A rear extension is the most common way to get a bigger kitchen and a proper family space. On a standard West London terrace it typically adds three to four metres across the full width, with the rear wall removed to open it into the existing house.
Most single-storey rear extensions are built under permitted development, so there is often no planning application at all. We check that against your property before you spend anything on drawings.
Under permitted development a single-storey rear extension can go three metres from the original rear wall on a terrace or semi, and four on a detached house. The larger home extension scheme doubles those depths but needs a prior approval application, which takes about eight weeks and lets neighbours comment.
Less than most people expect. Permitted development also caps the proportion of the original garden you may cover at fifty per cent, so on a typical terrace a three-metre extension still leaves the majority of the garden. We mark it out on site so you can see it.
Almost always, yes. The rear wall usually carries the floor above and part of the roof, so it is replaced with a steel beam sized by a structural engineer, sitting on padstones with temporary support while it goes in.
Typically three to five weeks, at the end of the job. We agree the date the old kitchen comes out in advance so you can set up a temporary one, and we do not start that phase until the new space is weathertight.
