Walk Forest Hill from The Horniman Museum and Gardens outwards and the mainly Victorian pattern is obvious: 58% of the 6,684 households in SE23 live in flats, 42% in houses.
Private renting sits at 27% and owner-occupation at 54%; the first group books cooker cleaning at short notice, the second plans it.
Forest Hill substrates run to with metal stud partitions between rooms, over dot-and-dab plasterboard over blockwork — and with 28% one-person households in Forest Hill, one adult is usually the only pair of hands on site. Nothing is drilled until the wall has been sounded, because short screws that grip only the board and slowly lever it off the dabs on these streets — which is why London Borough of Lewisham kerb rules get settled before the van is loaded is the mistake that costs a SE23 customer twice.
Two streets can behave very differently in Forest Hill: the Horniman Museum, the hill views and a compact village centre. The quote reflects the street the job is actually on. Forest Hill is outside the Congestion Charge zone but inside ULEZ; our vehicles are compliant, so nothing is added for it.
On access, steep gradients, narrow hill roads and permit bays around the station — one reason one technician for a freestanding cooker; two for 110cm ranges, where the doors alone are a two-person lift. Fitters travelling in use Forest Hill (Overground).
