Building work in Islington: area guide

Islington Council is the planning and building control authority for Islington, which covers N1, N4, N5, N7, N19 and EC1 and takes in Angel, Highbury, Holloway, Clerkenwell and Old Street. This is our area guide to building work in the borough; for whole-house refurbishment go to Home renovation in Islington.

On the valuation list Islington counts about 112,190 homes, 85% flats and 15% houses; 43% predate 1919, 4% are interwar and 50% post-war. VOA Council Tax stock of properties, March 2025, for all 23 statistical areas in Islington. Counts rounded by the VOA.

Planning and building control in Islington

What Islington Council publishes about building work in the borough, with each point linked to the council page it comes from:

• Islington Council states that there are currently 42 conservation areas in the borough. islington.gov.uk
• Islington Council has removed permitted development rights in 40 of its 42 conservation areas by issuing an article 4 direction to prevent some minor alterations. islington.gov.uk
• In Islington's article 4 conservation areas you may need planning permission for minor alterations such as changing external doors and windows or painting brickwork on the outside of a property. islington.gov.uk
• Islington Council states that the borough currently has around 4,500 listed buildings. islington.gov.uk
• Islington's local validation requirements say a basement development application needs a Structural Method Statement in accordance with Policy DH4 and Section 6 and Appendix B of the Basement Development SPD. islington.gov.uk
• Islington Council runs its own building control service, whose staff are affiliated to Local Authority Building Control (LABC) and which is a member of the London District Surveyors Association. islington.gov.uk
• Islington Council says a building notice cannot be used for non-domestic properties, for residential premises with common areas, or when building over existing sewers and drains. islington.gov.uk
• Under a building notice in Islington, work can start 48 hours after the notice is given with the correct fee. islington.gov.uk
• Islington Council says planning permission is usually required for the construction of a basement. islington.gov.uk

With 85% of Islington's homes flats, the lease comes first on many jobs. Flats have no householder permitted development, so an extension or most external changes to a flat need planning permission from Islington Council as well as the freeholder's consent. The 15% that are houses keep the householder rights within the size limits, and in a conservation area a single-storey rear extension survives unless an Article 4 direction removes it. Taking out a wall or a chimney breast is building regulations work, not planning, unless the building is listed.

Reviewed jobs in Islington

Our MyBuilder profile holds 1 verified review from jobs in Islington. The job titles are the customers' own, as published:

• Kitchen refit in ex-local authority maisonette, Islington, 8 Jul 2022 (5 out of 5)

Read every review, including the ones from elsewhere, on our reviews page.

Islington packs Georgian terraces, garden squares, Victorian streets and converted industrial buildings into a very small area covering N1, N4, N5, N7, N19 and EC1. Angel and Highbury keep handsome period terraces; Clerkenwell and Old Street have warehouse and workshop conversions. The two could not be more different, and in a borough this compact we often move between them in the same week. Most homes, though, are flats, half of them built after 1945, so the lease is checked first.

Georgian stock and what lies beneath a wall opening

The terraces around Angel and Barnsbury are older than most of London's housing, built with lime mortar, lath and plaster ceilings, timber sash windows and coal vaults running out under the pavement. Modern cement renders and impermeable paints trap moisture in walls designed to breathe, so damp here is frequently a materials problem rather than rising damp.

These houses need replastering in a compatible mix, joinery repaired rather than replaced and electrics upgraded to Part P, and a cramped rear kitchen is a kitchen renovation job. Joining two reception rooms is a load-bearing wall removal job: the spine wall carries load, so a structural engineer designs the beam and its bearings. We install it exactly to that design and never produce the structural calculations ourselves.

Clerkenwell and EC1 warehouse conversions: freeholder first

Converted workshops and print buildings around Clerkenwell and Old Street behave nothing like a house. Floors may be timber on cast iron columns or concrete on steel, ceilings are high enough to tempt a mezzanine, and services run in shared risers. A sleeping platform is a structural alteration job, bringing Part K stair geometry, Part B fire separation and escape, and Part F ventilation into play straight away.

These are almost always leasehold, so freeholder consent comes before anything else, and the lease often sets working hours and lift access. Islington Council building control inspects at defined stages; we arrange those visits, keep the records and hand over certification at completion. Sound insulation between units is worth doing properly while the floor is open, not afterwards.

Popular starting points in Islington: kitchen renovation in Islington, house extensions across Islington, what to check before hiring a builder in Islington and Renovations That Add Value.