Kitchen Extensions Islington

On an Islington terrace a kitchen extension is one of two jobs: filling the side return beside the back addition, or building past the end of the back addition into the garden. Terraced houses are 13% of the borough's homes and flats are 85%, so the first question is which you own, because householder permitted development rules for extensions apply to houses only. We build the extension and the kitchen inside it as one programme, working to the drawings and consent you or your designer hold.

In Islington, 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 Islington: 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.

Side return or beyond the back addition on an Islington terrace

On an Islington terrace the extension goes one of two ways: into the narrow side return beside the back addition, or past the end of the back addition into the garden. Islington's Urban Design Guide says there will normally be scope for ground floor extensions within a lightwell or beyond the existing back addition if enough useable garden is kept. That wording matters for your brief. The garden you keep is part of the test, so a wraparound that takes the whole yard is harder to justify than an infill that leaves a usable terrace behind it.

The same guide says single storey rear extensions may suit high quality contemporary design, such as contrasting materials or a lightweight glazed form. For a kitchen that is useful. A glazed infill against old stock brick lets daylight down the side return into a room that was dark, though the structural engineer we appoint still decides what the frame bears on. Where the design goes that way, we order the glazing early, because frameless units and roof lights are made to measure and their delivery sets the date the kitchen can be fitted.

Housing in Islington

On the valuation list Islington counts about 112,190 homes, 85% flats and 15% houses; 43% predate 1919, 4% are interwar and 50% post-war. Where most homes are flats, only a ground floor flat in Islington with its own garden can extend its kitchen.

Conservation areas and rear extension height in Islington

Islington Council states that there are currently 42 conservation areas in the borough, and it has removed some permitted development rights in 40 of them by article 4 direction. For a kitchen extension the practical effect is that new doors and windows onto the garden can fall inside those controls. A side return infill counts as a side extension, which on designated land such as a conservation area needs householder planning permission under the national rules. Settle which route applies before paying for detailed drawings, because it changes the programme more than the build does.

The design guidelines for two conservation areas set limits worth knowing before you brief a designer. In both the Angel and Highbury Fields conservation areas, full width rear extensions higher than one storey, or half width rear extensions higher than two storeys, will not normally be permitted. The Highbury Fields guidelines go further: apart from properties listed in Schedule 5.6, planning permission for side extensions will not be granted. A single storey kitchen at the back sits inside those limits, while a full width two storey scheme runs against them.

Neighbours' windows, party walls and drains behind Islington houses

Islington's Urban Design Guide sets a 45 degree test for depth: if the centre of a neighbour's main rear window lies within a 45 degree angle of the end of a proposed extension, its depth is likely to have an unacceptable impact. On a narrow terrace plot the neighbour's kitchen window can sit a metre or two from the boundary, so this test, more than the length of your garden, can decide how far the kitchen goes. Your designer should draw that line on a scaled plan before the depth is fixed, and we measure the neighbours' window positions on our site visit.

Terraced extensions also run along party walls, and Islington's building control FAQ says that if the Party Wall Act 1996 applies you must notify your neighbours at least six weeks before you start. The Act sets its own notice periods by type of work, and work to the party wall itself needs longer, so serve early. You or your surveyor serve that notice; we give you the drawings it needs and build to any award. Drainage is the other early question. Islington says a building notice cannot be used when building over existing sewers and drains, so with the council that extension goes through full plans, which it must process within five weeks, or two months if agreed. A registered building control approver is the other legal route.

Steel, roof lights and the kitchen fit-out in one Islington programme

Opening the back of an Islington house into a new kitchen means taking out part of the rear wall, and 43% of the borough's homes were built before 1919. In a house that old the wall can be soft brick in lime mortar, carrying the floors and walls above it. The structural engineer we appoint designs the beams and padstones; we prop, cut out and install to that design, and building control inspects the steel before it is boxed in. Roof lights and glazed roofs go in once the structure is signed off.

We run the kitchen fit-out in the same programme rather than handing over an empty shell. First fix plumbing and wiring go in while the walls are open, the floor is screeded over any underfloor heating, and cabinets are fitted once the plaster has dried. A registered electrician certifies the new circuits. Where the council is your building control body, it issues its completion certificate after satisfactory completion of works and full payment of fees, and you receive it with the electrical certificate and the glazing and appliance paperwork.

• Rear, side return and wraparound kitchen extensions
• Airbrick ducts to keep existing timber floors ventilated
• Steel beams and goalpost frames into the existing house

VOA Council Tax stock of properties, March 2025, for all 23 statistical areas in Islington. Counts rounded by the VOA.

Before committing to kitchen extensions in Islington, it is worth looking at kitchen renovation in Islington, our Islington area guide, builders in Islington, sign-off by building control on a kitchen extension, our London kitchen extensions page and Kitchen-Diner Layout Ideas.

Why Islington Homeowners Choose GS Renovation

You get one team for the structure and the kitchen, so the steel, the drainage, the glazing and the units are sequenced by the same people and priced in one written quotation after a site visit. The structural engineer we appoint designs the support, a registered electrician certifies the circuits, and we build to the planning consent and drawings you or your designer hold. Abdelaaziz Saaid, the founder, has spent three decades on the tools, and the quotation follows a visit to your house rather than a template.

• Neighbours given notice before the noisy stages
• Screed left to dry before the kitchen floor finish goes down
• Boiler flue, soil pipe and gully moved off the rear wall in the right order

Reviewed jobs near Islington

1 MyBuilder review from Islington, with each customer's own job title:

• Kitchen refit in ex-local authority maisonette, Islington, 8 Jul 2022 (5 out of 5)

Read all 31 on our reviews page.

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.