Builders and plumbers in Hendon, NW4

Barnet designated Hendon Church End Conservation Area on 27 July 1983, and The Burroughs Conservation Area on the same date. Historic England records the parish church at Church End as lying in the London Borough of Barnet. Barnet is therefore the planning authority for these streets, and its appraisals are the first documents we read.

The route then depends on the exact address. Inside either boundary, rights to extend, alter a roof or demolish are narrower, so more work needs a planning application. Whether an Article 4 direction also applies is checked on Barnet’s own records rather than assumed. Listing is a separate test, made on Historic England’s National Heritage List, and it brings listed building consent into play. Outside both areas, a lawful development certificate can confirm that a project is permitted development. We set out each consent, including Building Regulations approval, as its own line in the written scope.

Barnet’s appraisal describes Church End as a linear development with St Mary’s Parish Church at its heart, linking Church Road to the south with Watford Way. Historic England lists the church at Grade II*, noting mid-13th-century origins, a rendered finish and a slate roof. Close by stands Church Farm House, a gabled brick building from the early 17th century. Barnet calls it one of the most complete examples of Middlesex vernacular architecture of its time. Historic England first listed it on 3 February 1950.

For owners nearby, those two buildings matter even when their own house is unlisted. The council weighs the setting of a listed building, and the appraisal notes that the hilltop location affords good views. A dormer, rooflight or rear addition seen from the street or the hillside can draw more attention than its size suggests, so we assess those views before drawing.

The Burroughs appraisal records the conservation area’s main development type as terraced homes, joined by offices, six shops and a former public house. It picks out an early 18th-century brick group at numbers 9 to 15. It also notes Burroughs House at number 42, a larger brick building, and a group of 19th-century terraced cottages.

That mix shapes a brief here. A terraced cottage shares its party walls and may share a chimney stack, so cutting in or building near the boundary brings the Party Wall etc. Act into play. Where a building holds an office or shop, its lawful use is confirmed first, since a change of use follows its own planning route. Older brick can be softer than modern brick, and it rewards gentle cleaning and a mortar matched to the original. We record the age and use of each building before a scope is written.

The Church End appraisal devotes a section of its own to roofs. The appraisal notes that Welsh slate is often paired with decorative clay ridge tiles, creating a strong visual contrast. It also names grey smooth slate as a distinctive covering on Victorian cottages, citing 28 Church Lane. A different covering would depart from the materials the appraisal singles out. Like-for-like replacement is therefore our starting point, and any proposed change is checked with Barnet first.

Our approach starts on the roof, not at the desk. We lift a sample area, record the slate size, thickness and fixing, and check the battens and underlay beneath. Sound slates and ridge tiles are set aside for reuse, and replacements are matched to what survives. Roof work in Hendon is carried out in-house by Hampstead Renovations or Hampstead Maintenance, after a written scope that names each material.

The Burroughs appraisal records that Watford Way and the North Circular were built in 1927, bringing houses and factories with them. The houses and factories those roads brought therefore belong to a later chapter than the older streets. Barnet’s appraisals do not describe those later streets house by house. We do not guess a building’s age or construction from its street name or its neighbours.

Outside the conservation areas, a rear extension or loft conversion may fall within permitted development. A lawful development certificate turns that view into a formal decision. Flats do not have the householder permitted development rights of a house, so a flat needs its own planning check. The lease and the freeholder’s consent also come first. A measured survey records walls, floors and roof structure before any beam is sized. Building Regulations approval follows separately, whichever route planning takes.

Church End sits at the top of a hill, and the appraisal notes that Greyhound Hill slopes dramatically down towards Watford Way. Ground like that changes a building job. Surface water follows the fall of the land, drains need workable gradients, and an extension cut into a slope may need a retaining wall. Before excavation, we check the long-term flood risk for the location on GOV.UK and trace existing drains with a camera survey.

Deeper digging close to a neighbour’s foundations can require notice under the Party Wall etc. Act. Building control reviews the foundation design, and structural calculations support it. Trees need their own check. Work to a tree in a conservation area requires written notice to the council before it starts, and a tree preservation order requires consent. We mark root zones on the site plan, so trenches and scaffold bases stay clear of them.

Historic England lists Hendon Central Underground Station at Central Circus at Grade II, first listed on 20 July 2011. The entry credits the 1923 design to Stanley Heaps. TfL’s station page shows the Northern line calling there, and the London Plan 2021 classifies Hendon Central as a district centre. Work on buildings around the circus therefore meets a shopping frontage, and sometimes the setting of a listed structure.

Access is planned with that in mind. A skip, scaffold or hoarding on the public highway needs a licence from the highway authority. Where a parking bay is the only space, we confirm for the exact address whether it must be suspended first. That authority is not always the council, because TfL manages London’s red routes and licenses work on them. For each frontage, we confirm whether Barnet or TfL controls the kerb at the exact address.

The file for a Hendon project opens with the designation record: whether the address sits in Church End, The Burroughs or neither, and whether any listing applies. The documents that answer later questions include the planning permission, listed building consent or lawful development certificate, and the building control completion certificate. Any party wall award and tree notice join them.

Materials are recorded in enough detail to match them again, such as slate type and size, ridge tile pattern, brick and mortar mix. Drains and structural steel are photographed before they are covered, with each image tied to a marked plan. For repairs, the file explains the cause that was found and any part left for later attention. Where a building holds flats, communal parts are listed alongside the freeholder’s consent. The file belongs to the property, so it can pass to the next owner intact.