Kitchen Extensions Shepherd's Bush

A kitchen extension in Shepherd's Bush depends first on what you own. The VOA figures put 87% of homes here in flats and 12% in houses, with 12% terraced and 1% semi-detached or detached, so the extension that fits the stock is a side return or rear infill on a period terrace in W12. A flat has no householder permitted development rights, so any extension to one needs planning permission. We build the shell, set the steel into the house and fit the kitchen in one programme, so the drains and sockets are placed once.

In Shepherd's Bush, 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 Shepherd's Bush: 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 returns and rear infills on Shepherd's Bush terraces

On a terraced house in Shepherd's Bush the extension that gains most kitchen space is the side return: the narrow strip beside the back addition, filled in and roofed so the kitchen runs the full width of the plot. The VOA figures show 12% of homes here are terraced houses and only 1% are semi-detached or detached, so a wraparound that combines the side strip with a rear projection is the largest realistic option on this stock. The side wall sits on or near the boundary, which brings the neighbour into the plan early.

Under national permitted development, a single-storey rear extension on a terrace can project no more than three metres beyond the original rear wall, and can be no higher than four metres. A deeper extension, up to six metres on a terrace, needs prior approval first. Those limits are measured from the original house, so a back addition built later counts against them. Before a drawing is started in Shepherd's Bush, find out what the house has already had, because that decides whether the kitchen goes in under permitted development or through a householder application.

Housing in Shepherd's Bush

Around 13,640 homes make up Shepherd's Bush on the valuation list; 87% are flats and 12% houses, and 53% date from before 1919, 17% from between the wars and 29% from after 1945. Where most homes are flats, only a ground floor flat in Shepherd's Bush with its own garden can extend its kitchen.

Conservation areas and designated land around Shepherd's Bush

Hammersmith and Fulham has 44 conservation areas covering about half of the borough, so the first check on any Shepherd's Bush kitchen extension is whether your street is inside one. On designated land every side extension needs householder planning permission, and a side return infill extends beside the house, so it falls under that rule. The larger prior approval route for rear extensions is closed on designated land too. The application drawings then need to show materials, roof form and how the new glazing sits against the old brickwork.

Trees can hold up a start date on these plots. A tree in a conservation area with a trunk diameter of 75mm or more needs six weeks' notice to the council before any work to it, and a garden tree close to a new foundation may need pruning or root protection. Put that notice in before the dig date is fixed. A design and access statement in a conservation area is only needed for new dwellings or 100 square metres or more of floor space, so a kitchen extension in Shepherd's Bush does not trigger one on its own.

Steel, drains and building control for a Shepherd's Bush kitchen

Opening the back of a terrace into a new kitchen means a steel beam or goalpost frame carrying the rear wall and everything above it, sized by the structural engineer we appoint. Hammersmith and Fulham Council runs its own building control service and recommends a Building Notice only for very small works. An extension with steel into the house is not small works, so where the council is the building control body we plan around a Full Plans application. The council aims to decide a Full Plans application within 5 weeks, though it may take longer, and the start date follows from that.

Drainage is what shapes the kitchen layout in a Shepherd's Bush terrace. The soil stack and gully tend to sit at the back, exactly where the extension goes, so a drain may need rerouting, and building over a public sewer needs the sewer owner's agreement first. The council's inspection stages include foundation excavations, covering of foundations, damp proof course and membrane, and backfilling drain excavations. Standard stages need 1 day's notice, while drainage and completion inspections need 5 days', so we book them into the programme instead of calling on the morning.

Glazing, roof lights and the kitchen fit-out in Shepherd's Bush

The roof over a side return is where the light comes in, so the choice is between a glazed slope, a row of roof lights in a flat roof, or a solid roof with a lantern over the table. Each option changes the steel, the rainwater run off the roof and the heat loss sums that building control checks. Rear doors on a Shepherd's Bush terrace are commonly a slim sliding set or bi-folds across the new opening, and the frame maker needs the finished opening size measured on site, not taken from the drawing.

Two thirds of the borough is within a flood risk zone, and a planning application for a property in one needs a flood risk assessment. Check your address, because the assessment can affect the new floor level and the garden door threshold. Once the shell is watertight, the kitchen goes in within the same programme: first fix plumbing and electrics, plaster, floor, then units and worktops. Keeping one team on a Shepherd's Bush job means the unit layout, the steel position and the waste runs are agreed once, before the slab is poured.

• Hob gas supply altered by a Gas Safe registered engineer
• Airbrick ducts to keep existing timber floors ventilated
• Floor levels matched through the old opening

VOA Council Tax stock of properties, March 2025, for Shepherd's Bush North, Shepherd's Bush West, Shepherd's Bush South and White City. Counts rounded by the VOA.

Plenty of Shepherd's Bush projects start with one job and grow, so it helps to see kitchen renovation in Shepherd's Bush, kitchen extensions across Hammersmith and Fulham, a wraparound kitchen-diner, sign-off by building control on a kitchen extension, kitchen extensions anywhere in London and Renovating a Victorian Terrace.

Why Shepherd's Bush Homeowners Choose GS Renovation

You get one team running the whole Shepherd's Bush kitchen extension, from setting out the foundations to the last worktop joint. Our founder and director, Abdelaaziz Saaid, looks at the drains, the steel position and the neighbour's side before the price is fixed after a site visit. We appoint the structural engineer, build to the consent you or your designer obtain, give you the drawings and programme for any party wall notice, and book each building control inspection. The kitchen fit-out runs in the same programme, so there is no gap between the builder leaving and the fitter arriving.

• Waste cleared as we go, not left piled up outside
• Building control and Part P certificates handed over together at the end
• One contract for the groundworks, the steel and the kitchen fit

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.