Common questions

Often not. A single storey rear extension can usually go to 3 metres on a semi or terrace and 4 metres on a detached house under permitted development, with a 4 metre height limit and a tighter one within 2 metres of the boundary. You also cannot cover more than half the land around the original house.

The Larger Home Extension route can take those depths further, but it requires prior approval from Milton Keynes City Council before work starts and that process takes time. Conservation areas, listed buildings and properties that have had permitted development rights removed are all different again.

This is general guidance rather than planning advice, and the position depends entirely on your property and what has been built before. We can flag the likely requirements at the first visit and advise when confirmation should be obtained from the council or an appropriate professional.

Planning is about whether you are allowed to build the thing at all: size, appearance, effect on neighbours. Building Regulations are about whether it is safe and properly built: structure, insulation, fire, drainage, ventilation, electrics.

They are separate approvals. An extension can need no planning permission whatsoever and still require Building Control approval. For structural work we generally prefer the Full Plans route, so drawings and calculations are checked before we start rather than problems surfacing halfway through.

We work alongside Building Control and structural engineers regularly and can manage that liaison where it forms part of the agreed scope. Their fees and appointments are not automatically included unless the quotation says so.

It depends on the job, and anyone who gives you a number without seeing the house is guessing. As a rough guide: a bathroom is two to three weeks, a kitchen refit two to four, a single storey rear extension is usually ten to fourteen weeks from breaking ground, and a full house renovation runs three to six months depending on scale.

Weather, Building Control inspections and lead times on windows, doors and kitchens all move those numbers. We build realistic float into the programme rather than promising a date we cannot hold.

Usually yes, and most of our customers do. On an extension you can live fairly normally right up until we break through into the existing house, which we leave as late as possible for that reason.

On a full renovation it is harder but still workable. We go room by room, keep a working kitchen and bathroom going as long as possible, sheet up properly and clean down at the end of each day.

Legally, sometimes. The Party Wall etc. Act 1996 applies if you are building on the line of junction, cutting into a shared wall, or excavating within 3 metres of a neighbouring building and deeper than their foundations, or within 6 metres on the 45 degree line. Notice has to be served in advance: one month for excavation, two months for party structure work.

Practically, always. Even where no notice is required, telling next door what is happening and roughly when is the difference between a neighbour who tolerates the noise and one who complains to the council. We keep sites tidy and the road clear.

Payments are made in agreed stages appropriate to the size and type of project. The complete payment schedule is set out clearly within the quotation before work begins.

Different projects have different payment structures, particularly on larger builds, so the schedule is agreed with you in advance rather than assumed. You will always know what is due and when before any work starts.

You get told the same day, and you get it in writing before anything is done about it. Old houses in particular hide things: a lintel that was never there, a rotten joist end, a drain running somewhere nobody expected.

Our focus is on transparency and communication at every stage, so nothing that affects the price goes ahead without your approval first. You will not receive a bill at the end for work you did not agree to.

Either. Plenty of our customers buy their own kitchen from Howdens, Wren, Magnet or an independent maker and we fit it. Send us the plan before you order and we will tell you whether it works in the space.

We can also source it if you would rather one company was responsible for the whole thing. We will talk you through which route tends to work out better for your particular project.

No. We do not take on handyman work, single repairs or odd jobs, and it is better to say so up front than leave you waiting for a quote that never comes.

We are set up for substantial building and renovation work: extensions, structural alterations, whole house projects, conversions and significant external works. For smaller repairs or handyman-type work, we would recommend using a tradesperson who specialises in that type of service, as our team is structured around larger building and renovation projects.

We carry £5 million public liability insurance and we will send you the certificate on request, before you commit to anything.

On workmanship, we come back. If something we did is not right, call us and we will put it right. Manufacturer guarantees on windows, doors, boilers and appliances are passed on to you at handover.

Based in Milton Keynes and working across the surrounding areas, with wider coverage available depending on the size and scope of the project. Our main areas include Olney, Newport Pagnell, Stony Stratford, Wolverton, Woburn Sands, Bletchley, Flitwick, Ampthill, Towcester, Buckingham and Winslow, along with the villages around them.

Our coverage can extend further depending on the size and scope of the project, across Buckinghamshire, Bedfordshire, Northamptonshire and Oxfordshire. If your area is not listed, get in touch and tell us about your plans.

Message us on WhatsApp with a few photographs and a description, or call 07930 390542. WhatsApp is the fastest route, because photographs, plans and drawings stay in one thread that the office and the site can both see.

We will arrange to come and look, and you will receive a detailed written quotation after that setting out the full scope of works, what is included and any exclusions. There is no charge for the visit or the quotation.