South east London · Loft conversions
Loft conversion in Greenwich and south east London.
South east London has more variety in its houses than almost anywhere in the capital, and the right loft depends on the street you live on. We check the roof, the planning position and the conservation rules before anything is drawn.
Loft conversions for
every type of SE London house.
From Victorian terraces in Charlton and Plumstead to 1930s semis in Eltham and Kidbrooke, the house type decides the conversion.
The usual answer on Greenwich, Charlton and Lewisham terraces. Full height across the back of the room with a staircase landing above the existing one.
For the hipped roofs on semis in Eltham, Lee and Kidbrooke. The side slope is built up into a gable to make room for the stair.
Where a terrace has a back addition, a second dormer over it gives space for a bedroom and a bathroom.
Common on taller Victorian streets nearer central Greenwich. More space, but planning permission is almost always required.
On roofs with enough height, rooflights keep the outline unchanged, which matters in conservation areas.
Bathrooms planned around the soil stack position, with eaves storage built into the dead space.
Survey, drawings,
approval, build.
We measure the loft, check the head height, the roof structure and whether your street is in a conservation area.
Plans drawn and the right route chosen: permitted development, a lawful development certificate or full planning.
Party wall notices prepared and served on neighbours, so the build date is not held up.
Scaffold, steelwork, dormer or gable, roof closed, then insulation, stair, electrics, plaster and finishes.
Building Control completion certificate and electrical certificate handed to you with the keys.
Matching the loft to the house in south east London.
The streets of SE3, SE7, SE9, SE10 and SE12 were built over more than a century, and each era of house has a roof that suits a different conversion. Getting this right at the start saves a redesign later. It also tells us early whether the conversion can go ahead under permitted development or needs a planning application, which affects the programme by several weeks. Most SE London lofts also involve a shared wall, so party wall notices are served early.
Victorian and Edwardian terraces
Greenwich, Charlton, Plumstead and much of Lewisham are lined with two storey terraces with a pitched main roof and a lower back addition. A rear dormer on the main roof is the standard conversion. Add a second dormer over the back addition and you have an L shaped loft with room for a bathroom as well as a bedroom. On many of these terraces the soil stack sits on the back addition, which makes a loft shower room straightforward.
1930s semis and end of terraces
Eltham, Lee, Kidbrooke and parts of Blackheath have hipped roofs. On their own they leave too little room for a stair, so the hip is built up into a vertical gable and usually combined with a rear dormer. Because the gable changes the side elevation, it is one of the conversions councils look at most closely in conservation areas.
Taller period houses
Some Georgian and Victorian houses closer to Greenwich town centre and Blackheath village have low pitched or butterfly roofs. A mansard is often the only conversion that gives usable space, and it will need planning permission.
Planning and conservation areas in Greenwich and Blackheath.
Much of West Greenwich, East Greenwich, Blackheath, Charlton Village and parts of Eltham sit within conservation areas. Houses in conservation areas do not have permitted development rights for roof extensions, so a dormer that would be automatic in Plumstead needs a full application in Blackheath. Blackheath itself is split between the Royal Borough of Greenwich and Lewisham, so it matters which council is deciding.
Lewisham and Greenwich each publish character appraisals for their conservation areas. They describe the roofs, chimneys and materials that give a street its character, and they are what a planning officer reads alongside your application. Where planning is needed, councils tend to prefer rear dormers set below the ridge and in from the side walls, rooflights on front slopes and materials that match the existing roof. We draw with that guidance in mind.
Article 4 directions and estate consent
Some streets also have Article 4 directions that remove other permitted development rights, and houses on the Dulwich Estate need estate consent as well as planning. We check all of this at survey, before you pay for drawings, and design to the guidance each council publishes for its conservation areas.
Loft conversions across Greenwich, Lewisham and Southwark.
Greenwich and Blackheath
Victorian terraces and taller period houses, many in conservation areas, where rear dormers set below the ridge and rooflights on the front slope are the usual approach.
Eltham and Kidbrooke
Hipped roof semis where a dormer loft conversion is usually combined with a hip to gable extension to fit the stair.
Lewisham, Lee and Hither Green
Long runs of terraces suited to rear and L shaped dormers. Loft extension planning in Hither Green is mostly permitted development, outside the conservation areas.
Dulwich and East Dulwich
Edwardian terraces in East Dulwich take L shaped dormers well. Houses on the Dulwich Estate also need estate consent.
We already work in SE3, including a boundary wall rebuild on Westcombe Park Road, shown on our brick wall rebuild page.
Why a loft conversion makes sense in SE London.
Moving house in south east London means stamp duty, agents' fees and leaving a street and school you like. A loft conversion adds a bedroom, and often a bathroom, without any of that, and the work happens mostly from the scaffold while you stay at home.
An extra bedroom, a home office or a principal suite with its own bathroom are the usual briefs. In family houses in Lee and Eltham the loft often frees up a ground floor room as well.
Whichever route it takes through planning, every loft conversion needs Building Regulations approval. The inspector checks the structure, the fire protected escape route down the stairs, insulation and ventilation, and issues a completion certificate your solicitor will need when you sell.
Living in the house during the build
Most of the noise and mess is outside until the roof is closed. The new stair is cut in near the end, the house is protected and cleaned, and you are kept up to date by one point of contact, who coordinates the scaffolders, carpenters, roofers, electricians, plumbers and plasterers. In narrow Greenwich streets we also arrange any council licence needed for scaffold on the pavement.
Questions from Greenwich
homeowners.
Outside conservation areas, many dormers and hip to gable lofts fall under permitted development. Inside them, and for mansards, planning is required. We check your address first.
Greenwich and Lewisham both publish maps. We check at survey and tell you before any drawings are paid for.
The build itself usually runs for several weeks, depending on size and type. You get a written programme with the fixed quote.
On terraces and semis, usually. We prepare the notices for you.
Sometimes. It depends on the street and whether neighbouring houses already have one. A mansard always needs planning permission, and we check nearby precedent before designing.
Yes. Every loft conversion needs calculations for the new floor and steel beams, and we arrange them.
In almost every case, yes. Most of the work is done from the scaffold.
Greenwich, Blackheath, Charlton, Eltham, Kidbrooke, Lee, Lewisham, Plumstead, Woolwich and Dulwich.
Yes. Most Victorian terraces suit a rear or L shaped dormer, and we check whether the street is in a conservation area first.
Yes, across all 32 boroughs. Our main London loft conversion page covers the rest of the capital.
Tell us your address
and we will check the loft.
A site visit, the planning position for your street and a fixed written quote.
Often needed
alongside this.
Areas we cover.
We take loft conversion work across all 32 London boroughs. Most of our work is in west London, in Shepherd's Bush, Hammersmith, Fulham, Kensington, Chiswick and White City, and in south west London, in Putney, Wandsworth and Wimbledon. We also work in south east London, in Greenwich, Blackheath and Lewisham.
If your property is outside these areas, call us anyway. We travel across London and will tell you honestly if a job is too far to price properly.