House extensions come in all shapes and sizes - single-story, two-story, wraparound or to the side. But, whatever house extension you are intending to build there are a lot of things to work out and make decisions on before the project even gets going. From the legalities and logistics to budgets and builders - it pays to know whatt is what before you start your house extension. Even if your house extension can be built under Permitted Development rights and won't need planning permission, work must get Building Regulations approval. The Building Regulations set out minimum requirements for structural integrity, fire safety, energy efficiency, damp proofing, ventilation, and other key aspects that ensure a building is safe.
Most repair work is excluded from Building Regulations, with the exceptions of replacement windows, under-pinning and rewiring. However, apart from certain new buildings such as sheds, outbuildings, and some conservatories, all new building work, including altera-tions, must comply with the Building Regulations.
For house extensions to make economic sense, you need to make sure the value-added is greater than the cost of the project. It can be difficult to assess, but finding similar local properties and seeing how much they have sold for can be a useful guide. Often extenders get preoccupied with only thinking of the project in terms of square meters, not in terms of what that size is adding to the house. Bigger is not always better when it comes to house extensions, and there are often ways of creating the feeling of more space, without adding a large extension.
If you live in a terraced home with restricted access, then that may affect the options you have for your house extension design. For example, you may not be able to use certain construction methods, or you may need to make arrangements with your neighbors to temporarily remove fence panels or use their land for short-term storage. Though bringing more light into a home is often the desired outcome of an extension project, unmanaged light ingress can create problems associated with solar gain. Designers should be aware of this when designing glazing features into an extension and mitigate for the solar gain to avoid the situation where, like poorly designed conservatories, the extra space is usable for only a small part of the year. Screen fabrics can also be used to reduce glare and diffuse light.