New-Build Prices Are Heading Past £400k — Which Is Why More Bushey Heath Families Are Converting the Loft Instead
A family in Oxhey rang us last week — three kids now, two bedrooms, and they'd been looking at moving to a new-build over in Aldenham until they saw what it would actually cost them.
They're not wrong to be put off. Research out this month from UK Property Development shows the average new-build home in England is on course to pass £400,000 by 2027, up from £245,288 just a decade ago in 2015 — that's annual growth running at 4.4% a year with no sign of slowing.
For a lot of families round Watford and Bushey Heath, converting the loft works out considerably cheaper than moving, and it's usually less disruptive than people expect. Most semis can take a dormer without planning permission under permitted development, so long as it stays under the volume allowance; where the roof pitch is steeper we'll sometimes go hip-to-gable instead to get the headroom for a proper staircase — building regs want a minimum going and riser, and around 1.9 metres of headroom at the top of the flight as a rule of thumb.
Structurally it comes down to steel beams spanning the ceiling joists to carry the new floor loads, Kingspan Kooltherm between the rafters to hit Part L, and a party wall notice sorted with the neighbours before anyone touches a shared roof timber. Velux rooflights bring in most of the daylight on a dormer job without altering the roofline too much. We've been doing loft conversions and extensions across Watford, Bushey Heath and the surrounding areas for over twenty years — if moving house is looking like the more expensive option, it's worth getting us round to have a look at what the loft could give you. Find us at mrs-construction.co.uk.