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Anyone had a loft conversion in London area?

37 replies

lyrabelacqua · 04/05/2007 09:37

If so who did it? (specialist loft company, building contractor) and roughly how much did it cost?
We're thinking of having ours done so the boys have have their own rooms (little one keeps waking big one up in the morning and he's permanently knackered).
we've got a Victorian two-bed semi and think we can shoe-horn two medium-sized bedrooms and a loo/shower room in there.
If you had yours done under permitted development, what was the procedure? Did you have to run it by the planners or just go straight to building regs?
I've asked all these questions of my local council but they just referred me to a lot of useless internet links.
Someone help!

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Report

lyrabelacqua · 04/05/2007 10:36

bump

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lyrabelacqua · 04/05/2007 12:23

Anyone at all?

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Lovecat · 04/05/2007 14:55

No, but I'm watching with interest as my weird sil has had hers done and it's lovely, but she won't tell me who did it - she changes the subject every time I ask her !

AFAIK, the firm she used did everything from start to finish, drew up the plans, contacted the council and sorted building regs etc.

Whereabouts in London are you? Friends of my other, normal sil had theirs done by a company called Trimloft, based in South Woodford (E18), haven't seen it, but sil (the other, normal one) has, and says it's really nice (but not as nice as weirdo sil's, which is highly annoying!).

lyrabelacqua · 04/05/2007 21:59

Thanks Lovecat, I'm in SW London but maybe they operate all over the city. Will google them.

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tokentotty · 04/05/2007 22:05

Company called Rooftop Rooms did mine and they were off the chart, they really were. I'm in E18 but I think they're based in Loughton (North East London/Essex Border ) and if you can't Google their number then I'm sure DH has it in his mobile if you're interested.

Kaz33 · 04/05/2007 22:11

Permitted development rights for a semi are 70 cubic metres volume which are oodles for a loft conversion. In fact they are only used for any additions ie: dormers not for utilising the roof as additional spaces.
Do you have a conservatory or extension - if so you may have used up your permitted development rights?

We are going through the process at the moment

Are you in a conservation area, is your property listed? If so you will need planning permission.

lyrabelacqua · 04/05/2007 22:16

No, not in a conservation area. Have used up 10 cubic metres of permitted development so have 60 left. what i need to know though is can you completely bypass planning and just get building regs consent or do you have to run it by the planners anyway in case your architect has designed something completely outrageous?

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lyrabelacqua · 04/05/2007 22:17

Thanks tokentotty, found them on google.

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Kaz33 · 04/05/2007 22:19

I believe the answer is no - you will not need planning permission - well thats what the companies I have seen have said.

lyrabelacqua · 04/05/2007 22:24

Thanks Kaz.

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tokentotty · 04/05/2007 22:29

Agree with Kaz. We didn't need planning permission just building regs as we had no other extensions on the house and were well within the area limit.

Marina · 04/05/2007 22:31

lyrabelacqua, a colleague had a terrific job done by a firm in SW London.
If you can wait until Tuesday I will get the details.

PippiLangstrump · 04/05/2007 22:56

Marina I can wait... thanks.

We are thinking to do that in the house we are moving into soon so any info is more than welcome.

This house has an extention already... would it compromise the loft ext? (sorry if you have to repeat yourselves but a bit supid this time at night!)

lyrabelacqua · 04/05/2007 23:17

Thanks Marina, let me know when you can.

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Kaz33 · 05/05/2007 07:10

Pippi - is your house detached, semi or terraced?

what is the cubic volume of your extension?

If you can answer those questions then you can work out whether you need planning consent?

jalopy · 05/05/2007 08:54

Yes, if you have an extension to your house already, that will have an impact on the size allowed for your loft conversion. Conversely, if you haven't had an extension you are allowed to have a loft to the size already stated. Does that make sense?

VeniVidiVickiQV · 05/05/2007 09:04

We had ours done by Heritage lofts, but, werent overly happy with the work. However, DP used to be a builder so he could finish thejobs they didnt, and correct the things that werent right. He could also keep an eye on the job as it was being done to see if it was going right.

We only paid 23k in the end - but the quote was for 25k, adn we had quotes varying between 27k to 37k.

Charles Jeffrey are THE loft converters in North London although they quoted us 35k for ours - an ex-Local Authority house with no need for planning permission.

HTH

hana · 05/05/2007 09:10

I'd be very hesitant with going with a specialist loft company to be honest. They often have one model for every house, it's very cookie cutter . I'd recommend getting an architect in to your at your space and come up with a design that suits you and your house, it is money well spent
We had ours done 3 years ago and paid arond 25k - also had a new roof put on at the same time, and new windows ( not included in the 25k)

noddyholder · 05/05/2007 09:12

You only need building regs not planning unless it is a conservation area or listed building.

VeniVidiVickiQV · 05/05/2007 09:14

You need planning if there is an existing extension Noddy. There is a maximum space you can extend to without. Thereafter needs planning.

noddyholder · 05/05/2007 09:16

I was assuming they hadn't any other extensions

VeniVidiVickiQV · 05/05/2007 09:21

I think OP said she had.

10 cubic metres sounds very small for an existing extension....

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gegs73 · 05/05/2007 09:28

We live in South West London and had our loft converted into a bedroom and shower room about a year ago.

We used a company called Loft Rooms based in Ealing who were excellent. They planned the whole thing, dealt with all building regs/liaison with the council etc, all we did was pay them - £30k for the finished job. From starting the work to finsh took 5 weeks which was bang on what they estimated. We had a small problem with the plumbing after the job was finished which they sent the plumber who did the job to fix at 7am the next day! Couple of other people I know used them as well and they both thought they were brilliant.

Only thing I will say is don't have the work done in the winter! We did and were freezing as our house had holes in the roof.

In case you are interested Loft Rooms

lyrabelacqua · 05/05/2007 12:12

Thanks everyone, we went to see a neighbour's house this morning and they had used Loft Rooms but paid about 40k.
We do have a 10 cubic metre extension (it was built in the 70s to make a downstairs bathroom) but that's all so i'm pretty sure we can do it within permitted development.

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PippiLangstrump · 05/05/2007 13:18

Kaz, it is a terraced house.
i have no idea how big is the extention as we will be moving in there in july. It was done back in the 80s by the current owner. Def more than 10 cub m though.

does that mean that I can still have it subject to planning permission or that it is unlikely? I'm not in a conservation area.

VVVVQ thanks for the north london contractor. that's where we are.

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