What Your Builder Probably Won’t Tell You: 9 Things to Know Before Starting Your Extension

Thinking about extending your home? Before you start calling builders and asking for prices, there are a few things worth understanding first.

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Plug-In Solar Panels Are Now Legal in the UK – But Are They Worth It?

If you’ve been looking at ways to reduce your energy bills, you may have seen the recent news about plug-in solar panels.

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Phased Loft Conversion: Shell First, Fit-Out Later (And When It Actually Saves Money)

Can you do a loft conversion in phases?

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Loft Conversion Timeline: Planning Around School Holidays and Exam Season

The real question isn’t “how long does it take” — it’s “when do I need to start?”

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Do You Really Need Building Regs for a Loft Conversion?

The short answer

Yes, in practice — but the reasoning is more precise than “it’s the law,” and getting the distinction right matters.

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Building on Existing Extensions: The Structural Assessment You Need

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Wraparound Extension: Why You Can’t Do It Under Permitted Development (And What It Actually Costs You)

By Tom Millin, Director. Reviewed by Jaspal Chana, ARB-registered architect.

If you’ve started researching a wraparound extension, there’s a good chance you’ve read the permitted development (PD) rules for a side extension and the rules for a rear extension separately, added them together, and concluded you’re comfortably within the guidelines for both. That’s exactly the trap one of our clients fell into recently — and it’s worth walking through in detail, because the numbers looked fine right up until the point they weren’t.