Side-return, rear and wrap-around extensions on Clapham’s Victorian terraces and older period houses.
We build extensions across Clapham and SW4, from the Victorian and Edwardian terraces around Abbeville Road and Clapham South to the older houses near the Old Town and the Common. Most of Clapham is in Lambeth, but much of the far side of the Common comes under Wandsworth, so we first check which council your house sits with and whether it is in a conservation area or listed. Then one team takes the job from drawings to sign-off.
The family terraces that fill much of Clapham usually have a kitchen in a narrow back addition with an unused strip of side return beside it. Building into that strip, and out at the rear, turns the back of the house into one kitchen, dining and living space with light coming in from above. On a wider plot, a wrap-around does both in one go.
Older houses need a different approach. Clapham has a large number of listed houses, especially in the Old Town, Grafton Square, Rectory Grove and Crescent Grove, and along the edges of the Common. Extending a listed house needs listed building consent as well as planning, and the design is usually a lighter, smaller addition that keeps the shape of the original house clear.
Typical build: 10 to 16 weeks on site
Councils: Lambeth, or Wandsworth on the far side of the Common
Listed houses: Listed building consent as well as planning
Covered: SW4, plus SW8, SW9, SW11 and SW12 edges
Most Clapham projects fall into one of these, and the house usually decides which.
Clapham is split between two councils. Most of it, including the Old Town, Abbeville and Clapham Park, is in Lambeth. Houses on much of the North Side and West Side of the Common, and the streets around Nightingale Lane, come under Wandsworth. Each council has its own planning team, building control and conservation area guidance, and we work with both.
Lambeth’s Clapham conservation area is centred on the Common and its older surrounding streets, and there are smaller ones at Rectory Grove, Clapham Park and Northbourne Road, Sibella Road, Larkhall, Clapham Road and Clapham High Street. Inside any of them a side-return extension is not permitted development and needs a full application. Boundaries can fall between neighbouring streets, so we check your address against the council’s map before any design work.
We measure up, confirm the council and any conservation area or listing, and send a written quote.
Drawings, structural calculations and the planning or listed building consent application.
Our trades build the extension, with party wall notices served and neighbours kept informed.
Building control issues the completion certificate and we walk you round the finished space.
Quite possibly. Lambeth has several in Clapham, including the large Clapham conservation area around the Common, and Wandsworth has one covering its side of the Common. We check your address against the council maps before design starts.
Lambeth for most of Clapham, including the Old Town, Abbeville and Clapham Park. Wandsworth for much of the far side of the Common. Your council tax bill tells you which one you are in.
Often, yes, but it needs listed building consent as well as planning permission, and the council will want the extension to sit comfortably with the original house. Work to a listed building without consent is a criminal offence, so we get consent in place first.
Usually 10 to 16 weeks on site for a single-storey extension. Allow time for a planning decision beforehand, which is normally around eight weeks from a valid application.
Neighbours are consulted on planning applications, and if you build on or near a shared wall they must be served a party wall notice. We prepare and serve those notices for you and deal with the surveyors if a neighbour dissents.
Rear Extensions is one of ten building services we offer across Clapham and SW4. If your project needs more than one, we run them as a single job.
Tell us about your property and preferred timeline and we will get you a quote.
