Structural Alterations Putney

Structural alterations in Putney call for a builder who understands SW15's mix of post-war blocks, converted Victorian houses and Edwardian terraces. GS Renovation forms new openings, replaces failing joists, underpins weak foundations and installs supported openings across the neighbourhood's flats, bay-fronted terraces and riverside homes. We build each alteration to the design of the structural engineer we appoint, and building control inspects and signs it off.

In Putney, a simple new opening starts from £1,500, and underpinning a single elevation typically costs £6,000 to £21,000 (indicative London ranges, MyBuilder and Checkatrade, 2026). GS Renovation Ltd, a building contractor based in Potters Bar, does the work in Putney.

How the job runs

1. Free site survey at your Putney address and an itemised quote.
2. The engineer we appoint designs the work, and it is registered with Wandsworth Council building control or an approved inspector. On a shared wall you serve the party wall notice as building owner; we supply the drawings.
3. Props and any trial holes first, then the opening, joists or underpinning in the engineer's sequence.
4. Building control inspects each stage before it is covered, then issues the completion certificate.

Structural alterations in Putney's terraces

The side return and rear closet wing common to Putney terraces are where most structural alterations happen: a new steel-framed opening into a side-return extension, a wider doorway between kitchen and dining space, or a replacement lintel over a tired opening. Each new opening needs an engineer to size the beam or lintel, and each needs padstones and temporary propping while the masonry above is unloaded and the steel is set.

Older Putney homes also throw up joist and foundation work. Bouncing floors near the bays or over the closet wing often mean undersized or rotten joists that we replace and correctly bear. Where movement or a nearby tree has affected the shallow Victorian footings, we underpin in short, hit-and-miss bays to an engineer's design, taking the foundation down to firm bearing without undermining the wall above.

Housing in Putney

Count the homes in Putney and you get about 20,990: 54% built since 1945, 8% between the wars and 36% before 1919, with flats at 75% and houses at 25%. Structural repair to a block in Putney usually falls to the freeholder, which matters here because most homes are flats.

Digging down under a Putney house and Wandsworth basement policy

Houses are 25% of Putney's homes, and in a house the structural job with the most planning policy attached is the one that goes down: lowering a floor, deepening a cellar or underpinning to gain a room. Under Wandsworth Local Plan Policy LP6, a new or extended basement is permitted only if the result is no more than one storey of basement accommodation below ground level. The same policy holds a residential basement to no more than 50% of the existing rear garden land or other undeveloped garden area. Those two limits set the envelope for a Putney house before any underpinning bay is drawn, so check them first.

Where the basement runs under the garden, LP6 asks for at least 1 metre of naturally draining permeable soil on top of it, plus a drainage layer of at least 200mm. The roof slab therefore sits more than a metre below the finished lawn, which drives the excavation depth, the temporary support to the neighbouring walls and the volume of spoil leaving a Putney street. Wandsworth's basement guidance also strongly encourages a Construction Method Statement, which listed buildings must have and which must be independently verified. Allow time for it in the programme, because the underpinning sequence and the temporary works are written into it.

Engineered and certified in Wandsworth

Supported openings, replacement joists and underpinning are all controlled work under the Building Regulations, so Wandsworth Council's building control inspects the key stages and issues the completion certificate. We make the building control application and book the inspections, exposing padstones, bearings and underpinning bays for the inspector at the right moment. Internal structural alterations do not need planning permission, even in a conservation area. A listed building is the exception: it needs listed building consent for internal structural work as well as external.

Because Putney's terraces are joined to their neighbours, alterations that touch the shared party wall, cutting in a beam, underpinning up to the boundary or forming an opening in it, are notifiable under the Party Wall Act. We flag which parts of your project trigger the Act and give you the drawings; you serve notice on the adjoining owner as building owner (or your surveyor does), and a schedule of condition is agreed so both households are protected before the first prop goes up.

• Crack repair, helical bar stitching and masonry restraint
• Steel goalpost and portal frames to the engineer's design
• Structural engineer appointed and coordinated for the design

VOA Council Tax stock of properties, March 2025, for Putney Embankment & Lower Common, Putney Town & Wandsworth Park, Putney West and East Putney. Counts rounded by the VOA.

If you are weighing up structural alterations in Putney, it may help to read home renovation in Putney, structural alterations across Wandsworth, design and build contracting, underpinning in London, structural alterations anywhere in London and Cracks in Walls: When to Worry.

Why Choose GS Renovation in Putney

For structural alterations across Putney, GS Renovation gives you a single accountable team from survey to sign-off. We commission the engineer's design, give you the drawings for any party wall notices you serve on neighbouring terraces, carry out safe propping and staged work, and book Wandsworth Council's building control inspections. Expect tidy working in your SW15 home and a completion certificate from building control, underpinned by our founder's 30+ years of experience.

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.