Contract planning in Tulse Hill
Documented building context
Lambeth dates the first Lancaster Villas group to 1864–1865 and describes symmetrical semi-detached houses of two storeys above a semi-basement. Its account identifies Italianate detailing, stucco window surrounds and hipped roofs. These features describe the recorded group, not whether the lower accommodation in a particular house retains its original arrangement.
The appraisal records 33–35 Lancaster Avenue as an 1865 pair with three storeys above a semi-basement. It contrasts their taller, plainer character with the broader villas and notes brick arches and stucco balustrading to the entrances. Even adjoining groups from a similar period therefore need different descriptions of their accommodation.
Lambeth dates 46–92 Lancaster Avenue to 1906, recording smaller terraced houses that continued the red brick, foliage ornament and bay-window character of preceding decades. This is a useful caution against dating a building solely from decorative details shared with older neighbours.
The appraisal distinguishes the flat rear elevations of the 1860s villas from later south-side semis with raised rear ground floors, closet returns and verandas. It also describes changes in roof detailing and replacement coverings within the street. The rear of a house may therefore require a different access explanation from its front entrance.
Existing-building records for the tender
Provide photographs and plans showing the route between the rear rooms and garden. Ask for records of alterations to projecting returns, external stairs or enclosed veranda space. Where the ground falls away, identify the lower wall and any room beneath the main floor without inferring a structural concern from the slope itself. Roof changes need their own history, including what covering was replaced and whether the structure was altered. Check current council records before planning external work: a character appraisal describes forms in its study area, but cannot establish the permissions or current condition of a particular extension.
Tulse Hill tender and contract decisions
For work to a Lancaster Avenue house, issue a floor-and-elevation schedule that distinguishes the semi-basement, raised entrance and any rear return. The differences recorded between the villa groups make a single assumption about storey heights or rear access unsuitable for tender comparison. Have each bidder state how materials and waste will move between the working floors and the agreed site entrance.
Where a veranda, closet return or external stair is affected, identify the existing element and the proposed connection separately. Allocate the design of temporary protection and permanent alterations before selecting the JCT form and completing its particulars. The tender programme should show any investigation needed to establish the connection, followed by the decision that releases the permanent work.
What should the Tulse Hill tender and completion file make clear?
Keep a roof-covering replacement distinct from structural alteration to the roof or accommodation below. If opening up changes the proposed extent, preserve the original allowance, subsequent instruction and revised price in the same record. This makes the financial effect of the discovered arrangement visible without assuming that the appraisal describes the present building.
Appointment
HCS cannot act as independent contract administrator where HCS is the contractor.
Local Sources Checked
- Lambeth: Lancaster Avenue Conservation Area Character Appraisal, 2017 — Paragraphs 2.28–2.29, 2.33 and 2.44–2.46; printed pages 15, 17, 20
Nearby contract administration
Accountability
Provider
Hampstead Chartered Surveyors & Building Consultancy — RICS Regulated Firm No. 923064
Other Tulse Hill surveying services
Need a RICS survey quote in Tulse Hill? We confirm a fixed fee after scoping. Call 020 7101 4590, email enquiries@hampsteadcharteredsurveyors.co.uk, or inspect our redacted RICS Level 3 sample reports. Sample reports.