Planning a kitchen refurbishment in a South West London flat

You can spend weeks choosing kitchen doors and still find that the fridge blocks a drawer. Before ordering a kitchen for a South West London flat, work through how the room will function, how the work will reach it, and what needs agreeing before anything is removed.

This guide is for a refurbishment within an existing property. If your plans include an extension, moving structural walls or relocating the kitchen, those changes need their own assessment.

Start with the thing that annoys you every day

Is there nowhere to put a hot tray? Does the washing machine interrupt a conversation? Are the cupboards full, but the items you use most still live on the worktop?

Write down three problems the new kitchen must solve. That gives you a better starting point than a colour scheme. For a compact flat, useful worktop space and accessible storage may matter more than adding another run of units.

Then make two lists: what stays and what changes. Include appliances, flooring, lighting and the position of the sink. A cabinet replacement and a complete kitchen refurbishment need different scopes, even when the finished photographs look similar.

Check the layout with the doors open

A plan can look generous until you open the dishwasher. Ask for the layout to show door swings, appliance clearances and the space people need to move through the room. Use the actual appliance specifications rather than assuming every model fits the same way.

• Can the fridge open far enough to remove its drawers?
• Can someone pass while the dishwasher is open?
• Will a corner cupboard clash with a handle or radiator?
• Where will the kettle, toaster and everyday preparation happen?
• Can you reach the stopcock and other service points afterwards?

For an open-plan living space, also think about what you see from the sofa. Bins, drying dishes and small appliances need a home if you want the room to feel tidy without clearing everything away each evening.

Decide whether moving the sink is worth it

Keeping the existing arrangement may reduce the extent of alterations, but it does not remove the need to inspect what is already there. Moving a sink, adding an appliance or changing the cooker can affect the plumbing, drainage, electrical work and making good included in the job.

Ask for those items to be described separately in the scope. “Fit new kitchen” is too broad to tell you whether a new circuit, altered pipework, wall repairs or decorating has been allowed for. Specialist work should be assessed by the appropriate competent tradesperson; a kitchen drawing is not a check of the existing services.

If several rooms are changing, consider the kitchen as part of the wider flat refurbishment. It is easier to discuss shared preparation and finishing before each room has its own separate plan.

Check permissions before booking the strip-out

Replacing kitchen units is different from changing the building. Planning Portal says a refit with new units and fittings generally does not require building regulations approval, although associated drainage or electrical work may. Creating a kitchen in a room that did not previously have one is likely to require approval.

Read the Planning Portal kitchen guidance and confirm the requirements for your particular scope before work starts. Planning permission, building regulations and any leasehold consent are separate questions.

For a leasehold flat, check the lease and consent requirements and ask the freeholder or managing agent what approval and working arrangements apply. Do not assume that an internal alteration is automatically permitted. For properties within Wandsworth borough, the council's building control information is a useful local starting point. Elsewhere in South West London, check the authority responsible for the property address.

Give access the same attention as the design

A first-floor conversion in Battersea and a flat with a lift in Putney can need quite different delivery arrangements. The practical questions are the same: how will the units get inside, where can they wait, and how will the old kitchen leave?

Measure the route as well as the room. Record stairs, tight turns, lift restrictions and any shared areas that need protecting. Ask the managing agent about agreed working hours and delivery rules where relevant. Check the actual parking and loading arrangements for the street before setting a delivery date.

Include waste removal and protection in the written scope. If materials must arrive in stages because storage is limited, make that part of the programme rather than a problem discovered when the delivery vehicle arrives.

Agree what happens while the kitchen is out of use

If you will stay in the flat, discuss access to water, food preparation and appliance use before removal begins. Be specific about what facilities will be unavailable and when. A temporary setup needs to be practical for the household, not simply a spare table in a dusty room.

For a rental property, make the occupancy and access arrangements clear from the start. Our landlord and estate-agent refurbishment service covers enquiries where kitchen work needs to sit within a wider preparation brief for sale or letting.

Avoid fixing a move-in or photography date around an assumed installation duration. The programme depends on the agreed scope, product availability, existing conditions and any approvals. Ask what must be ready before a start date can be confirmed.

What to send with a kitchen refurbishment enquiry

You do not need a finished design to start the conversation. Send:

• Your postcode, property type and floor level.
• A few clear photographs and approximate room dimensions.
• The three things you want the new kitchen to do better.
• What you want to keep, replace or move.
• Any supplier plan or appliance models already selected.
• Whether the property will be occupied, plus preferred timing.
• Known access restrictions and any approvals already discussed.

OSPM undertakes kitchen refurbishment in South West London. Share the brief through our enquiry form so we can discuss the layout, scope and next step with you. A clear plan at the beginning makes it easier to choose a kitchen that works on an ordinary Tuesday, as well as in the finished photographs.