House Extensions Camden

GS Renovation builds extensions across Camden, working with the Georgian, Regency and Victorian homes of Hampstead, Highgate and Kentish Town. We handle groundworks, steel, roofing and the full fit-out, arrange the planning drawings and give you what your party wall notices need from the start.

In Camden, a single-storey rear extension typically starts from £40,000, or £2,000 to £2,800 per m² (indicative London ranges, Architecture for London, Resi, MyBuilder and Checkatrade, 2026). GS Renovation Ltd, a building contractor based in Potters Bar, does the work in Camden: the structural engineer we appoint designs the structure, we build it, and building control signs it off.

Rear and side-return extensions in Camden

For Camden's houses, the classic project fills the side return of a Victorian terrace in Kentish Town or extends into the rear garden of a townhouse near Regent's Park. We dig and lay foundations to suit the ground and any nearby trees, install the steel beams that carry the existing rear wall, and build up in matching brick before fitting the roof, glazing and services. The result is a bright kitchen-diner that respects the house.

Whether an extension is permitted development or needs a full planning application depends entirely on the property. A single-storey rear extension within the limits may fall under permitted development, even in a conservation area unless an Article 4 direction removes it, but side, two-storey and roof extensions in Camden's conservation areas need planning permission, and a listed building needs listed building consent from Camden Council. We assess your specific address before design so there are no surprises later.

Housing in Camden

Around 113,890 homes make up Camden on the valuation list; 88% are flats and 12% houses, and 48% date from before 1919, 9% from between the wars and 42% from after 1945. A flat in Camden has no householder permitted development rights, so extending one needs planning permission and the freeholder's consent, which matters here because most homes are flats.

Rear extensions in Camden: appraisals, pre-planning advice and the levy

About half of Camden sits inside its 40 conservation areas. There a house keeps its permitted development right to a modest single storey rear extension unless an Article 4 direction removes it, while a flat has none, and anything needing permission is weighed partly against the appraisal for that area. The Camden Town Conservation Area appraisal and management strategy, adopted on 4 October 2007, says rear extensions will not be acceptable where they would compromise the special character of the area. Read the appraisal for your own area before the architect draws anything, and ask for drawings that show how the extension leaves that character intact. A design that answers the appraisal directly is easier to defend than one that argues with it later.

Camden's pre-planning application advice for homeowners is tiered, and Level 2 covers multiple or more complex works, such as more than one extension or a two storey rear extension, so the scale of your scheme picks the level. Book it with sketch options rather than finished drawings, because advice is cheapest to act on before the design is fixed. Then check the floorspace: Camden's Community Infrastructure Levy applies to all proposals which add 100 square metres of new floorspace or an extra dwelling, so the architect should total the new gross area before the application goes in.

Foundations and party walls across Camden

Camden's period terraces sit on tight plots with shared boundaries, so most extensions here engage the Party Wall Act. Where we excavate near or build off a party wall in NW5 or N19, you serve notice on the adjoining owners as building owner, the surveyors record a schedule of condition, and we build to the award. We build the foundations, damp proofing and drainage correctly for the age of the property and its solid-wall construction.

Above ground we tie the new structure into the original brickwork, form the openings with engineer-designed steel, and weatherproof the roof, whether that is a flat warm roof with rooflights or a pitched roof to match a neighbouring return. Building control inspects the foundations, steel, insulation and drainage at each stage, and we complete the full internal fit-out ready to use.

Kitchen extensions in Camden

88% of homes in Camden are flats, and a flat has no householder permitted development, so a ground-floor flat's kitchen extension needs planning permission from Camden Council and the freeholder's consent. With so few houses here, the realistic kitchen gain in most Camden homes is a better layout inside the flat rather than an extension. The fit-out is priced on its own page, kitchen renovation in Camden; the build figures are in the table above. Double storey extensions belong to the few houses here.

• Brickwork and mortar matched to the existing elevation
• Trial holes to set foundation depth near drains and trees
• Roof works and structural alterations at roof level

VOA Council Tax stock of properties, March 2025, for all 27 statistical areas in Camden. Counts rounded by the VOA.

People planning house extensions in Camden may also want RSJ and steel beam installation in Camden, our Camden area guide, side return infills, the Party Wall Act process for extensions, house extensions across London and Crittall Doors Guide.

Why Choose GS Renovation in Camden

Camden homeowners choose GS Renovation because we run the whole extension as one job, from foundations and steel to the finished kitchen, and we take you properly through Camden Council planning and conservation requirements and give you what your party wall notices need. With our founder's 30+ years on the tools, we build extensions that suit period homes, pass building control cleanly and add lasting space and value.

• Foundation depth set after trial holes, drains and trees are checked
• Brick and mortar matched to the existing elevation
• Building control applications and inspections coordinated for you

Checked by Abdelaaziz Saaid, founder and director of GS Renovation Ltd (Companies House no. 14611254). Structural design is by the consulting engineer appointed to your project.