Loft conversion for house with low roof

[Tommie38]

We have a detached house with what I thought was a fairly normal roof, so I thought a loft conversion would be quite straightforward (flat roof towards the rear of the house, retaining the front half of the original roof).

I’ve since had it pointed out to me that the roof sits a little low on the house. By that, I mean it slightly overlaps the tops of the walls if that makes sense. You can tell because the top of the upstairs windows are quite close to the soffits. I haven’t really seen that type of roof before.

I’m fairly confident that the internal height under the current roof will be too tight to be comfortable living space and that any loft conversion will require a whole new roof.

Is the above something that people actually do? Anything to be aware of? I’d hope to be covered by permitted development but not sure if raising the roof height will be a problem.

Grateful for thoughts.

[ozzuk]

I'd say zero chance of PD if changing the roof height. Is there an option to lower the ceilings?

[trickywoo]

Building regs will probably be your biggest barrier.

The depth of insulation you need now eats into head height. If you have loads of room its fine but if you are tight already the options are more limited and might even need the floor (ceiling of the first story rooms) to be lowered.

Are you talking about a 'proper' conversion which typically involves having a flat roof at the back, retaining the original pitch at the front, or just turning the sloping loft into a room?

Even a straightforward flat roof conversion is going to be well north of £60k starting on a small house.

[Tommie38]

ozzuk said:

I'd say zero chance of PD if changing the roof height. Is there an option to lower the ceilings?

Ahh thought as much. Not opposed to the planning permission route if that is required.

[Tommie38]

trickywoo said:

Building regs will probably be your biggest barrier.

The depth of insulation you need now eats into head height. If you have loads of room its fine but if you are tight already the options are more limited and might even need the floor (ceiling of the first story rooms) to be lowered.

Are you talking about a 'proper' conversion which typically involves having a flat roof at the back, retaining the original pitch at the front, or just turning the sloping loft into a room?

Even a straightforward flat roof conversion is going to be well north of £60k starting on a small house.

Was thinking of a ‘proper’ conversion. Realistically replacing the whole roof but with a similar style to the original at the front.

[trickywoo]

Tommie38 said:

Was thinking of a ‘proper’ conversion. Realistically replacing the whole roof but with a similar style to the original at the front.

That will give you the best result but also need full planning. I don't want to bang on about the cost and you may well have an idea but its going to be significant and the planning aspect will be a minor part of the process.

[rossub]

Looked into doing this with part of our Bungalow about 5 years ago.

What stopped us was the fact that while the cost of £150k was affordable, it was only going to add about £50k to the house value.

We’d have had to move out for part of it as well.

[Skodillac]

Someone in my hood had a similar situation and did this:



Looks awkward to my eye, you can see what it would have been like originally from the house on the other corner. So be a bit careful!

[andya7]

'I'd say zero chance of PD if changing the roof height'

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2015/596/sched...

Class AA - enlargement of a dwellinghouse by construction of additional storeys

There are some requirements, for example; 'development is not permitted by Class AA if... the dwellinghouse was constructed before 1st July 1948 or after 28th October 2018' but it is quite possible to increase the roof height.

[Little Lofty]

As mentioned, adding a story can be done via prior approval depending on the age of the property, however prior approval isn't as straight forward as it was intended. You should be able to get normal pp to raise the roof. What height do you have internally ?

Edited by Little Lofty on Tuesday 26th August 18:17

[andya7]

I'd agree with Little Lofty... planners hate Class AA and it isn't as straightforward as it 'should' be. Again (agreeing) it is often easier to submit a full planning application to achieve it, which might be what the neighbours have done...

[Aluminati]

A lot will be based on current pitch and width of building.

But will be a planning app.

[Tommie38]

trickywoo said:

That will give you the best result but also need full planning. I don't want to bang on about the cost and you may well have an idea but it’s going to be significant and the planning aspect will be a minor part of the process.

rossub said:

Looked into doing this with part of our Bungalow about 5 years ago.

What stopped us was the fact that while the cost of £150k was affordable, it was only going to add about £50k to the house value.

We’d have had to move out for part of it as well.

Understand the points on cost and return, this is more about needing the space. Current property is right for a number of reasons so not keen to move.

[Tommie38]

Skodillac said:

Someone in my hood had a similar situation and did this:



Looks awkward to my eye, you can see what it would have been like originally from the house on the other corner. So be a bit careful!

Funnily enough, to me the house with the raised roof looks much better than the ones without. They look oddly squat to me. Appreciate there may be an ugly band of brick that I can’t make out from the picture.

[Tommie38]

Little Lofty said:

As mentioned, adding a story can be done via prior approval depending on the age of the property, however prior approval isn't as straight forward as it was intended. You should be able to get normal pp to raise the roof. What height do you have internally ?

Edited by Little Lofty on Tuesday 26th August 18:17

Will take some measurements and come back.