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Brick & Stone CleaningLondon · Repointing · Restoration

Brick and stone in Kensington & Chelsea

Kensington & Chelsea.

Stucco in stone colour, fair-faced stock brick above, and a council that has prosecuted over paint. Covers Kensington, Chelsea, Notting Hill, Holland Park, Earl's Court.

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What the buildings are

The Royal Borough is London's great stucco-and-brick district. The Ladbroke estate (1830s to 1860s) is Italianate stucco at ground floor with London stock brick above, the stucco "painted in a stone colour" because it was always meant to imitate Bath stone. Pembridge (1840s to 1860s) is villas and terraces of yellow stock brick in Flemish bond with stucco to the lower floors. Kensington Square is older and rarer: houses of about 1700 in brown brick with red dressings, many still fair-faced, some in gault brick with tuck pointing.

What the council says about cleaning and paint

The borough's own appraisals treat badly done cleaning as damage. The Pembridge appraisal records terraces "harmed by the cleaning of brickwork", a rear elevation showing "the harm caused by painting brickwork", and a shopfront group marred by "heavily weather struck pointing". The Ladbroke appraisal says the best stucco terraces are "entirely painted white or off-white stone colour", and that where fair-faced brick has been "lost to painting or modern render", removing it "would be a welcome enhancement". In the Norland area a 2013 Article 4 direction fixes the permitted stucco colours street by street (white, off-white, BS 4800 "Sandstone" on Holland Park Avenue, "Hopsack" on Norland Square) and states in capitals that this "DOES NOT INCLUDE PAINTING OF BRICKWORK": brick is meant to stay bare.

The striped house

In 2016 a house at the south end of Kensington Square was painted in red and white stripes. The council served a notice, the owner appealed and lost. The judge's line: "Visual integrity is fundamental to the Kensington Square Conservation Area." The point for anyone cleaning or painting a front here: the council acts, and courts back it.

Consent and advice

Listed building consent is needed for works affecting a listed building's character; the council's page notes "regular maintenance and some repairs" do not need it, and warns of fines "up to £20,000 in the magistrates' court, or an unlimited fine in the Crown Court". Pre-application advice for a householder is £587 (2026–27), and "Level 1 advice is not available for alterations to listed buildings". PlanningLine: 020 7361 3012.

Scaffold on the pavement

A temporary structure licence (scaffold, hoarding, gantry, cradle) runs three months and costs £717, plus £131 for fast-track and a £69 deposit administration fee; the deposit itself is set after a site inspection. Only a registered company can apply, and work must not start before written approval. One licence can cover a scaffold and the hoarding round it.

What this means for your job

  • Cleaning stock brick here is routine, but it must be gentle (superheated water, trial patch first); the council has named harsh cleaning as harm.
  • If a front has been painted, removing the paint is welcomed by the council and is a job this site's firm does.
  • Repointing should match the original, often tuck pointing on older squares; struck cement joints are noted as damage.
  • Check the Article 4 list for your street before painting stucco a new colour.

Where these facts come from

  • RBKC conservation areas page (38 areas, "nearly three quarters of the borough"): rbkc.gov.uk
  • RBKC listed buildings explained (over 3,800 listed buildings; consent and fines): rbkc.gov.uk
  • Pembridge Conservation Area Appraisal (adopted 30 Jan 2017), harm from cleaning, painting and weather-struck pointing: rbkc.gov.uk (PDF)
  • Ladbroke Conservation Area Appraisal (adopted 15 Oct 2015), paras 2.37–2.41: rbkc.gov.uk (PDF)
  • Norland Article 4 Direction (2013), Third Schedule colours: rbkc.gov.uk (PDF)
  • Kensington Square Conservation Area Appraisal (adopted 23 Nov 2017) and the 2016 striped-house case (IHBC report): rbkc.gov.uk (PDF), ihbc.org.uk
  • RBKC pre-application advice fees: rbkc.gov.uk; temporary structure licences (updated 6 May 2026): rbkc.gov.uk

Checked 16 October 2026. If you spot a mistake, email hello@brickandstonecleaninglondon.co.uk.

A building in Kensington & Chelsea?

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