Loft Conversions
Bedrooms, bathrooms and studies carved out of roof space you already own, taken through planning and building regulations by an ARB registered architect and built by our own staff under a JCT contract.
Free design visit at your home. Planning and building regulations handled for you.
The Service
A loft conversion turns unused roof space into a usable room with proper headroom, staircase access, insulation, fire protection and natural light. We handle the survey, the design, the planning route, the building regulations package, the structural coordination and the build.
It suits families who need one more bedroom, households squeezed by working from home, and owners who want a main bedroom with an en suite without losing garden or ground-floor space. It is often the best value per square metre available in a house.
The right moment is usually when the ground floor is already full: another rear extension would darken the house or eat the garden, but the roof is sitting there empty. It also pairs well with an extension in a single programme, which is cheaper and far less disruptive than two separate builds.
Professional help matters because a loft is a technical job in a small space. Headroom, staircase geometry, floor structure, fire escape, insulation and ventilation all interact, and a conversion that misses any of them either fails building control or becomes a room nobody wants to sleep in.
From simple rooflight schemes to rear dormers and hip-to-gable, chosen against your roof form and planning constraints.
Getting up there without wrecking the landing below is the hardest part of most lofts. It is designed first, not last.
Floor structure, escape route, fire doors, insulation and ventilation all coordinated for building control sign-off.
Steels, floor joists and roof alterations designed with our partner structural engineer before the price is fixed.
What It Costs To Get Wrong
Loft conversions attract shortcuts because so much of the work is hidden once plasterboard goes up. The consequences show up at sale, at survey, or the first time something goes wrong.
An unsigned-off loft is not a bedroom in the eyes of a surveyor. It can hold up a sale, affect valuation and become your problem years later.
Adding a storey changes the escape strategy of the whole house; protected stairways, fire doors, alarms. This is safety, not paperwork.
Some roofs simply do not have the height without altering the structure. Finding that after the design is paid for is an avoidable waste.
Squeezing stairs in as an afterthought can cost you a bedroom or a bathroom downstairs: a net gain of nothing.
Insulation and ventilation detailing in a roof is unforgiving. Get it wrong and you get condensation, mould and a room nobody uses in winter.
Our Process
We measure the roof, check ridge height, structure and access, and tell you honestly whether the loft works and what type of conversion suits it.
Our ARB registered architect designs the layout, the staircase and the light, dormers, rooflights and window positions, around how you will use the room.
We confirm whether it is permitted development or needs an application, submit it, and prepare the building regulations and structural package.
Roof alterations, steels, floor structure, staircase, insulation, services and finishes, run by our own staff under a JCT contract.
Building control sign-off and certification, handover, and a 12-month defects period as standard.
What You Get
You gain a floor while keeping the footprint, which is usually the best return available on a family home.
Building control approval and documentation, so the room counts when you come to sell or remortgage.
Insulation, ventilation and acoustic detailing done properly, so the room is usable in August and in January.
The architect and the builders work for the same company, so structural queries are resolved in-house instead of stopping the job.
Valuation-based staged payments under a JCT contract, assessed against completed work.
£5m public liability, £10m employers' liability, and a 12-month defects period on every build.
In Detail
Which conversion suits your house depends on roof shape, ridge height, the position of the stairs below and what the planning context allows.
The main difference between conversion types is how much roof structure changes, and that drives both cost and planning route.
Existing ceiling joists are rarely sized to carry a floor. New floor joists usually span onto steel beams positioned to avoid loading the walls below in the wrong places, all designed with our partner structural engineer.
Where a dormer or hip-to-gable is involved, the roof structure itself is altered, and the sequencing of that work matters for keeping the house weathertight.
A compliant loft needs adequate headroom over the stair and in the usable area, a protected escape route with fire doors and alarms, insulation to current standards, ventilation to control condensation, and safe staircase geometry.
We handle building control from the drawing stage through inspections to final sign-off, so you receive the certification that makes the room count.
Rooflights, dormer windows and Juliet balconies all bring light in differently and read differently from the street. Layout is planned around the eaves, where low headroom is best used for storage and wardrobes rather than wasted.
En suites are usually straightforward if the loft sits over an existing bathroom or soil stack; where it does not, we plan the route early because retro-fitting drainage through a house is disruptive.
Many rear dormers fall under permitted development, but conservation areas, listed buildings, flats and previously extended properties often do not. We confirm the position for your address at the first visit and submit an application where one is needed.
Where a boundary wall is involved there may be party wall matters, which we will flag rather than leave you to discover.
Most of a loft conversion happens above your heads. The disruptive moments are the staircase opening and the roof work, which we sequence to keep the house secure and weathertight.
If you are also considering a rear extension or a refurbishment, doing both under one contract is cheaper and shorter than two separate builds, and it is the same team either way.
Common Questions
Related Services
Single and double storey, side return and wrap-around extensions, designed and built by the same team.
Residential Extensions in Surrey & LondonWhole-house renovations, basements and period property work, including listed schemes such as our recent Grade II project in Notting Hill.
Residential Refurbishments in Surrey & LondonARB-registered, in-house architecture from first sketch to Stage 4 technical drawings: available on its own or as part of a full build.
Architecture in Surrey & LondonFull planning applications, building regulations packages and technical drawings; the standalone service that makes up around 75% of our work.
Planning & Architectural Drawings in Surrey & London
A free design visit tells you whether the loft works, which conversion suits it and what it will realistically cost: before you spend anything.
