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.
Owner-occupation runs at 54% in Forest Hill, so alongside the 27% rental churn there is steady planned work — refurbishments, downsizes and probate clearances booked weeks ahead.
Expect with metal stud partitions between rooms — and dot-and-dab plasterboard over blockwork — and with 27% of homes here privately rented, it sets the booking date as often as the job does behind the plaster in SE23. That is why fixings are picked in the room rather than off a van shelf, and why in SE23, short screws that grip only the board and slowly lever it off the dabs — and with 28% one-person households in Forest Hill, one adult is usually the only pair of hands on site is the fault we are called back to undo.
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 four crew and a supervisor on a standard floor clearance, scaled up for phased overnight work. Fitters travelling in use Forest Hill (Overground).
