Builders
in Twickenham

Georgian and Victorian houses overlook Twickenham Green, and along Staines Road the housing moves from Victorian to interwar. Trafalgar Road began in 1845 as William Horsley's estate, one of the first of many small estates of semi-detached houses built in Twickenham, and the Leeson Estate was laid out in the 1930s. Teddington is largely Victorian or Edwardian, with uniform terraced and semi-detached houses in avenues of mature trees. In Whitton, the High Street is almost entirely 1930s parades, and Rosecroft Gardens, the Dene Estate, is a 1930s model estate of bungalows. Strawberry Hill is home to Strawberry Hill House, which the council's village guidance calls Britain's finest example of Georgian Gothic revival architecture.

Those house types point to different projects. Victorian and Edwardian terraces in Teddington may suit a single-storey rear or side-return extension, and a loft conversion where the roof has the height. Semi-detached houses, from Trafalgar Road's early estate to the interwar homes along Staines Road, may have room at the side as well as the rear, and where a garage exists it may be convertible. A rear extension can also make room for a larger kitchen. The bungalows of Rosecroft Gardens are different again: the estate is Whitton's only conservation area, with an Article 4 direction that also covers Denehurst Gardens.

Applications go to the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. Its conservation areas here include Twickenham Riverside; Twickenham Green; Trafalgar Road, Twickenham; Strawberry Hill Road; High Street, Teddington; and Rosecroft Gardens, among many others. Article 4 directions apply on named streets such as Montpellier Row, First Cross Road, Queen's Road and Broom Road, removing some Permitted Development rights there. The Teddington guidance says Metropolitan Open Land will be protected and asks for development to be set back 16 metres from the tidal Thames and 8 metres from other rivers where possible. Environment Agency flood warning areas cover St Margarets, Eel Pie Island, Strawberry Hill and East Teddington beside the Thames, and Cole Park by the River Crane.

The process starts with a free, itemised Cost Proposal; one design-and-build team then carries the work from first drawings to completion, handling the planning application and building regulations. A 10% deposit is paid three weeks before the start date, and from then on each week's bill covers completed work you have signed off.