Building an Extension – Tips and Advice

If you feel that over the years your house has become too small for you and your family – why not think about building an extension?

Building an extension to your home
requires well planning

Building an extension is usually easier than finding a new house and then moving, and it will add more space and value to your home. If there's sufficient property surrounding your house, planning and building an extension should usually be not a problem if you plan it right. Having an extension built is a demanding project that involves a number of different steps from planning and getting the necessary permissions to carrying out the construction work from floor to roof.

Building an extension - planning and permission

The first thing to do is find out whether you need to apply for planning permission to build your new home extension. This may also involve consulting with neighbours about your plans.. In England usually no planning permission is necessary if:

• The extension does not exceed the height of the original house or a height of 4 metres
• The extension does not exceed half the width of the original building
• The extension matches the material and design of the original house

There are a number of other, more detailed requirements for building an extension without planning permission - to make sure whether you need a planning permission check with your local planning permission council. You will also have to apply for Building Regulations approval with your plans, to make sure the extension plans meet basic building standards.

Planning and building an extension is best done with the help of building experts. An architect can advise you on the best ways to use the space available for building the extension and help you to work out the details. Also, you will have to involve your neighbours: Are they dissatisfied with the way your extension would influence lighting and view on their property? Will you need to set foot in their property for bringing in heavy machines for the construction work?

Tips for building an extension

Usually it is a good idea to plan the extension to match the design of your house. Therefore you might want to check early in the planning process if windows, doors and facade materials and colours that are being used in the existing building are still available, or if you can find similar designs.
Building an extension is a complex project, so it's advisable to hire a project manager or a building contractor to oversee the construction process and to negotiate with the contractors carrying out the work. Also you should make sure that all details are planned out before you start constructing – most changes will be easier done on paper than in a half-built extension.

Costs for building an extension

There are different types of expenses in the planning and building process that mostly depend on the size and complexity of your project. The permits necessary for building an extension will cost around £300-600 depending on the size of the extension. The price for construction work depends on how much you do yourself, how large and how complex the extension will be and on other factors like the subsoil and the number of already existing walls. Roughly estimated, the price range will be between £1000-5000 per square metre. You can get an individual estimate for your plans from a professional building contractor.