Hip-to-gable loft conversion drawings in Greenwich

The housing mix behind the demand

About 48.4 per cent of Greenwich households live in a house or bungalow, and 41.1 per cent own their home. The suburban streets hold the hipped semis and terraces that this service suits.

Terraces need a particular warning. Class B volume is lower for a terrace, and a gable would break a continuous row. The order says: 40 m³ (terrace house) / 50 m³ (any other house) additional roof volume. We measure the house on the survey and tell you which allowance applies.

What Greenwich decides, and how it handles prior approvals

In its latest year the council decided 624 householder applications and granted 77.1 per cent, and decided 94.2 per cent in time. A careful application matters here.

Prior approval for larger rear extensions is a live route: 82 granted and 76 refused in the latest return. If your plan combines a gable with a long rear extension, see house extension drawings in Greenwich.

Certificate or application

When the right is open, a Lawful Development Certificate in Greenwich confirms it in writing, and the council handled 437 certificate applications in its latest return. When it is closed, the work is a householder application, and planning drawings in Greenwich set it out.

The front slope is the first thing we examine: No enlargement beyond the plane of a roof slope that forms the principal elevation and fronts a highway. Many Greenwich semis have a hip facing the road, and a gable there is not permitted development.

Stair headroom, fire and the dormer

The stair rule is: Loft conversions where 2.0 m cannot be achieved: 1.9 m at the centre of the stair, 1.8 m at the side (half width). We test it on the section, because the stair often decides the roof shape. Our dormer loft conversion drawings in Greenwich cover a rear dormer drawn with the gable as one scheme.

The technical sheets follow in our building regulations drawings in Greenwich, including the protected escape route a new storey needs.

Semis and terraces are different jobs

A semi has one shared wall and a hip on the other side, so a gable alters one flank. A terrace in the same area usually has a hip only at the end house, and the middle houses have no hip to remove, so the idea simply does not apply. If you own an end-of-terrace house, the order is generous in one respect: Eaves-retention and 0.2 m set-back conditions do not apply to a hip-to-gable enlargement.

We confirm the house type, the roof form and the extent of any earlier loft work before suggesting a scheme. That avoids paying for drawings that the planning rules or the roof itself will not support, and it keeps the advice honest from the first call.

Reading a Greenwich street before we draw

Greenwich streets change character quickly. A road of identical hipped semis can end at a listed terrace or a conservation boundary within a few houses, so we walk the street, photograph the rooflines and check the designation map at the actual boundary rather than at the postcode.

The photographs go on the existing elevation sheet. If two neighbours have already built gables, that helps a planning case where one is needed; if none has, we say so and weigh the design accordingly. Either way, an officer can see the street for themselves without leaving the desk.

Timing is worth planning around too. A certificate or application takes weeks, and a builder's start date set before the outcome is known can cost a deposit. We suggest booking the build only once the council has replied.

Survey, sign-off and fee

We survey the roof on one datum with the floors below, record earlier alterations, show the scheme in plan and 3D and freeze the design when you choose an option in writing. A second chartered technologist then checks each sheet.

The fee is fixed after the free check, VAT included; there is no published price for this service. See architectural drawings in Greenwich for the area page, or the hip-to-gable overview.