After builders cleaning in Kensington and Chelsea
From £212 all in: two cleaners for three hours with their own equipment and detergents. Every extra cleaner-hour is £30.
- Crews of two or more, with their own kit
- 7 days a week, 8am to 7pm
- No payment online; a 50% deposit holds the date
Kensington and Chelsea allows no noisy building work on Saturdays, so a builder's last loud day is always a weekday. Complete After Builders cleans homes across the Royal Borough after the works: a 2-bed flat after a refurbishment usually takes 2 cleaners for 4 hours, £272 all in.
Kensington and Chelsea in numbers
- 66%of homes in the borough were built before 1919VOA, homes with a recorded build date, 2025
- 3%were built in 2015 or laterVOA, homes with a recorded build date, 2025
- 83%of households live in flatsCensus 2021
- 40%of households rent privatelyCensus 2021
Building work hours in Kensington and Chelsea
Under the council's Code of Construction Practice, building work that can be heard at the site boundary is allowed from 8am to 6pm Monday to Friday and at no time on Saturdays, Sundays or public holidays. Demolition, concrete breaking and other high-impact work is narrower still: 9am to noon and 2pm to 5.30pm on weekdays. The council enforces this through section 60 notices and section 61 prior consents under the Control of Pollution Act 1974.
For the clean, that makes Friday evening the usual end of the loud work. Fine dust keeps falling for a day after the sanding stops, so a clean on the Monday is ideal, though a Saturday slot works if the trades are fully out by Friday night. Saturdays book up first; about a week's notice is usually enough.
Construction bonds, basements and the Article 4 direction
The Code sorts jobs into three categories and asks for a construction bond before work starts. Category 1, which covers basement digs and full rebuilds, is £8,500 a year and also needs section 61 consent; Category 2, such as an extension or partial demolition, is £5,000; Category 3, internal refurbishment, has no bond.
Local Plan policy CL7 limits basements to one storey under no more than half of each garden, and none may be dug beneath a listed building. A borough-wide Article 4 direction, in force from 28 April 2016, removed permitted development rights for basements under houses, so every one needs planning permission. A basement sends fine dust into every room above it, light fittings and cupboard tops included, and is priced as heavy work: a 4-bed house after a basement is usually 4 cleaners for 5 hours, £632 all in. Construction dust cleaning explains how the crew deals with that much dust.
Bay suspensions, skips and parking without visitor permits
| Council charge or rule | Kensington and Chelsea, from 1 April 2026 |
|---|---|
| Bay suspension, days one to five | £82 per space per day |
| Bay suspension, days 6 to 42 | £123 per space per day |
| Bay suspension, after day 42 | £164 per space per day |
| Express suspension | £408 extra, on five working days' notice |
| Normal notice | 10 working days for permit bays, two for pay-by-phone bays |
A suspension has to be booked before the skip licence, because the skip form asks for its reference. The council has no uncontrolled streets, issues no visitor vouchers and gives no parking permits to businesses or visitors, so a cleaning crew pays by phone, from £1.90 to £8.40 an hour plus 10p a session, or uses a car park. Pay-by-phone bays are free on Sundays, except in most of Holland ward around Holland Park, and on bank holidays. On a single yellow line a vehicle may load for up to 40 minutes without a dispensation, which is enough to carry the kit in.
Builders' waste and the Smugglers Way limits
The council's bulky waste service collects up to 10 items for £44 but will not take builders' waste, paint or anything hazardous, and it does not accept large amounts of DIY waste. Small amounts of rubble, bricks and plasterboard from a resident's own DIY can go to the Smugglers Way centre, where a resident who books a van may leave 100 litres of DIY waste or one large item, such as a bath, door or kitchen unit, free once every seven days; plasterboard only in very small amounts. Anything over that costs £286.70 a tonne, with a £154.82 minimum, and larger loads or trade waste go to the site operator, Cory, at a charge.
So the builder clears the rubble, or a licensed waste carrier does. The crew does not remove builders' waste, and it cannot clean round a pile of it.
Conservation areas and listed buildings in the Royal Borough
The borough has 38 conservation areas covering nearly three quarters of its land, and more than 3,800 listed buildings. In a listed building even small works, such as lifting floorboards, changing cornices, skirtings or fireplaces or adding recessed lights, need listed building consent. The council decided 2,292 planning applications in the year to June 2026. That covers the stucco terraces of South Kensington, the crescents and garden squares of Notting Hill and a great many sash windows. The crew dusts cornices, shutters and window boxes dry before anything wet touches them, and takes paint flecks off old glass by hand where they will come off; see window cleaning after the builders.
New homes at Earl's Court and Kensal Canalside
The London Plan puts two opportunity areas wholly or partly in the borough: Earl's Court and West Kensington, shared with Hammersmith and Fulham and with capacity for 6,500 homes across both, and Kensal Canalside, with 3,500. In December 2025 the planning committee resolved to approve the Earl's Court scheme, with up to 1,400 homes on the Royal Borough's side and 310 in the first phase, and referred it to the Mayor. At the former Kensal Gas Works, a hybrid application received in June 2025 proposes about 241 homes in its first, detailed part; North Kensington has the details. New flats like these need handover cleans: labels off glazing, grout haze off wall tiles, silicone smears off sanitaryware where they will come off and the inside of every unit wiped. A hazed tiled floor is the hard floor deep clean, £6 a m² extra.
The existing stock is overwhelmingly flats. At the 2021 Census 82.9% of households lived in one, 23.5% in a flat in a converted or shared house, and only 4.2% in a semi-detached or detached home; 39.6% rented privately.
Areas we cover in Kensington and Chelsea
What a builders clean costs here
CleanersHours£30£32 kit
Every crew brings its own vacuums, cloths, ladders and detergents; the £32 covers them once per job. The table shows our usual starting point for a standard refurbishment. Lighter or heavier work moves it, and you can set your own crew and hours in the form.
Price my cleanBuilders cleans in Kensington and Chelsea questions
Anything else? Ring 07418 351088.
Can the crew clean on a Saturday in Kensington and Chelsea?
Yes. The Saturday ban covers noisy building work; the crew vacuums, dusts and wipes. Saturdays are the first slots to go, so book about a week ahead.
How much does an after builders clean cost in the Royal Borough?
From £212 all in for 2 cleaners for 3 hours. A 2-bed flat after a refurbishment is usually £272, a 4-bed house £392; each bathroom beyond the first in a flat, or beyond the second in a house, adds roughly ninety minutes of cleaner time. See the full price list.
Where does the cleaning crew park if there are no visitor permits?
In a space you provide, a pay-by-phone bay or a public car park. The office agrees the plan with you when it rings to confirm the booking.
Will the crew take away the builders' rubble?
No. The builder or a licensed waste carrier removes rubble, plasterboard and offcuts. The council's bulky collection will not take builders' waste either.
Do you clean listed houses and original features?
Yes. Original cornices, shutters, floors and fireplaces are dusted dry first and cleaned with the gentlest product that works on the surface. Anything that will not come off is pointed out on the day.
Sources for the local facts on this page
- Code of Construction Practice: audible work 8am to 6pm Monday to Friday, none on Saturdays, Sundays or public holidays; high-impact work 9am to noon and 2pm to 5.30pm weekdays; section 60 and 61 under the Control of Pollution Act 1974 rbkc.gov.uk
- Construction bond: Category 1 (basements, full rebuilds) 8,500 pounds a year with section 61 consent; Category 2 (extensions, partial demolition) 5,000 pounds; Category 3 (internal refurbishment) none rbkc.gov.uk
- Policy CL7: basements one storey, no more than 50% of each garden, none beneath a listed building rbkc.gov.uk
- Borough-wide Article 4 direction from 28 April 2016 removes permitted development rights for basements under houses rbkc.gov.uk
- Bay suspensions from 1 April 2026: 82 pounds per space per day for days one to five, 123 pounds days 6 to 42, 164 pounds after; express 408 pounds extra on five working days' notice rbkc.gov.uk
- Notice: 10 working days for permit bays, two working days for pay-by-phone bays rbkc.gov.uk
- Parking suspension must be booked first and its reference quoted on the skip licence form rbkc.gov.uk
- No uncontrolled streets, no visitor vouchers; pay-by-phone bays free on Sundays (except most of Holland ward) and bank holidays rbkc.gov.uk
- No parking permits for businesses or visitors rbkc.gov.uk
- Pay-by-phone 1.90 pounds to 8.40 pounds an hour plus 10p a session rbkc.gov.uk
- Loading on a single yellow line up to 40 minutes without a dispensation rbkc.gov.uk
- Bulky waste up to 10 items for 44 pounds; no builders' waste, paint or hazardous waste rbkc.gov.uk
- No large amounts of DIY waste; small amounts of rubble, bricks and plasterboard to Smugglers Way; larger loads or trade waste to Cory at a charge rbkc.gov.uk
- Smugglers Way: booked van may leave 100 litres of DIY waste or one large item free every 7 days; plasterboard in very small amounts; excess 286.70 pounds a tonne, 154.82 pounds minimum wrwa.gov.uk
- 38 conservation areas covering nearly three quarters of the borough rbkc.gov.uk
- Over 3,800 listed buildings; listed building consent needed for works such as removing floorboards, changing cornices, skirtings or fireplaces, or adding recessed lighting rbkc.gov.uk
- 2,292 planning applications decided July 2025 to June 2026 (PS1 statistics) assets.publishing.service.gov.uk
- London Plan opportunity areas: Earls Court/West Kensington 6,500 homes (shared with Hammersmith and Fulham), Kensal Canalside 3,500 homes london.gov.uk
- December 2025: planning committee resolved to approve the Earl's Court scheme, up to 1,400 homes in the Royal Borough, 310 in the first phase, referred to the Mayor rbkc.gov.uk
- Former Kensal Gas Works hybrid application PP/25/03535 received June 2025, about 241 homes in the detailed first part rbkc.gov.uk
- Census 2021: 82.9% of households in flats, 23.5% in converted or shared houses (15,720 of 66,884), 4.2% semi-detached or detached; 39.6% private renting nomisweb.co.uk
Builders nearly done?
Book the clean for the day after they finish. Price it in a minute, or ring and talk it through.
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