Caring for a Hove landmark: restoring Grade II listed Palmeira Avenue Mansions
It’s reassuring to know a building with so much history is being looked after with this much care.
Resident, Palmeira Avenue Mansions – 2026
Background
Palmeira Avenue Mansions sits within Hove’s historic Palmeira Square area – a grand set-piece of Victorian architecture developed from the 1850s by Sir Isaac Goldsmid, who was also Baron Palmeira. Built in the 1880s by Jabez Reynolds Senior as two substantial mansion houses, the building was later divided into 16 individual flats, and today it’s Grade II listed for its architectural and historic interest.
Owning a share of a period building like this comes with its rewards – but also its responsibilities. By 2023, a programme of cyclical exterior maintenance was overdue, and it was the residents themselves, with the support of managing agents Sawyer & Co, who took the initiative and approached Tate Surveying Services to get a clear, professional picture of what needed doing.
Given the scale of the project, and the added complexity of working on a listed building, Tate Surveying partnered with Patrick Rego of PJR Surveying to see the work through, from that first survey to a completed contract.
How Tate Surveying and PJR Surveying helped
The relationship with Palmeira Avenue Mansions has developed over several years, with Tate Surveying and PJR Surveying supporting the freeholders at each stage: understanding the building’s condition, planning and costing the works, and then seeing the contract through towards completion.
2023: a Schedule of Condition survey
The first step was a comprehensive Schedule of Condition survey, covering every elevation, the roofs, chimneys, parapet gutters and other architectural features. This gave the freeholders a clear, structured record of the building’s condition at that point in time – highlighting areas of deterioration, prioritising them, and recommending what action to take. It’s this kind of baseline that makes it possible to plan maintenance properly, rather than reacting to problems as they appear.
2024: specification of works and a fair tender process
With a clear picture of what needed doing, 2024 was about turning that into a workable plan. Tate Surveying prepared a full specification of works. This covered everything from routine maintenance to more complex repairs. They then assembled a tender package for contractors, who were given four weeks to submit competitive prices. Once tenders came in, a detailed comparison report helped the freeholders weigh up the options on a like-for-like basis. At the freeholders’ request, the scope was then refined, while still keeping a substantial programme of works in place.
2026: Contract Administration on site
By 2026, the freeholders had appointed their chosen contractor, and Tate Surveying stepped into the role of Contract Administrator. A pre-start meeting brought the contractor, freeholders and Sawyer & Co together to agree timelines and the finer details before work began. Given the scale and age of the building, the team has been attending site weekly ever since, checking progress, quality and compliance, with monthly progress reports keeping the freeholders and managing agents up to date. Works are on track to complete by early September.
Overcoming the challenges of a listed building
A project like this rarely runs to an entirely straightforward script, and a Grade II listed building adds an extra layer of care. Some of the property’s decorative architectural features had deteriorated to the point where they needed specialist heritage restoration, so a restoration specialist experienced with historic buildings was appointed to carry out render repairs and preserve the building’s character. Elsewhere, roofing work required listed building consent, so an architect was brought in, with their involvement coordinated alongside the wider programme to keep everything compliant and on schedule.
Progress so far
The works are still under way at the time of writing, with completion expected in the coming weeks. Even ahead of the final result, the value of this kind of long-term, structured approach is already clear: the freeholders have had a transparent, competitively tendered plan for the works, expert oversight of quality and compliance at every stage, and the reassurance of weekly site visits from a team who understand exactly what they’re looking at in a building of this age and character.
Key Takeaways
Cyclical maintenance on a historic, multi-let building is rarely simple – but a clear Schedule of Condition, a properly tendered specification of works, and hands-on Contract Administration turned an overdue list of repairs into a well-managed project. Working in partnership with PJR Surveying, Tate Surveying has supported Palmeira Avenue Mansions’ freeholders from that first survey through to completion, giving residents confidence that their building’s history – and its future – is in safe hands.
Client Testimonial
As residents, it means a lot to know the building’s character is being looked after alongside its condition. Tate Surveying and Patrick from PJR have been incredibly thorough right from that first survey back in 2023, and it’s reassuring to have had someone checking on site every week as the work has gone on. We’ve always known what stage things were at and what to expect next, which has made a big difference. Palmeira Avenue Mansions is a special building, and it feels like it’s in careful hands.
Resident, Palmeira Avenue Mansions, Hove – 2026
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