A Richmond home carries decades of character: Georgian proportions, Victorian detail, a garden that earns its place. A renovation keeps what makes the house special and rebuilds everything that no longer serves the way you live.
Sovran renovates houses and flats in Richmond, Kew, Ham, Petersham and Barnes as one team: one design, one contract, one fixed price. Our studio is in Isleworth, a few miles from Richmond Green, so we know the streets, the council and the houses.
Bottom line: a full home renovation in Richmond typically takes 12 to 20 weeks on site and a partial renovation 6 to 10, at £800 to £3,500 per m², fixed once the survey and design are complete.
In Richmond the house often sets the scope: what is original, what is protected, what has never been touched. These are the three routes, from the lightest to the most complete.
New surfaces, finishes and fittings, with the layout left alone and no structural work. It suits a sound Richmond house that needs a considered finish with the least disruption.
The rooms that matter most are rebuilt to a new standard, usually the kitchen and bathrooms, with new services behind the walls. Partial renovations take 6 to 10 weeks on site, and budgets around £50k usually suit this scope. In a period house the work is planned so the original rooms around it stay untouched.
The whole house is stripped back and rebuilt: wiring, plumbing, heating, floors, plaster, structural changes, kitchen, bathrooms and finishes. A full renovation takes 12 to 20 weeks on site, under one programme agreed at the start. It suits the Georgian, Victorian and Edwardian houses of Richmond that have never been fully updated, and flats that need the same depth of work.
Original features such as sash windows, cornices and fireplaces are assessed on site and kept wherever they can be.
The age of the house decides most of what happens behind the walls. This is what we look at first.
In Richmond the spread comes from what sits behind the walls. A full renovation in London typically costs £800 to £3,500 per m², and services and structural work are the largest costs, ahead of finishes. Older houses carry more of both.
| Scope | Time on site | Cost guide |
|---|---|---|
| Partial renovation | 6 to 10 weeks | Budgets around £50k usually suit this scope |
| Full house renovation | 12 to 20 weeks | £800 to £3,500 per m² |
Sovran fixes the price once the survey and design are complete. Before that, the cost calculator gives a working estimate in minutes.
Most internal work needs no planning permission. Richmond is different from most boroughs because so much of it is protected.
The London Borough of Richmond upon Thames has many conservation areas, including Richmond Hill, Richmond Green, Richmond Riverside, Kew Green, Petersham, Ham Common and Barnes Green. In some of them an Article 4 direction removes permitted development rights, so changes that would normally need no consent, such as new windows, doors or extensions, require a planning application.
Internal work usually does not need it. It comes into play for external changes, change of use and any alteration to a listed building, and in a conservation area the threshold for external changes is lower.
Structural work, rewiring, replumbing and fire safety need approval whether or not planning permission applies. We submit and manage it as part of the programme.
Richmond has a large number of listed buildings. Almost any change to one needs consent, including internal work, and it is a separate application from planning.
Our planning team includes former local authority planning officers, and 97% of our planning applications are approved. We establish the planning route before design starts, so the scheme is shaped around what the council will approve.
The studio that designs your renovation is the studio that builds it. In a Richmond house that means sash windows, joinery, lighting and the way rooms connect are drawn once, with the original features in mind, and carried through to site so the finished house matches the drawings.
Surveyed room by room, original features included, before anything is drawn.
Layout, light and detail agreed once.
We check the conservation area and Article 4 status of your address, then manage planning, Building Regulations and any Listed Building Consent.
One team on site, one point of contact.
Snagged, handed over and ready to live in.
A full home renovation in Richmond typically costs between £800 and £3,500 per m², depending on the condition of the house, the amount of structural and services work, and the specification. Services and structure are the largest costs. Budgets around £50k usually suit a partial renovation. Sovran fixes the price once the survey and design are complete, so the number you approve is the number you pay. The cost calculator gives an early estimate before the survey.
A full renovation takes 12 to 20 weeks on site and a partial renovation 6 to 10 weeks. Design, planning and any consents come first, and how long they take depends on the house and on whether it is listed or in a conservation area. We agree the programme at the start and manage it as one team, so you know what happens each week and who to call.
Internal work usually does not need planning permission. It applies to external changes, change of use and any alteration to a listed building. Building Regulations approval is separate and is required for structural work, rewiring, replumbing and fire safety. Because much of Richmond sits in a conservation area, some with an Article 4 direction, we check the status of your address before design starts.
Yes. A conservation area does not stop a renovation; it shapes how external work is designed and approved. Internal work is usually unaffected, while changes to windows, doors, roofs or facades may need a planning application. Listed buildings need Listed Building Consent for almost any change. Our planning team includes former local authority planning officers, and 97% of our planning applications are approved.
It depends on scope. A partial renovation can often be phased so you stay in the house. A full renovation, with services replaced throughout, usually means moving out for the time on site. We plan this at the start and build it into the programme, so there are no surprises about when the house is ready.
Yes. Sovran designs, obtains consent for and builds the renovation as one team, with one contract, one fixed price and one point of contact. There is no handover between designer, project manager and builder, which is where most delays and disputes begin. We renovate houses and flats alike.
Renovating keeps the location, the garden and the neighbourhood you already know, and the money goes into the house rather than into stamp duty and agent fees. Moving makes sense when the house cannot give you what you need, whatever is done to it. We survey the property first, so the decision rests on what the house can become and what it will cost.
Explore our House Renovation service, the Kitchen Extensions page for Isleworth, our Design and Build approach and the cost calculator.
Tell us about your house and what it needs. We will come back with a clear scope and the next steps.
Every great space starts somewhere. Pick a time that works for you and we'll show you what's possible.