Does your home cramp your lifestyle? Are you considering selling up to move to a larger property? Would adding a two storey extension be the answer, before putting your house on the market?

The costs associated with moving home can make a huge impact on your hard-earned savings! Depending on the size of home you need, Stamp Duty will take a nice chunk from your account. So will estate agency, legal fees, searches, surveyor fees and the deposit for your new home.

Instead of jumping on the “let’s move” bang wagon, why not consider your options with an extension first. The big bonus of extending is that it adds value to your property. A two-bedroomed house that has been extended into a three-bedroom house is worth considerably more!

An effective example of what you can achieve with a house extension

Our client wanted to extend their home as it was becoming impractical for their lifestyle. However, rather than move they decided to extend and opted for a two-storey extension to replace their ground floor garage. This meant that they could remain in the area they love. It also meant they could stay close to their family, their friends and everything they know.

Two storey house extension

The property before the extension

We suggested adding two bedrooms to the first floor and have a much larger garage to the ground floor. So that the house looked aesthetically pleasing, we designed the new extension to match the existing left-hand side bay. This created a harmonising double-bay dwelling.

As the extension was wider and deeper than the existing garage, the current side access would be impinged. As our clients still needed access to the back garden, we managed to achieve this using the existing one. Access ended up being a little narrower than before, but still wide enough to gain entry.

What if your property is in a Conservation Area?

Introduced in the late 1960s, there are now almost 10,000 Conservation Areas in the UK!

If you live in a Conservation Area, you will almost certainly come across obstacles when trying to get planning permission. We know what the requirements are to get permission; invariably it will be a massive improvement to the design of your home, and this certainly helps.

The new extension had to fit within the landscape as it’s in a Conservation Area. This ultimately satisfied the conservation officer and the planning department, allowing our client to move ahead with the proposed plans.

To make the house look like it was built this way in the place, the matching bay was exactly the same dimensions as the existing bay. We also made sure the materials used on the new extension would match the existing building.

Our design included new security gates and an altered landscape to the front and side, adjacent to the extension.

I think you’ll agree that the finished result provides a much larger dwelling – one that is far more visually attractive than before.

Elevation and floor plan for two storey house extension

Elevations and floor plans for the new two-storey house extension