House Extensions Ware

GS Renovation builds extensions in Ware, from single storey rear additions to larger structural work at the back of a house. We appoint the structural engineer, build to the calculations, and coordinate the building control application and the inspections. We are fully insured, and quotations are free and without obligation.

For Ware, on London-derived ranges a single-storey rear extension typically starts from £40,000, or £2,000 to £2,800 per m²; Hertfordshire work generally runs below that. GS Renovation Ltd, a building contractor based in Potters Bar, does the work in Ware: the structural engineer we appoint designs the structure, we build it, and building control signs it off.

The ground can change within 150 metres

In the centre of Ware the boundary between two very different deposits runs close by. The British Geological Survey maps Alluvium at the High Street sample point and Kempton Park Gravel at Bluecoat Yard, roughly 120 metres away. It maps Alluvium at Broadmeads and Kempton Park Gravel at Amwell End, roughly 150 metres away. Alluvium is a soft, variable and compressible deposit, so ground conditions can change materially over a short distance in the town centre.

The mapped pattern follows the river. Alluvium, described as clay, silt, sand and gravel, is recorded at High Street, Broadmeads, Star Street, Viaduct Road, Marsh Lane, Kingsmead and Chadwell Spring. Kempton Park Gravel, mapped as sand and gravel, underlies Amwell End, Bluecoat Yard, New Road and Priory Street. Foundation depth and design follow trial holes on your own plot, not the nearest mapped point.

Housing in Ware

Count the homes in Ware and you get about 8,980: 79% built since 1945, 8% between the wars and 12% before 1919, with flats at 34% and houses at 66%. 27% of homes here are semi-detached; a rear extension on a semi in Ware digs beside the attached neighbour, so one party wall notice is usual.

Old pits and brickworks around Park Road

Park Road, formerly Park Lane, had industry on both sides of it. Ordnance Survey mapping from 1874 to 1894 shows a very large gravel pit north of Park Lane, and mapping from the early 1920s shows that the pit no longer existed. The same 1874 to 1894 mapping shows what the conservation area appraisal interprets as large scale brickworks with associated engine houses south of Park Lane.

By the early 1920s the brickworks site had been significantly reduced in size, with allotments over a large part of it. The British Geological Survey artificial ground layer records no made ground at the Ware street locations we checked. That is a mapping result at 1:50,000 scale and it does not replace a site investigation. It is why the engineer specifies trial holes on the plot rather than relying on mapping.

The consent route, and Article 4 in Ware

The local planning authority is East Herts District Council, which has 42 conservation areas, and Ware Conservation Area is one of them. The council's own conservation areas page records Article 4 directions for Bishop's Stortford only, and none for Ware, but its Article 4 list is the place to check for a particular address. The Ware Conservation Area Appraisal identifies individual buildings as candidates for a future Article 4 direction rather than recording one already in force. East Herts made two Article 4 directions on 14 June 2017 for Bishop's Stortford Conservation Area only, confirmed as permanent on 15 November 2017.

Trees on the plot carry their own timetable. In a conservation area such as Ware, six weeks notice must be given to East Herts District Council under a Section 211 notice. That applies before work on a tree with a trunk diameter greater than 75mm that is not already covered by a Tree Preservation Order. If an extension needs a tree removed or reduced, that notice period sits in front of the build, so it goes in early.

What Policy W2 asks a design to show

Ware Neighbourhood Plan Policy W2 asks proposals to demonstrate how they have addressed the guidance in the Ware Conservation Area Appraisal. It asks them to conserve those features identified as contributing to the particular Identity Area, and to the River Lea Navigation character corridor. That is a design test with a document behind it, so a rear extension design has to answer it in writing.

Knowing which Identity Area you are in comes first. The Ware Conservation Area is divided into four Identity Areas. The 2016 appraisal does not map them, and the Ware Neighbourhood Plan mapped them at its Figure 5.1 to fill that gap. That figure is the place to start when an architect or designer is briefed on a Ware extension.

Kitchen extensions in Ware

59% of the houses in Ware are semi-detached or detached, which usually leaves room for a kitchen extension across the full rear width, with a steel beam over the opening into the house. The fit-out is priced on its own page, kitchen renovation in Ware; the build figures are in the table above.

Side return extensions in Ware

Side returns belong to Victorian and Edwardian terraces, and only 12% of homes in Ware predate 1919, so they are the exception here; most extensions run across the full rear width instead. Our side return extension page covers the build in detail, with build rates of £2,400 to £3,200 per m².

Double storey extensions in Ware

Under permitted development a two-storey rear extension can go no more than 3 metres beyond the original rear wall and must stay at least 7 metres from the rear boundary, and in a conservation area it is not permitted development at all. Many gardens are too short for the 7 metre rule, so a double storey extension in Ware often needs planning permission from East Herts District Council. With 39% of homes here semi-detached or detached, the side of the house is often an option too. Our double storey extension page explains the build, at £1,800 to £2,600 per m² across both floors.

• Single and double storey extensions
• Trial holes to set foundation depth near drains and trees
• First fix and second fix plumbing and electrics throughout

VOA Council Tax stock of properties, March 2025, for Ware East and Ware West. Counts rounded by the VOA.

Alongside house extensions in Ware, the pages that usually help next are RSJ and steel beam installation in Ware, house extensions in Hertford, double storey extensions, garage conversions in London, house extensions anywhere in London and Permitted Development Rights.

The GS Renovation Difference in Ware

Ware homeowners choose GS Renovation for extensions because the foundations are settled before the price is. Ground conditions in the town change over short distances, so we work from the engineer's trial holes and calculations rather than from an assumption. We build to that design, coordinate the building control application and inspections, and keep one point of contact from the first survey to the completion paperwork.

• Building control inspected at foundation, damp course and steel stages
• Dust screens and floor protection in occupied homes
• Garden levels and access made good where the build meets outside

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.