Terraced house extension plans and professional guidance for your home project
Do you own a Georgian, Edwardian or Victorian house?
Is it terraced, semi-detached or detached?
And would you like to add a single or double storey extension?
In all these cases you will need to prepare house extension plans for your home project.
According to the Office for National Statistics – Census 2021
- 7.8 million households (31.5% of all households) were in semi-detached properties, up from 31.3% (7.3 million) in 2011
- 5.8 million (23.2%) were in detached properties, up from 5.3 million (22.7%) in 2011
- 5.7 million (23.2%) were in terraced properties, down from 5.8 million (24.6%) in 2011
Below we have prepared answers to common questions about what detached, semi-detached and terrace house extension plans and information you will need to prepare for your home project.
Where do I start for my terrace house extension plans?
You can make a real good start by appointing an architect to help you develop your brief and to help you clarify your own requirements.
Before you even start with your plans for your terrace house extension you will need to have a think about what type of spaces you need now and in the future. You can have a look at what other terrace houses along the street got approved and you can find the approval on your local authority website.
What you will find there is terrace house extension plans and ideas for houses that are very similar to yours. This will help you visualise how much space you can add and this will help you see how others used this additional space.
Your own requirements might be different though. I often see the design of a terrace house extension project develop differently even when the layout of the existing house is the same and when the budget for the extension is the same too.
An architect will help you distil ideas you might have had over the years living in your terrace house. And an architect can help you reject ideas that might not give you the best type of extension for you and your family.
Once you have drawn up a few plans you will be able to reach to certain ideas and arrangements. This will give you clarity about which of the terrace house extension plans work for you and which direction you should take with the design development.
There are no right or wrong answers and through floor plans, sections and elevations you will develop a better understanding about what you need and what your terraced property can become for you.
Who draws up plans for a house extension?
Previously I mentioned architects since at GOAStudio we are London architects and we specialise in residential properties and preparing house extension plans for properties across London.
However you do not necessarily need an architect to draw up plans for your house extension.
What you need is a professional that has the skills, knowledge and experience to guide you through the design development stage and to prepare a bunch of technical plans, specification, and information for the approvals you will need to obtain and for the builders to price.
Such a professional could be an architect, a technologist, a building technician, or an interior designer. Probably not your builder.
And probably not yourself unless you are accordingly qualified and / or as a minimum you have read a couple of construction for dummies manuals and you know what the pictures in the manual mean.
At some point it is likely that you also need a structural engineer to draw up plans for your house extension project.
Do you need planning drawings or building regulation plans for your terrace house extension?
The quick answer is yes, as a minimum you will need planning drawings and building regulations plans for your terrace house extension project.
The same applies to any type of house extension project, double storey extensions, single storey extensions, and whether the house is terraced, semi-detached or detached.
The idea is that house extension plans are prepared to convey the necessary information for the various approvals you will need to obtain for your home project.
Actually, “plans” is a shorthand for different types of drawings. “Plans” can mean floor plans, elevation illustrations, section cuts through the house, or 3D images that show the house from a bird’s eye view angle.
Terrace house extension planning drawings convey information to the planning officer to demonstrate two key things: a. what is there at the moment and b. what alterations you aim to carry out.
In fact such planning stage house extension plans come in two sets: as existing and as proposed. And the idea is that anyone can compare them to see exactly what the alterations and extension are and how such changes to the house comply with the planning regulations.
Typically such planning stage house extension plans include dimensions about the depth, width and height of the proposed extension. They also include information about the materials you propose to use, how new windows and door relate to the pattern of the existing windows and doors, and they need to demonstrate how your proposed extension impacts the neighbouring houses.
Building Regulations house extension plans are much more detailed and they include a larger quantity of construction information that is relevant to the current Building Regulations. For more information about what you need to include in these Building Regulations plans see Planning Portal – Building Control
Typically though the architect will prepare a set of technical Building Regulations plans and information for the Building Regulations submission. And a structural engineer will also prepare a set of structural Building Regulations plans an information to be also submitted to the Building Regulations Inspector.
The Inspector will check the technical and structural plans, request additional information if this is necessary and provide a conditional approval to these plans. Then the Inspector will visit the building site 4-5 times during the construction stage. At the end of the construction stage the Inspector will certify the building works and confirm that everything was built in accordance to the current Building Regulations.
What type of double storey extension semi detached house plans am I likely to need?
Given that 7.8 million households (31.5% of all households) live in semi-detached properties, single and double extensions are one of the most common types of development to residential properties.
Typically there are two main types of double storey extensions to semi-detached houses you will need plans for:
a. Double storey side extension semi-detached house plans – Semi-detached houses often allow a gap between the side of the house and the side boundary. Georgian, Edwardian and Victorian semi-detached house layouts can easily be added to as long as this gap to the boundary is a minimum of 2.5m. This is true for both the ground and first floor layout. At the ground floor the plan of the semi-detached house will evolve to accommodate an additional reception room or guest bedroom at the front. At the rear of new extension the floor plan can develop to enlarge the kitchen area and to provide a new utility space. On the first floor the plan can be developed to add more bedroom and bathroom areas to the semi-detached house.
b. Double storey rear extension semi-detached house plans – A semi-detached house can be potentially extended to both the side and the rear of the house. When you have a chance to extend on two storeys at the rear, and this is subject to planning approval, you end up with a floor plan that works differently on the ground and first floor levels. In most cases a double rear extension will allow for an enlarged kitchen, living and dining area on the ground floor. On the first floor you need careful development of the design to create additional bedroom and bathroom areas. The reason for this is that the existing staircase or the existing bathroom might not be in an ideal position to allow for the double storey extension to your semi-detached house to create much or useful additional floor space.
