The cheapest time to add smart technology to a house is while the walls are open. Most smart devices are wireless, but they still need power, a neutral at the switch or a decent signal. During a home renovation that’s a few extra cable runs. After decorating, it’s chasing walls and making good.
London houses add their own problems. Victorian terraces have solid brick walls that Wi-Fi struggles through, and extensions and lofts are lined with foil-faced insulation boards that block it almost completely.
1. Choose the right smart hub
The hub, or the app that acts as one, connects devices from different makers. Google Home, Amazon Alexa and Apple Home all now support Matter, a shared standard that lets different brands work together.
Which one to pick mostly follows the phones in the house. Apple Home suits iPhone households but needs an Apple TV or HomePod to run automations, and Google Home pairs naturally with Nest heating and cameras.
For anything built into the house, Matter devices are the safer choice. Switches and thermostats stay on the wall for fifteen or twenty years, and apps don’t always last that long.
2. Smart lighting
Smart bulbs only work if the wall switch is left on, which guests and children rarely manage. In a renovation, smart switches and dimmers with ordinary LED fittings are usually better.
Most smart switches need a neutral at the switch, and many older London houses only have one at the ceiling rose. If you’re rewiring, run a neutral to every switch and use deeper back boxes.
It’s also the time to add wall lights, LED strips under kitchen units and sensor lights in hallways. Check the dimmers suit the LED drivers, or they’ll flicker.
3. Security
Battery doorbells are fine on a flat door, but on a house it’s worth running a cable to the doorbell and each camera position during the build. Point cameras away from neighbours’ windows and gardens, as recording beyond your own boundary brings data protection rules into play.
Before fitting a smart lock, check your home insurance. Many policies require a BS 3621 lock on final exit doors, and some smart locks don’t meet it, so a separate insurance-rated lock is often kept on the same door.
Alarms with a cellular backup keep working when the broadband goes down. Leak sensors under sinks and behind the washing machine are cheap, and the better ones close a motorised valve on the incoming main.
4. Energy and heating controls
Heating is the largest share of energy use in most British homes, so this is where the savings are. A new or replacement heating system is covered by Part L of the Building Regulations:
“Reasonable provision shall be made for the conservation of fuel and power in buildings by— … (b) providing fixed building services which— (i) are energy efficient to a reasonable standard; (ii) have effective controls; and (iii) are commissioned by testing and adjusting as necessary to ensure they use no more fuel and power than is reasonable in the circumstances.”
Building Regulations 2010, Schedule 1, Part L1(b)
“Effective controls” in a house means at least a programmer, a room thermostat and thermostatic radiator valves. Under the Boiler Plus rules of 2018, a new combi boiler in England also needs one extra efficiency measure, and a smart thermostat with automation and optimisation counts as one.
Smart radiator valves add room-by-room control. With underfloor heating, decide the zones before the screed goes down, as each needs its own thermostat cable back to the manifold.
Solar panels need an MCS-certified installer if you want to be paid for exported electricity under the Smart Export Guarantee. On a London roof they’re usually permitted development, provided they don’t stand more than 200 mm proud of the slope; listed buildings and street-facing walls in conservation areas are different.
5. The kitchen
Connected ovens and fridges need nothing from the builder except a reliable Wi-Fi signal, and a new kitchen extension at the back of a terrace, lined with foil-faced insulation, is often a dead spot for a router at the front.
The fix is a wired access point in the kitchen, with a data cable back to the router, plus a couple more worktop sockets than the plan shows.
Wiring rules and the network
Since 2017, major renovations have also been caught by a requirement for broadband-ready cabling:
“Building work must be carried out so as to ensure that the building is equipped with a high-speed ready in-building physical infrastructure, up to a network termination point for high-speed electronic communications networks.”
Building Regulations 2010, Schedule 1, Part R1(1)
It applies to new buildings and “major renovation works”, not a kitchen refit, but it’s a sensible pattern on any large job: a route from the fibre entry to a central cupboard, and Cat6 from there to the TV, the desk and a ceiling access point on each floor. New circuits and alterations in bathrooms are notifiable electrical work, so they should be done by a registered electrician who issues a certificate at the end.
A bit of history
The Savoy Theatre on the Strand was the first public building in the world lit entirely by electricity, when it opened in 1881. It used Joseph Swan’s incandescent lamps, and Richard D’Oyly Carte, who built the theatre, broke a lit bulb wrapped in muslin on stage to show the audience it wouldn’t start a fire.
The square three-pin plug most British homes use, BS 1363, dates from 1947. It was designed alongside the ring final circuit after the Second World War, when copper was short and the country was rebuilding houses quickly.
FAQs: What Homeowners Ask Most
1. How much does a smart home renovation cost?
Roughly £300 to £600 for a hub and smart lighting in a few rooms, £1,500 to £3,000 with a thermostat, a doorbell and cameras, and £5,000 or more for whole-house control.
2. Can I mix different brands?
Yes. Devices certified for Matter work across Google Home, Apple Home and Alexa, so buying to that standard avoids being tied to one brand.
3. Is installation difficult?
Plug-in devices need no installer. Anything wired into the mains should be fitted by a qualified electrician, and new circuits must be certified.
4. Will the tech go out of date?
Devices will, but the wiring won’t. Use open standards such as Matter and Zigbee, keep firmware updated, and run spare conduit so cables can be replaced.
Future-Proofing Tips
Cable is cheap and walls are expensive, so most future-proofing happens before plastering: spare conduit or a draw wire next to every data run, a neutral to every switch, and one ventilated cupboard for the network equipment.
After that, start small. One system and a couple of rooms is enough to find out what you actually use, and the rest can be added later without opening the walls again. That applies whether it’s a Victorian townhouse or a modern apartment, where the riser and the building’s fibre entry point decide much of the layout.
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