Walk Aldgate from The Gherkin at 30 St Mary Axe outwards and the post-war pattern is obvious: 98% of the 4,914 households in EC3 live in flats, 2% in houses.
Owner-occupation runs at 37% in Aldgate, so alongside the 48% rental churn there is steady planned work — refurbishments, downsizes and probate clearances booked weeks ahead.
Expect dot-and-dab plasterboard over blockwork; locally that also means with metal stud partitions between rooms — which is what a 98% flat share across the ONS neighbourhood covering Aldgate actually produces behind the plaster in EC3. That is why fixings are picked in the room rather than off a van shelf, and why in EC3, short screws that grip only the board and slowly lever it off the dabs — with 15% social-rented stock locally, block access is agreed with the estate office first is the fault we are called back to undo.
Two streets can behave very differently in Aldgate: eastern edge of the Square Mile where office towers meet Whitechapel's high street. The quote reflects the street the job is actually on. Aldgate sits inside the Congestion Charge zone as well as ULEZ, so both are itemised on the quote rather than absorbed into an hourly rate.
Getting to the door matters as much as the job: aldgate gyratory red routes, tower-block concierge sign-in and lift booking. Aldgate (Circle, Metropolitan) is the nearest station, and two to three operatives as standard, with a specialist F-gas engineer booked in for any unit holding refrigerant-charged equipment.
