GS Renovation builds loft conversions across the London Borough of Havering, from the interwar semis around Raphael Park to the wider streets of Hornchurch and Upminster. Hipped roofs on generous plots make hip to gable with a rear dormer the workhorse here. We build to the engineer's design under Havering Council building control.
Hip to gable across Romford, Hornchurch and Upminster
Havering's suburban semis were built with hips on the flank and often a chimney stack partway along, so the usable width of the raw loft is a good deal less than the footprint suggests. Squaring the hip into a vertical gable recovers that width, and a dormer across the rear slope adds the flat ceiling area that makes a bedroom feel like a bedroom rather than an attic. Plots in RM11, RM12 and RM14 are usually wide enough that the new gable does not crowd the boundary.
The newer estate housing scattered through the borough is a different proposition. Trussed rafter roofs, which most later houses have, cannot simply be cleared out: the trusses hold the roof together and must be replaced with a structural frame designed by the engineer, and shallow pitches often mean there is nowhere near the 2.2m to 2.4m needed in the first place. We measure before we quote, and we will tell you when a house is not worth converting.
Havering Council, notices and inspections
A semi-detached or detached house has the larger commonly cited permitted development allowance of 50 cubic metres of added volume, and many Havering conversions fit inside it, subject to the standard conditions on matching materials, building nothing forward of the existing roof plane, no balconies and obscure-glazed side windows. Those rights are removed in conservation areas, including those covering the older village centres, on listed buildings, and under any Article 4 direction, so the address is checked with Havering Council first.
Building regulations apply in every case. Havering building control wants Part B satisfied with a protected stair route to a final exit, fire doors and interlinked alarms, Part K met on the new stair, and the new floor built on engineer-sized joists carried by steel rather than on the old ceiling joists. Where the work bears into or is built off the wall you share with next door, the Party Wall etc. Act 1996 applies and you as building owner serve the notice, with the technical information supplied by us.
- Interlinked mains-powered smoke alarms
- Staircase design to Part K, including the landing below
- Building control inspections booked at floor, steel and completion
- Velux and conservation rooflights fitted and flashed
- L-shaped dormers over a rear closet wing
Trusted Loft Conversion in Havering
Havering homeowners choose GS Renovation because we treat the roof as a structural job: gable, steel, floor, stair and fire strategy in the right order, with Havering Council building control booked at the right stages. Founder Abdelaaziz Saaid brings 30+ years of hands-on experience. Fully insured, free no-obligation quotations, and one project manager on your job.
- Registered in England, Companies House no. 14611254
- Straight advice on what is and is not worth spending money on
- Party Wall notices prepared for steels bearing into a shared wall
- A written scope and programme agreed before work starts
- Staircase set out to Part K within the space you have
- Honest answer at survey if your roof will not take a conversion