The E16 stock around Custom House station and Victoria Dock is post-war. ONS records 50% flats, 50% houses and 3,330 households in Custom House.
24% of households rent privately and 26% own, which is why wallpaper hanging demand here peaks around tenancy changeovers and completion dates.
Walls are often with surface conduit — and precast concrete panels and dense blockwork — which is why London Borough of Newham kerb rules get settled before the van is loaded, so the fixing that matters in Custom House is chosen on site — the usual failure here is drilling blind into a panel with reinforcement or a buried cable behind it on these streets — measured on the walk in from Custom House (Elizabeth line, DLR) rather than assumed from a map.
Two streets can behave very differently in Custom House: regeneration streets between the docks and Canning Town, transformed by the Elizabeth line. The quote reflects the street the job is actually on. Custom House is outside the Congestion Charge zone but inside ULEZ; our vehicles are compliant, so nothing is added for it.
On access, construction diversions, estate service roads and new blocks with booked lifts — one reason one decorator for a feature wall or single room; two for stairwells, long drops and murals that must be hung to a strict sequence. Fitters travelling in use Custom House (Elizabeth line, DLR).
