To extend or not to extend

Looking to move house to escape cluttered surroundings? With increasing family sizes and a lack of space in many modern homes, it's common to assume that moving could solve all the problems. However with rising costs and an uncertainty in the property market it may be wise to extend your property, adding extra room while increasing your house’s market value.

By adding onto your property, you could stay in your already decorated and loved house, achieving new space that could become an office, a larger living room or perhaps even a playroom for children. Single storey conversions are another good way of enlarging your house and creating more space for additional bedrooms or an en suite. What’s better than personalising your home to cater for you and your family’s ever-changing needs?

Having a home extension can help you transform a good home into a great home, whether it's for your own lifestyle or to entice potential buyers. Adding extra rooms are an obvious way to increase the value of your home, and to increase the liveability and versatility of your living space.

Yet there are a few things you should take into consideration before you embark on building a home extension. It can be a lengthy, costly and disruptive process, so you'll need to make sure you're getting what you really want and won't make any mistakes.

Planning consent may or may not be required for your proposed extension. Under the Permitted Development Rights system a large number of home extensions can be built without the requirement of planning permission.
You can extend a detached dwelling by 8m to the rear if it’s single storey or 3m if it’s double.

There are height restrictions. A single storey extension not being higher than 4m in height to the ridge and the eaves, and ridge heights of any extension not being higher than the existing property.

Two storey extensions must not be closer than 7m to the rear boundary.
It must be built in the same or similar material to the existing dwelling.

Extensions must not go forward of the building line of the original dwelling.
Side extensions must be single storey, maximum height of 4m and a width no more than half of the original building.

In Designated Areas side extensions require planning permission and all rear extensions must be single storey.

An extension must not result in more than half the garden being covered.
You can only do it once and the original building is either as it was on 1st July 1948 or when it was built. In Northern Ireland it is as it was built or as it was on 1st October 1973.

Regardless of whether your new extension does or does not require planning permission, it will need Building Regulations Approval. Building regulations are rules approved by Parliament laid down to ensure the minimum design and construction standards are achieved. These cover all manner of subjects such as fire and other forms of safety, insulation, the drainage system, and access.

Building control officers do not supervise work on your behalf. Their role is to ensure the minimum standards of the building regulations have been adhered to.

Sadly, too many people each year in the UK fall victim to cowboy builders. When you're making an investment in your home, such as an extension or conservatory, you want to know that you're using people you can trust. Shoddy workmanship can cause you heartache and cost you money, so it's a no-brainer to seek out people that are qualified to help. That's why there are some great schemes in place with Ultraframe to ensure that you can get the level of workmanship you deserve.

Ultraframe's Ultra Installer Scheme is a great way for people to avoid disappointment when hiring builders. The scheme only takes on highly qualified contractors who have gained approval from the British Board of Agrement. In addition to this, members are also expected to gain further training and keep their skills completely up to date in order to maintain their membership. Put simply, a member of the Ultra Installer Scheme aims for perfection in all of their work. Seeking them out is the best way of ensuring that you get exactly what you want from your home development, and right now it's easier than ever to find one near you by answering a few simple questions here.

Ultra installers also design (so no need to hire architect), deal with all the red tape of planning permission and building regulations for you, and are able to give you a fully costed quotation without any hidden extra’s. Time is on eof the most important factors in any project and the longer it takes usually the more it will cost. Ultraframe products are designed to fit simply and quickly so that installers do not have to spend additional time (and cost to you) building your project, meaning you can be enjoying your new space sooner.