Ultimate Property & Renovation Guides

These guides explain how Hampstead On Demand scopes a conservation-area, basement, loft, extension or full-refurbishment brief in NW3, NW6 and NW8. The operating address is 250 Finchley Road, NW3 6DN. Accepted work is delivered in-house by Hampstead Maintenance or Hampstead Renovations. A guide is a reading of published council and national documents. It is not a planning decision, a listed-building consent, a party-wall award or a price for a particular house.

A conservation-area brief starts with the address. Camden, Barnet, Haringey, Islington and Westminster each publish their own conservation-area maps, appraisals and article 4 directions. The same street can change authority at a boundary, so the postcode is checked before anyone names the local planning authority. Design, materials, rooflines, front gardens and demolition are then read against that authority's published advice. Where the building is also listed, listed-building consent is a separate application from planning permission. Hampstead Architecture, at hampsteadarchitecture.co.uk, prepares the design and planning drawings when the brief needs an architect. Hampstead On Demand does not describe that drawing service as a marketplace introduction.

Basement briefs in NW3 are scoped against the council basement note that applies to the address, the party-wall position, the drainage route and the waterproofing strategy. A basement under a Victorian or Edwardian house usually needs a structural design, a method for the temporary works, and a clear line on whether the neighbours are notified under the Party Wall etc. Act 1996. Hampstead Chartered Surveyors, at hampsteadcharteredsurveyors.co.uk, is the sister practice for survey, party-wall and condition advice. The guide on this site summarises the published Camden and North London basement material. It does not confirm that a particular garden or cellar can be dug.

Loft and extension briefs are separated into planning, building regulations and the building contract. A loft may be a dormer, a rooflight or a mansard, and the conservation-area appraisal often decides which of those the street already shows. An extension may be a rear, side or wraparound addition, and permitted development is confirmed for the exact house rather than assumed from the postcode. Building regulations approval is a different consent from planning permission. Party-wall notices sit alongside both when the work is on or near a boundary. The structural design, the scaffold, the weatherproofing and the sequence of the strip-out are written into the scope before a start date is discussed.

A full refurbishment brief is the joinery of those parts: the planning items, the services, the kitchens and bathrooms, the fire and sound strategy in a flat, and the order in which the house can still be occupied. Hampstead Renovations, at hampsteadrenovations.co.uk, is the sister company that delivers the building work. Hampstead On Demand takes the brief, confirms the postcode and the photographs, and agrees which team is on the job. Insurance for accepted in-house work is £5M public liability, with £10M employers' liability and contractors' all risks cover. Gas leaks are reported to 0800 111 999 before any other call. Urgent make-safe triage is 020 7101 3168.

Each guide below lists the official sources it was checked against and the date of that review. Use the guide to see which documents the team will ask for, then send the address, the drawings you already have, and what you want changed. The team confirms availability and the next step from Finchley Road. Submission of a brief is not a booking and not a quote.