site visit does not carry half a day of driving with it. On a whole house programme that shows up as responsiveness. One point of contact, fully insured, free no obligation quotations, rated 4.9 from 31 reviews on MyBuilder.
- Waste cleared as we go, not left piled in the garden
- A written scope and programme agreed before work starts
- Fully insured, with cover in place on every site
- Room by room handover so you can move back in stages
- Kitchen and bathroom selections planned early to hold the programme
- Free follow-up visit after completion if anything needs attention