Luxury Builders
in Hampstead

Prime residential construction in Hampstead

Crown Building works at the top of the London market, and Hampstead is core territory for our team. The projects in our published case studies were delivered under exactly the constraints that define this part of London. Protected fabric, exacting consents, discreet site conduct and clients who judge the result at touching distance.

We do not operate at volume. We compete on execution. Meticulous programming, a trusted specialist supply chain and senior management present on site throughout are the baseline for every commission we accept in Hampstead. The standard does not change with the scale of the project.

What we build in Hampstead

Our residential work spans the full scope of high end building. We deliver architecturally distinctive new build homes, private residence refurbishments and structural reconfigurations, single and multistorey extensions, basement excavations, listed and period property works, and the bespoke joinery and interiors that define a finished home. Each project is delivered as design and build or contractor only, with Crown appointed as your prime residential main contractor, and transparent, itemised pricing from the outset. Commercial occupiers are served by the same teams through our commercial fit out division, and clinical and wellness premises through our healthcare and specialist environments team. On The Bishops Avenue, our £7m Bishops Avenue private residence shows that scope end to end.

Hampstead combines village conservation areas, listed Georgian terraces and substantial Victorian villas on the slopes towards the Heath: a combination that produces some of London's most technically interesting briefs. Basement excavation beneath protected fabric, private residence refurbishment of tall, narrow terraces, and bespoke joinery that must sit comfortably in period rooms are all standing items in our NW3 workload. Our published Hampstead case study covers a bespoke library and joinery commission; our current live project is a two level subterranean extension with Delta certified waterproofing.

Areas we serve

We work throughout Hampstead: the village, Frognal, Redington and Fitzjohns, South Hill Park and the Heath fringes, plus Belsize Park, Swiss Cottage and Highgate. You can see our full coverage, London within the M25 and a fifteen mile radius of our Watford headquarters, on our areas we cover page.

What Camden's planning position actually means for your project

Hampstead sits inside one of the most tightly controlled planning environments in the country, and the single most expensive mistake we see is a client assuming permitted development applies. In most of Hampstead it does not. Article 4 Directions covering the Hampstead, South Hampstead and Belsize conservation areas were made in September 2010 and remove permitted development rights for the alterations owners most often assume are automatic: extensions, dormers, window replacement, cladding and external painting.

The Article 4(1) Direction applies to houses and flats identified as making a positive contribution to the conservation area. In practice that means planning permission for work to the front of the property unless you are replacing windows, doors, boundary walls and gardens like for like. Across the borough Camden maintains around forty conservation areas covering roughly half its area, nineteen Article 4 areas and close to two thousand listed buildings, so the question on a Hampstead property is rarely whether a constraint applies but which ones.

This matters commercially rather than academically. A programme built on the assumption of permitted development, then rebuilt around a full application with pre application advice and a design and access statement, loses months. We establish the consent position before we price, not after, and we would rather tell you at the first meeting that your scheme needs permission than discover it at week six.

Basements in Hampstead: the Camden position

Camden operates one of the strictest basement regimes in London and it catches people out. Since 1 June 2017 a borough wide Article 4 Direction has required planning permission for basement excavation anywhere in Camden. There is no permitted development route, regardless of the property or the scale of the dig.

Policy A5 of the Camden Local Plan then governs what will actually be approved. A single storey basement is limited to fifty per cent of the garden area, and double storey basements are generally refused outside commercial areas. Applications must be accompanied by a Basement Impact Assessment, a technical document covering ground conditions, hydrology and the structural effect on neighbouring properties, prepared to the standard set out in Camden's basements planning guidance.

The practical consequence is that a Hampstead basement is decided long before anyone breaks ground, and the quality of the engineering behind the application is worth more at that stage than at any point afterwards. We have delivered basement excavation across prime London and can tell you at feasibility whether a scheme is likely to survive Policy A5 before you commission a full design. Our approach to basement conversion sets out the engineering in detail.

Hampstead's building stock, and what it does to a programme

Three kinds of property dominate the instructions we see here, and each behaves differently on site. Georgian and early Victorian terraces around the village core: listed or in conservation area, shallow foundations, lath and plaster, and party walls shared with neighbours who will be affected by every structural opening. Substantial Victorian and Edwardian villas on the slopes towards the Heath: generous floor plates, often previously subdivided, usually needing complete services renewal behind a facade that cannot change. And mansion block and lateral apartments, where the constraint is not the fabric but the freeholder, the licence to alter and a single goods lift shared with residents.

The topography adds its own problem. The gradient towards the Heath means restricted street access, limited standing for deliveries and, on the clay, ground conditions that reward proper investigation before you commit to a structural scheme. None of this is exotic, but it is the difference between a programme that holds and one that does not, and it is why we survey and price a Hampstead property rather than applying a rate to a floor area.

Speak to us about your Hampstead project

If you are planning a refurbishment, basement or new build in Hampstead, call us on 020 3675 3999 or book a free consultation here. Every enquiry is handled by a director.

Frequently asked questions

Where is Crown Building based?

Crown Building's registered office is at Unit 324-B, The Wenta Business Centre, Colne Way, Watford, WD24 7ND. We work throughout London within the M25 and across Hertfordshire and the Home Counties.

Which areas around Hampstead do you cover?

We work throughout NW3: the village, Frognal, Redington/Fitzjohns, South Hill Park, plus Belsize Park, Swiss Cottage and Highgate.

Can you excavate basements under listed buildings in Hampstead?

Yes. Our current Hampstead project is a two level basement beneath a listed Victorian terrace with certified structural waterproofing. We manage listed building consent, structural engineering, party wall awards and conservation methodology as one package.