Kitchen Extensions Hanwell

In Hanwell the houses split two ways for a kitchen extension. The VOA count puts 36% of homes here before 1919 and 34% between 1919 and 1939, which gives two starting points. One is a Victorian or Edwardian terrace with a narrow side passage; the other is an interwar house with a wider, plainer rear wall. The first often suits a side return; the second a straight rear room. We build the shell, put the steel in and fit the kitchen as one job.

In Hanwell, a rear kitchen extension of about 30 square metres typically costs £45,000 to £97,500 excluding VAT, or £60,000 to £100,000 for a side return (indicative London ranges, Resi, MyBuilder and Checkatrade, 2026). GS Renovation Ltd, a building contractor based in Potters Bar, does the work in Hanwell: the structural engineer we appoint designs the foundations and steel, we build the room and fit the kitchen, and a registered electrician certifies the electrics.

How deep a Hanwell rear kitchen can go

Start from 3 metres, because that is the figure both sets of rules share. Ealing's SPD 4 Residential Extensions says that in most cases a single-storey rear extension with a maximum depth of 3 metres and height of 3 metres will be acceptable. Nationally, permitted development lets a single-storey rear extension go three metres beyond the original rear wall of any house that is not detached. For a Hanwell terrace, those two numbers line up, and a design inside them is the quickest one to get through.

If you want more depth, there are two routes and both take longer. Prior approval can raise the permitted limit to six metres for a house that is not detached, outside designated land, with your neighbours given a say. Otherwise a householder planning application makes the case on its merits. Either way, ask your designer to draw the 3 metre version too, so you can compare what the extra depth buys against the time it adds to the start date in W7.

Housing in Hanwell

By the valuation list's count, Hanwell holds about 10,370 homes, 58% houses and 42% flats; by age, 36% were built before 1919, 34% between the wars and 30% since 1945. Terraced houses make up 42% of homes here, and a terrace kitchen extension in Hanwell starts in a narrow side return.

Hanwell conservation areas change the shape of the extension

If your house is in one of the Hanwell conservation areas, the side extension loses its permitted development route. Ealing lists Churchfields, Cuckoo Estate, Hanwell Cemeteries, Hanwell Clock Tower and Hanwell Village Green as its Hanwell conservation areas, and the national rules say every side extension on Article 2(3) land such as a conservation area needs householder planning permission. On a terrace inside any of them, that covers the side return infill itself.

Ealing also says normal permitted development rights are restricted in its conservation areas, giving it more control over size, design and location. Its SPD 4 adds that a rear extension in a conservation area should not extend across the full width of the original house, so the design is usually set in from one side. Expect brick to match the house and a roof that reads as an addition. We price the matching bricks and any reclaimed materials at the start, because sourcing them can set the programme more than the build does.

Flats in Hanwell and the kitchen extension question

A Hanwell flat cannot use householder permitted development to extend, because those rules apply to houses and not to flats or maisonettes. With 42% of homes here counted as flats, the question comes up often. Where a converted house has a ground floor flat with a garden behind it, any extension there needs a planning application from day one. The lease matters too: the freeholder normally owns the structure and the garden may be demised to you or not.

So the order for a ground floor flat in Hanwell is paperwork first. Check the lease for the right to build, get the freeholder's written consent, and then have your designer submit the application. While that runs, we survey the drainage and the rear wall so the structural engineer we appoint can size the steel. When consent arrives the programme can start straight away rather than waiting on a late survey.

Building control, drains and the fit-out in Hanwell

Allow for the building control route and its timing before you fix a start date. On an Ealing full plan application the plans are checked within 10 working days and a list of observations is produced, and a formal decision notice follows within five weeks unless an extension to two months is agreed. Ealing will not take a building notice where the extension is over or within 3.0m of a public sewer, which a shared drain run behind a terrace can trigger. A registered building control approver is the other option.

Once the shell is weathertight we move straight into the kitchen. The extractor duct, the waste runs for a sink on an island and the cables for the hob go in before the plaster, so nothing is chased out later. Where Ealing is the building control body, it issues a completion certificate on satisfactory completion and calls it an important document to keep in a safe place. Keep it with the drawings, because a Hanwell buyer's solicitor will ask for it.

• Sliding, bifold and steel-framed glazed doors to the garden
• Drain diversions and build over agreements with the water company
• Foundations, drainage and slab with the kitchen services cast in

VOA Council Tax stock of properties, March 2025, for Hanwell, Elthorne Park and Cuckoo Park. Counts rounded by the VOA.

Once you know the scope of the kitchen extensions in Hanwell, it helps to read kitchen renovation in Hanwell, kitchen extensions across Ealing, a wraparound kitchen-diner, the Party Wall Act on a boundary build, kitchen extensions anywhere in London and Renovating a 1930s Semi.

The GS Renovation Difference in Hanwell

We run a kitchen extension from the first dig to the last worktop joint, so there is one team on site and one programme to follow. Before pricing we visit, check the rear wall, the drain run and the access through the house, and then give you a written quotation. The structural engineer we appoint sizes the steel; we build to the approved drawings, book each building control stage and fit the kitchen in the same sequence, with the founder on hand for the site decisions.

• Building control and Part P certificates handed over together at the end
• Building control applications and inspections coordinated for you
• New floor level matched to the existing house, with no step at the opening

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.