Home Improvements
in Croydon

Croydon is a large borough, and it covers a remarkable range of housing between its northern and southern edges. At one end are Norbury, Thornton Heath, South Norwood and Selhurst; at the other are Purley, Kenley, Coulsdon, Sanderstead and Selsdon, where the borough meets Surrey. Between them sit Croydon town centre, South Croydon, Addiscombe and Shirley. The southern suburbs border Tandridge, where we also serve Caterham, Whyteleafe and Warlingham, so the journey across the county line is a short one for our teams.

The north of the borough is largely Victorian and Edwardian terraces and semis. Here the familiar London projects apply: a side-return or rear extension to open up a narrow kitchen, and a rear dormer loft conversion to add a bedroom and bathroom. Further south the houses mostly date from the interwar years and later, often semi-detached or detached on generous plots, and the questions change. Many of them have the roof space for a hip-to-gable conversion and the width for a side extension or a garage conversion, and some are large enough that a complete renovation, rather than a single addition, is the better way to bring them up to date.

Topography matters in Croydon in a way it does not in much of London. The southern suburbs sit on the slopes of the North Downs, and many gardens in Purley, Kenley, Sanderstead and Coulsdon rise or fall away from the house. An extension on a sloping plot may need retaining walls, stepped foundations or a change of floor level, and those items can shape both the design and the programme. We look at levels and ground conditions on the first visit, and bring in a structural engineer wherever they will affect the build.

Planning decisions are made by the London Borough of Croydon. Many single-storey rear extensions and loft conversions on houses fall within Permitted Development, but permission may be required depending on the size of the proposal, any earlier extensions, and whether the house sits in one of the borough's conservation areas or has had permitted development rights removed. Some buildings are also locally listed. We establish the position for your address before design work begins and prepare and submit any application that is needed. Once work starts you are billed weekly for completed, signed-off work, with no large deposit, and every project begins with a free, itemised Cost Proposal.