Social housing contractors for communal areas and maintenance
Communal area painting for blocks of flats and converted houses across south-east London, for managing agents, freeholders and residents' associations. We repaint entrances, stairs and corridors in hard-wearing finishes, and redecorate the outside of the block too. A family-run firm, registered since 2007.
Get a free quote for your communal areas
- Free visit and written quote
- Reply within one working day
- £5 million public liability cover
- 4.9/5 from 38 reviews on MyBuilder
- On Checkatrade
Why choose us for your block
Painting is our own trade
Painting, decorating and plastering are what we do every day, so cracks and dents are made good properly before the paint goes on.
Inside and out, one firm
The common parts and the external redecoration can be priced together in one written quote.
A quote your agent can work with
We come and look at the block before we quote, and we put the quote in writing for the scope your agent or surveyor sets out.
A firm you can check
Registered at Companies House since 2007, £5 million public liability cover, on Checkatrade and verified on MyBuilder.
Communal area decorating: entrances, stairs and corridors
Decorating the common parts means painting the busiest surfaces in the building, knocked by bikes, buggies and furniture on moving day. A washable, hard-wearing finish keeps them looking cared for between redecorations. We paint:
Walls and ceilings: of entrances, lobbies and corridors
Staircases and landings: , the high-traffic routes that wear first
Handrails and balustrades: , touched all day
Doors, frames and skirting: , where knocks soon show bare timber
Lift areas and post boxes: , often with metal doors and frames
External redecoration of a block of flats
Redecorating the outside of a block protects the timber and metal that keep the weather out, and it's the first thing residents and buyers see. A scheme typically covers:
- Fascias, soffits and gutters
- Timber windows and sills
- Railings and communal entrance doors
Access, from a tower or a full scaffold, is one of the biggest parts of the cost. With the scaffold up, slipped tiles or a leaking gutter can be dealt with at the same time; see roof repairs.
How it works
Tell us about the block
How many flats and staircases, which areas need painting, and whether there's a specification or a surveyor.
We visit and quote
We come and look at the block, then put the quote in writing. The visit and the quote are free.
The work
Surfaces are cleaned, filled, sanded and primed where bare, then finished: matt is common on walls, with eggshell or satin on woodwork, which wipes clean more easily.
Handover
The areas are left clean, dry and ready for residents to use.
Working in a building people live in
Residents keep using the entrance and stairs throughout, so the work has to be planned around them. What the agent and residents usually need:
Notice before work starts, saying which areas are affected and when
A way in and out at all times, with work done in sections
Wet paint signed clearly, and floors and fittings protected
The area cleared at the end of each day
We hold £5 million public liability cover. Redecorating counts as construction work under the CDM rules, which gives the client duties too; we set them out on our commercial painters in London page.
Working with managing agents on Section 20 works
A few things are worth settling before the job is priced, so the quote matches the building. Check before you start:
Section 20 consultation
In England, if the work will cost any one leaseholder more than £250, the leaseholders have to be consulted first (GOV.UK's page on service charges, checked October 2026).
Asbestos
In a purpose-built block, the duty to manage asbestos covers the common parts, and a managing agent can take on the tasks but not the legal obligation (HSE's guidance on the duty to manage asbestos). Send the asbestos register with your enquiry.
Wallpaper and decorative finishes
Building regulations guidance allows lower-rated wall linings in parts of rooms, not in corridors or stairs (Approved Document B, volume 1). It's guidance for building work and doesn't say repainting is covered, but settle the finish before it's priced.
Fire doors
The official guidance expects intumescent strips and smoke seals not to be painted over; our guide to painting fire doors explains what the rules allow.
Planning permission
Repainting the outside usually doesn't need it, even though a block lacks a house's permitted development rights (how the national planning rules define a house). Check first if the council has an Article 4 direction there.
What affects the price of communal area painting
The price follows the building. What moves it most:
Size and access: how many floors and staircases, and how tall the stairwell is
Condition: cracks, damp patches or peeling paint add preparation
What's included: woodwork, doors, handrails and metalwork on top of walls and ceilings
The specification: the finishes your agent or surveyor asks for
When the work can be done: around residents, who keep using the building
Who we work for, and where
We paint for managing agents, freeholders, residents' management and right to manage companies, and landlords of houses converted into flats. We're based in Beckenham and work across south-east London; larger schemes we also take on further across the South East. Our MyBuilder reviews come from customers in Croydon, Bromley, Lambeth, Lewisham, Southwark and Sutton, most of them for decorating homes.
One of them is from a customer who didn't live near the building: the job was the communal hallway of a Victorian terrace in Stockwell.
Questions about communal area painting
Call 020 8249 7303
What is classed as a communal area?
The shared parts of a building that don't belong to any one flat: entrance halls and corridors, lifts and lift shafts, staircases, roof spaces, gardens and yards, and outhouses and garages. That's the list the HSE uses for the common parts of blocks of flats.
What are the new rules for communal areas in flats?
The service-charge changes in the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 aren't in force yet. The government says leaseholders will start to see them during 2027, so work consulted on now follows the current rules (checked October 2026). Checks on the fire doors in the common parts of larger blocks are already required by law.
Who pays for painting the communal areas?
In a leasehold block, the service charge covers repairs, maintenance and improvements, so the leaseholders usually pay, in the shares their leases set.
Get a quote for your block's communal areas
We're a family-run firm: a father, his sons and their team. Tell us how many flats and staircases the building has, which areas need painting, whether there's a specification or a surveyor, and whether there's an asbestos register. We reply within one working day, and we answer calls Monday to Friday, 8.30am to 5pm, and 10am to 5pm at weekends. Call us on 020 8249 7303 or email [email protected]; you can also reach us through our contact page.