GS Renovation converts lofts in Hendon, where NW4 splits between interwar houses on quiet residential roads and a good number of purpose-built mansion blocks. The houses convert well, usually hip to gable with a rear dormer. The flats generally cannot. We survey, coordinate the engineer and manage Barnet Council building control.
Interwar houses in NW4
A Hendon semi or end terrace from the 1930s typically has a hipped roof, and that hip is what costs you the standing height at the head of a new staircase. Rebuilding it as a full gable, then adding a dormer across the rear slope, is the combination that turns a roof void into a proper storey. On a wider plot the dormer can run the full width, giving a bedroom, an en suite and, on longer roofs, a second small room.
Everything hinges on the ridge. We look for roughly 2.2m to 2.4m between the top of the existing ceiling joists and the underside of the ridge. Where the house has a shallower pitch, or a later rear addition with its own low roof, the usable area shrinks fast. Older NW4 houses also tend to have a cold water tank in the roof, and moving to a combi boiler or unvented cylinder is a normal first step.
Mansion blocks, planning and regulations
If you own a top-floor flat in one of Hendon's mansion blocks, a loft conversion is usually not possible. The roof space belongs to the freeholder rather than to your lease, so it would take freeholder consent, a lease variation and agreement from the managing agent before planning is discussed, and the block's shared escape route makes the fire strategy difficult. We will say so plainly rather than charge for a scheme with no route through.
For houses, the permitted development volume allowance commonly cited is 50 cubic metres for a semi or detached property and 40 for a terrace, subject to matching materials, nothing forward of the roof plane and obscure glazed side windows. Conservation areas and Article 4 directions remove those rights, so we check with Barnet Council. Building regulations apply regardless, covering the protected stair, fire doors, alarms, stair geometry, insulation and the engineer-designed floor.
- Building control inspections booked at floor, steel and completion
- Insulation between and over rafters to Part L
- Hip to gable conversions on semi-detached and end terrace roofs
- Interlinked mains-powered smoke alarms
- Head height and ridge survey before design
Why Hendon Homeowners Choose GS Renovation
Hendon owners choose GS Renovation because we sort the viable from the impossible early, then build the structural work ourselves. Engineer coordination, gable masonry, steel beams on padstones, the new floor, a Part K staircase, Part B fire separation and Barnet Council building control are all handled by one team. Fully insured, with a dedicated project manager and free no-obligation quotations.
- Photographs kept at each stage for your records
- Honest answer at survey if your roof will not take a conversion
- Protected stair route and fire doors detailed to Part B
- Straight advice on what is and is not worth spending money on
- Building control applications and inspections coordinated for you
- Staircase set out to Part K within the space you have