How to Add a Single Storey Extension
How to add a valuable living space and improve your home’s layout by planning, designing and budgeting for the best single storey extension.
Building a single storey extension is a cost-effective alternative to moving house, allowing you to design additional living space with a layout that suits how you use your home. It can also provide you with the opportunity to create a light-filled space which is integrally linked to your garden.
Our guide covers common extension planning questions such as:
Cost
Planning Permission
Permitted Development Rights
Building Regulations
Party Wall Agreements
Size
Design
How Much Does it Cost to Build a Single Storey Extension?
Before you begin planning your extension design, you need to set a budget and ensure you can afford what you’re planning.
Start with build costs, which can be broken down as follows:
If you’re looking to build an extension on a budget, you can achieve a single storey extension for around £1,500 to £1,900/m² for basic quality (a 4m x 5m extension would work out at around £30,000)
For good quality, expect to pay between £1,900 to £2,200/m² (or £38,000 for a 4m x 5m addition)
For a high spec extension, you’ll pay between £2,200 to £2,400/m² (or upwards of £44,000 for an extension of 4m x 5m)
On top of the build cost, you’ll also need to factor in the following:
Architecture North fees: These work out at around 3-7% of the construction cost, with planning drawings around £1,095, and construction drawings at a similar rate
Structural engineer: If roof joists and foundations need to be specified, you’ll need a structural engineer. This would cost in the region of £500 to £1,000
Survey: Between £500 and £1,500 if a survey of the existing house is required
Project management: Factor in a fee of 3-7% of the build cost for project management (you can however agree a daily or hourly rate). If you are looking to keep costs down, you could always manage your own project
VAT: This is at a rate of 20% of the labour, materials and services
Planning fees: For a residential single storey extension in England, the cost of an application is £206. If you need a certificate of lawful development, you’ll pay £103; and it costs £34 per request for discharging planning conditions, also since the 10th Sept 2018 Planning Portal require a service payment of £60.00 to cover the cost of the planning portal.
Building control charges: These will vary according to your extension’s size
A party wall agreement: This typically costs from £700 to £1,000 per neighbour.
Additional fees: These can include a tree report (£250 upwards); a flood risk assessment within flood zones (£250 upwards); an ecology report, possibly required by your local authority (from £400); an archaeological report if your home is in an area of archaeological interest (possibly several thousand pounds); a historic building report, likely if your home is listed, also your local authority may put conditions on your granted planning permission, such as a geologist survey report (from £750).
Interior fit-out costs
How Much Does it Cost to Fit Out a Single Storey Extension?
The costs involved in fitting out a single storey extension all depends on the room type you’re adding.
A kitchen will be more expensive to equip rather than a home office, for example — but expect to pay:Between £5,000 and £30,000 for a new kitchen (a higher spec kitchens can cost considerably more)
Around £4,500 to £11,000 for a bathroom, depending the quality of fittings; a shower room will cost a similar amount
£25 to £100 per square metre for flooring
£85 per square metre for plaster or dry-lining, plus paint if these finishes are not included in the build quote
Expect to spend between £1,500 to £2,000 per linear metre for bi-fold or sliding doors
Don’t forget to include the cost of adding heating to your new room. Extending an existing central heating system may only take two days’ work by a plumber, at around £150 per day (excluding materials).
Underfloor heating will be more expensive. Electric underfloor heating is a cheaper installation choice (and some elements can be DIY-fitted). However, water-fed underfloor heating, although more expensive to install, and possibly requiring the addition of a new boiler to cope with the demand, is cheaper to run in the long term. Expect to pay around £2,500 for a new boiler.
Do I Need Planning Permission for a Single Storey Extension?
You will need planning permission for your extension if it:
covers more than half the area of land surrounding your home
extends towards a road
increases the overall height of the building
extends more than 6m from the rear of an attached house
extends more than 8m from the rear of a detached house
is taller than 4m
is more than half the width of your house
uses different materials to those of the original house
includes a balcony or raised veranda
Architecture North are familiar with the planning and permitted development limitations, if you would like to contact us where our can book a no obligation consultation, where we can discuss your project in more detail.
Can I Extend Within My Permitted Development Rights?
You may be able to build a single storey extension with permitted development rights, which means avoiding the need for planning permission, if its height and footprint meet permitted development criteria.
Always check with your local authority, especially if you live in a Conservation Area. Also, be mindful too that local authorities can also use Article 4 Directions to remove rights.
Even without planning permission, Architecture North always advises it is worth applying for a certificate of lawful development from your local authority; as it could be valuable in the future if you need to prove that your extension met Permitted Development requirements and did not require planning permission.
Do I Need to Comply with Building Regulations?
Yes, an extension of any kind must comply with building regulations.
You will need to submit an application for the work to your local authority building control department. Each authority has its own table of charges or you can use a private certified building control firm. Some contractors are building control certified, meaning they can carry out work without the need for involving the building control department.
Do I Need a Party Wall Agreement?
If you have a good relationship with your neighbours – or you’re able to establish one – talk them through your proposed plans, you may be able to persuade them to sign a party wall agreement waiver form.
Otherwise, you will need to appoint a surveyor to arrange a party wall agreements; your neighbours are entitled to hire their own surveyor if they don’t want to share yours, and this will be at your cost.
How Big Should My Extension Be?
Planning constraints, such as how much your house has already been extended, will limit your extension’s size, but bear in mind that the larger the extension, the more cost-effective.
That being said, an extension that dramatically reduces the size of the garden can have a negative impact on the desirability of your home to future buyers. Also if you extend within permitted development criteria you can build without going through the planning process.
Designing a Single Storey Extension
Whether you have chosen us to work with you, or you’re working on the design of your extension yourself, here’s what to consider.
Interior Layout
Open-plan, a series of smaller spaces or a combination of the two? Consider your needs carefully before you start. Building a kitchen extension might involve designing an open-plan kitchen diner, living space, but allow space for a separate utility room and a cloakroom; allowing space for these, make the open-plan living spac work. There’s nothing worse than having a beautiful open-plan kitchen, and relaxing on the sofa and hearing the washing machine spinning.
Doors and Windows
The position, size and shape of doors and windows to capture the best of the daylight and the views of the garden can mean that even when building an extension on a tight budget, you can achieve a stunning space.
Ensure their style and framing complements your interior fittings – designing a kitchen to complement the style of your bi-fold or sliding doors, for example, will create an well balanced space.
Creating a Seamless Space
Creating a natural flow from the original house into the new extension will help make it more successful. This may mean:
having a wider than usual doorway into the new room
hiding joists in the ceiling void to ensure a continuous ceiling level between existing and new spaces
making sure floor levels in the extension match those of the hallway it leads off from
and ensuring decorative elements, such as mouldings, door furniture and colour schemes, match those of the existing house
Bringing the Outside in
Merging indoor and outdoor can make both spaces feel bigger and cohesive. Think wide bi-fold doors overlooking the garden, continuous flooring from the inside to out and choosing harmonious features, like wall treatments to plants, to create a cohesive space that spans through the house into the garden.
Future-Proofing
A single storey extension is cheaper to build than a two storey extension because it needs less substantial foundations and steelworks. But might you want to add a second storey in the future? If there’s the slightest chance, now’s the time to up the spec of the extension to allow for this in future.
Roof
The loftier the ceiling in the new extension, the brighter and bigger the space you’ll create, consider the impact of the height of the ridge on existing first floor windows. If a low pitch is the only option, you may have to get creative with your roof design, opting for an orangery-style roof with glazed elements that make the ceilings look higher than they would if solid.