Three Shops Into One Supermarket, Homes Kept Above

Three Victorian shop units in Kentish Town combined for a national supermarket: a lease end claim, enabling and structural works, shell works alongside the tenant's team, five new flats above, and the rear roofs renewed twenty years later.

Discuss your building

Renewed rear roofs over a supermarket with flats above, after completion

The buildings

A run of Victorian shops with flats above on a north London high street, owned by a private freehold estate. When a showroom tenant left, the freeholder agreed to let three shop widths to a national supermarket, with the homes above staying occupied.

The brief

Recover the freeholder’s position from the outgoing tenant, prepare the buildings for a single large shop, and keep the flats above safe, serviced and lettable while the supermarket built its store underneath.

What we did

Lease end claim, 2002 to 2003A terminal schedule of dilapidations against the outgoing showroom tenant, with damages estimated at around £341,000, settled by the freeholder directly.
Enabling works, 2003 to 2004Structural, dry rot and services works across four buildings, around £227,000, including new individual water mains to the eight flats above.
Shell works, 2004 to 2005Joint project management with the supermarket’s own team while the three shops were opened into one store.
Five flats aboveThe upper parts of the end building converted into five flats to the supermarket’s planning timetable, final account around £226,000.
The roofs, 2024The flat roofs over the rear of the store renewed with tapered insulation laid to improved falls and a new liquid applied waterproofing, let at £80,611 and closed at £75,611.

The standards

The lease end claim followed the principles now set out in the RICS professional standard on dilapidations. The works were administered under JCT Minor Works contracts, and the 2024 roofs were insulated to current Part L standards.