Loft Conversions in Arundel

Everything a loft needs comes on a lorry, and nothing can park

Scaffold, steels, timber, plasterboard, tiles, then all of it again in reverse as waste. In central Arundel there is often nowhere for that lorry to stand. The streets carrying most of the older houses are narrow, steep and lined with parked cars, and a vehicle blocking one is holding up the town rather than a neighbour.

So a conversion here has to be run on short timed drops, with material walked in by hand and waste met by something that loads and pulls away again. That is more labour, and it belongs in the quotation from day one. Most firms find it in week three and call it an extra.

No drawings, just a roof and a question? Book a free visit and James will get up there. Building in West Sussex since 2002.

Every dormer in the conservation area is an application

This is the fact that changes budgets. A conservation area is article 2(3) land under the GPDO, and Class B — the right that would otherwise give you 40 cubic metres of roof enlargement on a terrace, 50 on anything else — does not apply there. Modest, at the back, invisible from the street: no difference. The dormer goes in for permission every time.

What surprises people is where that comes from. There is no Article 4 Direction in Arundel removing householder permitted development rights, whatever you may have been told. Losing Class B is national and automatic, arriving with designation rather than from anything the council has done locally.

Find out which authority you are dealing with

Arundel parish is divided. Its northern part sits inside the South Downs National Park, where the Park Authority determines applications; the town is administered by Arun District Council, whose weekly list has carried a loft conversion and rear extension at 59 Tarrant Street under AB/142/25/HH. Settle which of the two decides your address before you spend a penny on drawings.

It matters because the Park Authority tests things a district council may not. Visual impact in a landscape setting. Dark night skies, a real constraint on how much glass a roof can carry. Roof slate matched to what is already up there, and traditional materials rather than the nearest equivalent. That is a design brief, and it is cheaper to hear before drawings than after.

The roof above your head was cut by eye

Older Arundel roofs were built on site by a carpenter working to what the walls gave him. Purlins sag, rafters were spaced by judgement, no two bays match. New structure is set out from measurements taken in your loft, and the ceiling joists below are almost never adequate as a floor — a designed floor goes in on new bearings, which moves the price further than any window you choose.

In a terrace, a beam picking up bearing in a shared wall means a party structure notice served two months ahead. Framing, stairs and fitted storage sit with carpentry and joinery in Arundel; which lofts cannot be converted is worth ten minutes before you pay an architect. If the house is listed, so is the roof: dormers, rooflights and a change of covering need listed building consent on top of planning permission. Check your own address against the National Heritage List before a designer draws anything.

The straightforward ones are on the edge of town

Very little modern estate housing exists in the historic core. Newer stock sits towards Crossbush and off the A27, and a conversion there is a different job: room to park, room for a skip, and usually permitted development rather than an application.

All workmanship guaranteed for 24 months from completion. Manufacturer warranties on all materials and installed products passed to you in full — many run to 10 years or more. Structural work is signed off by Building Control and covered by our £2m public liability insurance. We're working towards an insurance-backed guarantee scheme and will offer it as soon as we're eligible.

Already had a scheme drawn? Send us your drawings — every line of it gets a figure beside it. Call 07470 078236. Insured for £2m public liability, employers' liability alongside it, over 100 projects done. The wider service is under loft conversions.