Where Is the Stopcock in an Anerley or Penge Flat?

In a flat inside a converted Anerley or Penge house, check under the kitchen sink first, then the airing cupboard, behind the bath panel, and under the floorboards just inside your front door. If none of those has a valve, there is a good chance your flat does not have its own stopcock at all, and the only way to stop the water is the building’s main stopcock, usually in the basement, under the ground-floor hall, or at the outside stop tap by the front boundary. Find out which, today, while nothing is leaking.

Why converted flats are so awkward

Anerley Road was lined with grand Victorian houses from the 1860s, and by the early 1900s many of them had already been split into flats. Penge and Anerley have been part of the London Borough of Bromley since 1965, and the conversions have carried on ever since. Some were done carefully, with a separate supply and stopcock for each flat. Many were not. The common pattern is one supply pipe from the street, one main stopcock where it enters the house, and a set of pipes branching off to each flat, sometimes with an isolation valve for each and sometimes with nothing.

That means the stopcock that stops water reaching your kitchen might be in somebody else’s flat.

Where should I look in my own flat?

Under the kitchen sink

The most likely place. Empty the cupboard, and look at the back and the floor for a tap or a lever valve on the cold pipe. In a refitted kitchen it may be behind a removable back panel or a kickboard.

The airing cupboard or boiler cupboard

If your flat has a hot water cylinder or a combi boiler, the cold supply often comes in nearby. Look for a valve on the cold pipe low down.

Behind the bath panel

In some conversions the supply comes up through the floor in the bathroom. Unscrew or unclip the bath panel and look with a torch.

Under the floorboards by the entrance

Especially in first-floor and ground-floor flats, the supply pipe may come up through the floor just inside your front door. Look for a short board or a hatch.

In a communal cupboard on the landing

Some conversions put each flat’s valve in a shared cupboard or meter cupboard on the stairs.

What if I cannot find one?

Then assume the main stopcock is the only one, and find that instead. Try:

• The basement or cellar, along the front wall where the pipe would come in from the road.
• Under the floorboards in the ground-floor communal hall, just inside the main front door.
• Inside the ground-floor or basement flat, if that is where the pipe enters.
• The outside stop tap, under a small cover in the front path or pavement near the boundary. It turns with a stop tap key, a long T-shaped tool that hardware shops sell.

If the main stopcock is inside another flat, swap phone numbers with that neighbour now, and agree what happens if there is a leak when they are away.

How do I turn it off?

1. Turn the handle clockwise until it stops, or turn a lever valve so the handle sits across the pipe.
2. Do not force a stiff handle. Old valves seize with scale, and the water here is hard (around 290 mg/l in Thames Water’s Beckenham zone, which covers Anerley, and around 293 mg/l in the Crystal Palace zone).
3. Open the cold taps in your flat to drain the pipes.
4. Switch off your water heater or immersion so nothing heats with no water.
5. If you had to use the main stopcock, tell every other flat that their water is off and why.
6. Label the valve so the next person can find it in seconds.

Should I have my own stopcock fitted?

Yes, if you do not have one. Fitting an isolation valve on the pipe where it enters your flat is a small job, and it means a leak in your flat can be stopped without cutting off the whole building, and without needing access to a neighbour’s flat at midnight. In a leasehold building the pipe before your flat may be the freeholder’s, so ask the freeholder or managing agent first; most are glad to have it done.

While a plumber is there, it is worth adding small isolating valves under the sink, on the washing machine and on the toilet feed, so you can shut off one fitting without stopping everything.

What if water is coming through right now?

Turn off what you can, tell the neighbours above and below, and switch off the electrics in any room where water is near lights or sockets. Do not push a hole through a bulging ceiling. Our guide to who pays for a flat leak in Crystal Palace covers leases and insurance once the water is stopped. If you live in a house rather than a flat, our guide to finding the stopcock in a Bromley Victorian house covers the usual spots. More on the area on our Crystal Palace page.

Need a plumber now?

If water is leaking and you cannot find a stopcock that stops it, Call 07868 281022. Tell us your postcode, which flat you are in, what is leaking, and whether any water has been turned off. We handle water leaks and burst pipes in Anerley, Penge and across SE19, and we agree the price with you before any work starts.