Hip to gable loft conversion cost: a masonry job as well as a roofing one

How hip to gable loft conversion cost works

1. Settle whether it is permitted development. A great many hip to gable conversion are permitted development, which means no planning application, but the limits on depth, height, materials and how much of the plot is already built on are specific and a designer should read them against your own house before anybody prices anything.
2. Get drawings and a structural design. Existing and proposed drawings, then a structural engineer's calculations for whatever is being opened up or carried. On a hip to gable conversion this is a small share of the total and it is what turns an idea into something three builders can price identically.
3. Serve the party wall notices in time. Work on or near a shared wall, or excavation within three or six metres of a neighbour's foundations, engages the Party Wall etc. Act and the notice periods are set in months rather than weeks. Serving late is the commonest reason a start date slips.
4. Price it against a specification, not a sketch. Ask each builder to price the same written specification, with provisional sums shown as provisional sums. Two quotes that differ by a third almost always differ in what is included: the kitchen, the flooring, the decoration and the drainage diversion are the usual absentees.
5. Agree stages, retention and building control. A staged payment schedule against completed work, a small retention until sign-off, and a clear statement of who is notifying building control. The completion certificate is what a future buyer's solicitor will ask for.

Insurance and paperwork

Common questions

Which houses suit a hip to gable roof extension?

Semi detached and end of terrace houses with a hipped roof at the end, because there is a flank wall to build up. A mid terrace has no hip to convert, and a detached house may need two.

Is a hip to gable extension usually combined with a dormer?

Very often, because squaring the end gives head height along the side and a rear dormer then gives it across the back. The combination is a bigger job and the quote should price the two elements separately.

What are the planning considerations?

Enlarging the roof this way uses a share of the permitted development volume allowance and is subject to material and set back conditions. Where rights have been removed, or on a flat, an application is needed.

Registered contractors by region

• Registered roofers in the East Midlands postcode area
• Registered roofers in the East of England postcode area
• Registered roofers in the London postcode area
• Registered roofers in the North East postcode area
• Registered roofers in the North West postcode area
• Registered roofers in the Scotland postcode area
• Registered roofers in the South East postcode area
• Registered roofers in the South West postcode area
• Registered roofers in the Wales postcode area
• Registered roofers in the West Midlands postcode area
• Registered roofers in the Yorkshire and The Humber postcode area