A step-by-step guide to extending your home ¦ Property Guides on Times Online

1. Before extending your home, check with your local authority whether you need planning permission. If you don’t get permission you might end up having to pull your extension down again. As a general rule, planning permission is required in England, Wales and Northern Ireland if an extension to a detached property exceeds 70 cubic metres or 15% of the original volume of the property, whichever is greater. The limits for terraced houses are lower. In Scotland, you need planning permission if the extension is more than 50 cubic metres or one-fifth of the original house volume, whichever is greater. Planning permission may also be required if the extension is closer to the public highway than the original building, or if any part of the roof is higher than the existing roof of your property

2. If your property is listed, it is a criminal offence to extend it or alter it internally or externally in a way which could affect its character without obtaining listed building consent beforehand. Planning permission may also be needed if you live in a conservation area.

3. Even if you don’t need planning permission, your home extension plans may need to comply with building regulations. If you don’t get the work approved, this could cause problems when you come to sell your property and you may then need to obtain a regularisation certificate to confirm that the unauthorised work is compliant. You can also fined thousands of pounds.

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4. Be wary of attempting a major home improvement job such as a loft conversion or home extension yourself unless you are qualified for the job. You may see this as a way of saving money but it could be a costly mistake according to Halifax Home Insurance which says that DIY disasters cost Britons £670m to fix each year. Trying to tackle jobs you are not qualified for such as electrical work or plumbing could also invalidate your home insurance and leave you liable for the cost of any subsequent damage.

5. Making sure you are using properly registered electricians (you can find out if they are through www.competentperson.co.uk) or gas engineers (they will be if they are corgi registered, see www.corgi-gas-safety.com) means you don’t need to get building inspectors to check their work.

6. Polish builders are ubiquitous nowadays. Over 76,000 foreigners registered in Britain as self-employed buildings in 2006, most of them came from Poland. Many are hardworking and charge less than their British counterparts but there are growing reports of jobs done by Polish workers that have gone horribly wrong. So if you are considering employing non-British builders, make sure you visit a couple of previous clients to check out the quality of their work. Doing this also helps you avoid home grown cowboys.

7. If you are thinking of using your loft conversion or home extension as an opportunity to install some renewable energy technology in your home, such as solar water heating, wind turbines, or ground source heat pumps, you may be eligible for a grant for part of the cost of up to £2,500 in England and Wales or £4,000 in Scotland.

8. According to the Office of National Statistics, UK households spent an average of £25 a week on housing alterations and improvements in 2005-06.

9. Three quarters of 30 and 40 years olds would rather extend their properties than buy a bigger house because of the cost and hassle of moving according to Standard Life Bank. They are increasing their properties by an average of 150 square feet by adding extra rooms through a loft conversion and extensions.

10. Converting ‘dead’ space to living space is particularly popular among homeowners, according to AA Home Insurance. The most popular option is a loft conversion with more than half (52%) of all home extensions heading upstairs. Garage conversions are the second most popular choice with nearly a third (29%) of homeowners preferring to put their family there rather than their car. Other ‘dead’ spaces being converted are sheds, outhouses and basements. With more adult children continuing to live at home well into their twenties, almost a fifth of extensions/conversions are done to make space for them says the AA.

Five useful websites if you have home extension plans:

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