Kitchen Extensions Kennington

Among Kennington's houses, a kitchen extension is almost always a terrace job: the VOA counts 16% of homes here as terraced houses and only 1% as semi-detached or detached. That points to a side infill beside the rear return or a modest rear addition, not a wide wraparound. Flats make up 82% of the stock, and a flat has no householder permitted development rights, so any flat extension needs a full planning application and the freeholder's consent. We build to the approved drawings and run the kitchen fit-out in the same programme.

In Kennington, a rear kitchen extension of about 30 square metres typically costs £45,000 to £97,500 excluding VAT, or £60,000 to £100,000 for a side return (indicative London ranges, Resi, MyBuilder and Checkatrade, 2026). GS Renovation Ltd, a building contractor based in Potters Bar, does the work in Kennington: the structural engineer we appoint designs the foundations and steel, we build the room and fit the kitchen, and a registered electrician certifies the electrics.

The side infill is the natural kitchen extension for a Kennington terrace

For a Kennington terrace, the side infill beside the closet wing is the extension that fits both the plot and the council's design guide. Lambeth's Design Guide says single storey infill, end and wrap-around extensions to rear returns are potentially acceptable so long as subordination is achieved and there is no harm to amenity. In practice the designer keeps the new roof low, well under the first floor windows of the return, so the infill does not overpower the original back of the house.

The same guide says side infill extensions should be mostly glazed to stay visually lightweight. That shapes the build: a glazed roof or a long run of roof lights over the old side passage, with a slim steel frame carrying the glass rather than a heavy flat roof. For your kitchen it means daylight reaching the middle of a deep terraced plan, which is usually the darkest room in these houses. We order the glazing early because it is often the longest lead item on the job.

Housing in Kennington

On the valuation list Kennington counts about 8,500 homes, 82% flats and 18% houses; 28% predate 1919, 12% are interwar and 60% post-war. Where most homes are flats, only a ground floor flat in Kennington with its own garden can extend its kitchen.

Extending a terrace inside the Kennington Conservation Area

If your house sits in the Kennington Conservation Area, a side infill needs a planning application and the design has to respect the spaces between the backs of the terraces and their gardens. Lambeth's Kennington conservation area (CA 08), first designated in 1968, is characterised by smart terraced housing. Its conservation area statement says rear extensions are only likely to be acceptable where they would not harm the spatial character of the area.

Under national rules, all side extensions on designated land such as a conservation area need householder planning permission, so the side infill route cannot rely on permitted development anywhere in the conservation area. A rear addition only avoids an application if it stays inside the basic depth limits, because the larger prior approval route is not available on designated land. The Kennington Conservation Area Statement also records that no buildings within it are subject to an Article 4 Direction. That does not remove the side extension rule; it only means the council has not added extra controls on top. Your designer handles the application, and we price and programme from the consented drawings.

Party walls, parapets and the steel into a Kennington house

On a Kennington terrace the new side wall usually rises on or beside the boundary with next door, so the detail of that wall matters to both households. Lambeth's Design Guide says party walls of infill and wrap-around extensions should generally be built in brick with parapets so no gutters overhang neighbours. We build the parapet in brick to match the drawings and take the rainwater back onto your side with a hidden gutter or an internal outlet.

Opening the back of the house for the new kitchen means steel. The structural engineer we appoint specifies the beams and padstones, and we prop the rear wall and closet wing before any brickwork comes out. Lambeth says Party Wall Act requirements are a civil matter between you and your neighbour and the council has no role in administering the Act. You, as building owner, serve any notices, including for new foundations dug close to next door, and we give your surveyor the method and dates.

Drainage, building control and the Kennington fit-out programme

In Kennington you can use Lambeth Council's building control or a registered building control approver, and with Lambeth the choice between its two routes sets how soon we can start. Lambeth says a building notice is quicker than a full plans application and work can commence 48 hours after the council receives it. It also asks for the first inspection with its surveyor to be arranged at least two days before work is due to begin.

A new kitchen at the back of a Kennington terrace often means moving the sink and dishwasher away from the old drain run. We expose the existing drainage early and agree any new connection with the building control surveyor before the slab goes in. Once the shell is watertight, the kitchen fitters, electrician and plasterer follow on in one sequence. Keeping the extension and the fit-out in a single programme avoids a second round of dust in a finished room.

• Party wall process explained, with drawings for your notices
• Cooker hood extraction ducted through the roof or flank wall
• Kitchen-diner layouts planned before the foundations

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

Related reading for Kennington homeowners planning kitchen extensions: kitchen renovation in Kennington, kitchen extensions across Lambeth, a wraparound kitchen-diner, the Party Wall Act on a boundary build, how we handle kitchen extensions across London and Utility Rooms and Their Cost.

The GS Renovation Difference in Kennington

You get one team for the structure and the kitchen, so the steel, drainage, glazing and units are sequenced by the same site lead rather than handed between trades. We work from your designer's consented drawings and the structural engineer's calculations, and we give you a written programme before we start. Our founder and director brings more than three decades of hands-on building experience to the job. You see the drainage and steel before they are covered.

• Rooflights set out against the engineer's steel layout
• Waste cleared as we go, not left piled up outside
• Boiler flue, soil pipe and gully moved off the rear wall in the right order

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.