For building owners, landlords and occupiers
Commercial Refurbishment & Change of Use in London
Sviatoslav JerdetchiiCEO & Founder of Craftex. Updated , 6 min read
The short answer
A commercial refurbishment or change of use in London stays on time and on budget when the risks are found before the strip-out, not during it.
- Survey the structure, services and asbestos before you fix the price.
- Check the use class: moving to another class generally needs planning permission.
- A new use brings in Building Regulations for fire, ventilation, drainage and energy.
- Fix the scope in writing and plan the work around anyone still in the building.
An old shop becomes a café. A tired office floor is brought back to the market. A warehouse becomes a studio. Each one can unlock new income from a building you already own or lease. Each one is also harder than it looks, because the building has a history you can't see yet.
This guide covers commercial refurbishment and change of use in London from the builder's side. It explains the planning and Building Regulations routes, the risks hidden in older buildings, and how to keep the work predictable. Have a building in mind? Book a site visit and we'll walk it with you.
Commercial refurbishment and change of use are different jobs
A commercial refurbishment upgrades a building for the use it already has. A change of use makes it work for something new. Many London projects are both at once, and that's where most surprises start.
| Refurbishment | Change of use | |
|---|---|---|
| What changes | Services, layout, finishes | What the building is used for |
| Planning | Usually only for external changes | Generally needed between use classes |
| Building Regulations | For the work you do | The building must meet rules for its new use |
| Main risk | Hidden defects and scope creep | Finding a new requirement too late |
For upgrades in the same use, see our commercial refurbishment in London service. Industrial owners can read about warehouse refurbishment.
Five risks hide inside an existing building
A new build starts from a clean site. A refurbishment starts from someone else's decisions, made decades ago. These are the risks we plan for on every job.
1. Unseen conditions behind walls and floors
Strip back a wall in an older building and you may find old wiring, damp, rot or unrecorded structural changes. Asbestos is the classic case. HSE says to assume asbestos in any building built or refurbished before 2000.
Work that disturbs the fabric needs a more intrusive asbestos survey before it starts. Found late, asbestos stops the programme, not just the budget.
2. Scope creep from a vague brief
"Modernise the space" is not a scope. Without a fixed written scope, small additions pile up during the build. The contingency disappears and the end date slides. Change itself is normal. Change without a process is what costs money.
3. A new use brings new rules
A new use can bring a new fire strategy, sound separation, ventilation or extra power. Find these during design and they're a line in the budget. Find them on site and they mean redesign and rework.
4. People still in the building
Floor-by-floor refurbishments often happen with tenants above and below. Without a logistics plan, noise and blocked access turn into complaints. Complaints from tenants become a problem for the landlord.
5. Cost and time pressure build up fast
Unknowns and late decisions compound. That's why existing buildings overrun more often than new ones. The fix is to remove uncertainty early, as our guide to planning construction projects explains.
The planning route for a change of use in London
The Planning Portal puts it simply: changing from one use class to another generally needs planning permission. Most external work tied to a change of use is likely to need permission too. Some changes are covered by permitted development or prior approval instead.
These are the use classes that matter most for commercial buildings in England:
| Use class | Covers |
|---|---|
| E(a) | Shops, other than hot food |
| E(b) | Restaurants and cafés |
| E(c) | Financial and professional services |
| E(d) | Indoor sport and fitness |
| E(e) | Medical and health services |
| E(g) | Offices, research and light industry |
| B2 | General industry |
| B8 | Storage and distribution |
| C1 | Hotels and guest houses |
| Sui generis | Pubs, bars and hot food takeaways, among others |
A shop, office, gym and café all sit in Class E. Our guide to Class E explains what that allows. Pubs and takeaways sit outside it, so moving into or out of them needs more care.
In a leased unit, planning is only half of it. The landlord must also agree the works in a licence for alterations. Start that early, because it runs on the landlord's timetable.
The results from Craftex’s commercial refurbishment in London are fantastic. The team was friendly, clear in communication, and made sure the project stayed on track. The workspace now feels efficient, welcoming, and modern. Definitely a team you can trust!
Building Regulations apply when the use changes
A material change of use brings the building under the rules for its new use. It doesn't matter that the walls were legal for the old one. Regulation 6 of the Building Regulations 2010 lists what must then comply. In plain English:
- Fire safety. Escape routes, fire separation, fire spread and access for fire-fighters.
- Ventilation. Fresh air for the people now using the building.
- Water and drainage. Sanitation, hot water, drainage and waste storage.
- Energy. Heating, insulation and lighting to current standards.
- Electrical safety. For any new or altered installation.
Other rules apply only to some changes, such as structure, sound and access. Building control signs the finished work off. Without that sign-off, the space is hard to let, sell or insure.
Three London projects show where control comes from
Each of these projects was decided before the strip-out began.
Portsoken House: a warehouse turned into offices around tenants
At Portsoken House in Aldgate, we turned an abandoned warehouse into 1,550 sq m of offices. It was a £2.2M change of use across two floors. The work covered a full mechanical and electrical package, a new ceiling and levelled concrete floors. We added a new entrance, kitchen and WCs.
The other floors were already let. So we worked nights and weekends on the reception and kept deliveries tightly planned. It was completed on time.
Beaumont House: 750 sq m in three weeks
At Beaumont House in High Street Kensington, the client had five weeks before their lease expired. Other contractors quoted at least 12 weeks. We refurbished the £350K, 750 sq m office in three weeks, with zero snags. The client then hired us for a second refurbishment in the same building, valued at £1.3 million.
Aunties: a full strip-out in four weeks
Aunties in Seven Sisters was a full strip-out of an 83.35 m² unit into a new restaurant. Floors, walls and ceilings were rebuilt in four weeks. Our restaurant fit-out guide covers it in detail.
How we take the surprises out of a refurbishment
None of this is luck. It's a process we run on every refurbishment and change of use.
- Survey before design. We assess the structure, services and hazardous materials first, with specialists where needed.
- Fix the scope in writing. Functional needs, specification, compliance and future plans are agreed before pricing.
- Design compliance in. Planning, fire and Building Regulations are handled in design, not at the final inspection.
- Run the site tightly. One project manager owns sequencing, ordering, quality and communication.
- Protect the people around you. Segregation, dust and noise control, phased handovers and clear updates.
Every Craftex project is led by an experienced manager through our construction project management team. Long-lead items are ordered early, so the site never waits for one late delivery. Our guide to refurbishing an office while it's occupied explains the phasing.
What a well-run refurbishment does for value
A dim, tired unit lets slowly and at a discount. A bright, compliant one lets faster to better tenants. A redundant building can earn again under a new use. Our guide to a value-add commercial refurbishment strategy shows how owners plan that uplift.
The handover is where value is kept or lost. A space should be ready to occupy on day one. That means no late compliance issues and no list of remedial works.
Seven checks before you refurbish or change the use
One team from survey to handover
On refurbishments, decisions often have to be made fast in response to what the site reveals. With design, construction and project management in one team, the people who drew it solve it with the people who build it. Responsibility stays clear and the programme keeps moving.
Craftex started in 2016 as a carpentry and joinery company. Around 60% of our labour is still in-house. We take on construction projects from £100,000. Does your London building need an upgrade or a new use? Book a site visit and we'll tell you what it involves.
Before you commit
- Was the building built or refurbished before 2000? Plan an asbestos survey.
- Which use class is it in today, and which will it be in?
- Does the change need planning permission or prior approval?
- Will any external work, such as plant, windows or signage, need consent?
- Does the landlord need to grant a licence for alterations?
- Who will still be in the building while you work?
- Is the scope fixed in writing before the price?
