GS Renovation designs and builds extensions throughout New Cross, working with the bay-fronted Victorian and Edwardian terraces that shape the SE14 streets. With over 30 years across Lewisham, we take on rear, side-return and wrap-around projects, handling the groundworks, steelwork, roof and full fit-out so your enlarged home feels part of the original house.
Side-return and rear extensions in New Cross
The classic New Cross extension fills the side return, that narrow strip of open ground beside the original closet wing that so many SE14 terraces still have. Infilling it widens the kitchen dramatically and floods the plan with light through a glazed roof. We dig and pour foundations to suit the local ground, tie the new brickwork into the existing wall, and install the steel that lets us open the rear of the house right up.
A rear extension pushes the ground floor further into the garden, and a wrap-around combines both moves for a generous open-plan kitchen-diner. In terraces this close together the party wall almost always comes into play, so you serve notices on the neighbours early. We build the shell, fit the roof and glazing, then complete the plastering, flooring, electrics and decoration as a single continuous project.
Planning and permitted development in New Cross
Whether your New Cross extension needs planning permission depends on the property. Many single-storey rear and side-return projects fall under permitted development, which means no full application to Lewisham Council, though we still confirm the size limits and often obtain a lawful development certificate for certainty. Double-storey work, anything unusually large, or a home in a conservation area is more likely to need a full planning application.
Separate from planning, every extension must satisfy building regulations. Building control inspects the foundations, the steel beams, the insulation, the drainage and the structure as the job progresses. We keep planning and building control clearly apart, because they answer different questions, and we manage both with Lewisham Council on your behalf so nothing stalls halfway through your SE14 build.
- Full fit-out, finishing and making good
- Building control inspections at foundation, damp course and steel stages
- Side-return and rear extensions
- Scaffolding, site set-up and safe access on tight London plots
- Flat and pitched roofs with rooflights or lanterns
Why New Cross Homeowners Choose GS Renovation
GS Renovation gives New Cross homeowners one accountable team from foundations to final coat. We handle the structural engineering, the steel with neighbouring terraces, and the building control inspections, while advising honestly on whether your project is permitted development or needs planning. Thirty years of Lewisham experience keeps your SE14 extension on programme and built to last.
- Structural engineer instructed and coordinated on your behalf
- Materials priced at options, so you choose the finish
- Brick and mortar matched to the existing elevation
- A written scope and programme agreed before work starts
- Photographs kept at each stage for your records
- Drainage diverted or built over with the right approval in place