Putney House Extension
Van Peake builds house extensions in Putney and across the rest of London, from a side return infilled at around £45,000 for the shell through to a wraparound or two-storey extension with the kitchen built as part of the same job. Most extensions in SW15 land between £95,000 and £180,000 once the kitchen and fees are counted. Putney falls under Wandsworth Council, and whether you need planning permission comes down to which street you are on. What follows is which extension suits which Putney house, what one costs, how long it takes, and when you need permission and when you do not.
The photographs are from houses we have extended under the same council, in Wandsworth, Balham and Furzedown, all within three miles of Putney and built to the same rules.
WHICH EXTENSION SUITS YOUR PUTNEY HOUSE
Putney is a mix of four kinds of house, and the plot decides the extension before budget does.
Victorian and Edwardian terraces around Lower Richmond Road, East Putney and West Putney have a narrow side return alongside the rear projection. Infilling it adds 8 to 18 square metres and squares off the ground floor, turning a galley kitchen and a dark back room into one space without giving up garden. A rear extension gains more floor area for the money. A wraparound does both and needs a full application.
1920s cottages on the Dover House Estate sit in a conservation area with an Article 4 direction, so a modest rear extension is realistic and anything visible from the street is not.
1930s semis towards Putney Heath and Roehampton have more room at the side and a shallower plot, so the gain is depth and height: a wide rear extension, or a two-storey side extension with a rear extension around it.
Larger houses on West Hill and Putney Hill have the plot for a wraparound or double-storey extension, and sit on sloping clay that moves with the seasons, which shapes the foundation design.
WHAT A HOUSE EXTENSION COSTS IN PUTNEY
A house extension in Putney runs between £95,000 and £250,000 once everything is counted. That is higher than most published figures for SW15 because an extension is two budgets, not one. There is the shell, and there is the kitchen inside it. Most guides price only the shell.
- Side return infill: £45,000 to £90,000, at a higher rate per square metre because the footprint is small and the flank wall has to come out.
- Single-storey rear extension: £55,000 to £130,000.
- Wraparound: £110,000 to £250,000.
- Two-storey side or rear extension: £120,000 to £220,000.
Then the kitchen, at roughly a quarter to a third of the total. Made-to-measure cabinetry runs £25,000 to £70,000 and stone £3,000 to £12,000. Professional fees for structural engineer, drawings and party wall add £8,000 to £18,000, and 10 to 15 per cent contingency is sensible on a period house.
Two things move the price in Putney specifically. On the riverside streets the ground is soft alluvium and on the West Putney slopes it is clay, and either can mean deeper foundations. Inside a conservation area the council expects matching brick, slate and window proportions, which costs more than the nearest equivalent.
So is £50,000 enough? For a side return or a small rear extension shell, yes. For a finished kitchen extension, no.
PLANNING PERMISSION FOR AN EXTENSION IN PUTNEY
Putney falls under Wandsworth Council, and the answer is street by street.
Outside a conservation area, a single-storey rear extension of up to three metres on a terraced or semi-detached house, or four on a detached one, is permitted development. Between three and six metres there is a prior approval route, where the council writes to your neighbours and they have 21 days to object. Extensions cannot cover more than half the land around the original house, which is the 50 per cent rule. Get a lawful development certificate anyway. It takes around eight weeks and is the document a buyer’s solicitor asks for.
Inside a conservation area, side extensions, two-storey rear extensions and the six-metre route all need a full householder application. The Putney conservation areas that come up most are West Putney, East Putney, Oxford Road, Putney Embankment, Putney Heath and Deodar Road. Dover House Estate and Putney Lower Common carry Article 4 directions on top, which remove permitted development rights for anything visible from the street. Wandsworth has around 45 conservation areas and nine with Article 4 directions, so check your address on the council map before anything is drawn.
A householder application costs £548 and Wandsworth works to an eight-week target from validation, which is not the day you submit.
On the riverside, the Embankment, Deodar Road and Lower Richmond Road sit in Flood Zone 3 behind the Thames defences. A ground-floor extension there usually needs a flood risk assessment with the application.
Party wall. Digging foundations within three metres of next door triggers the Party Wall etc. Act, which on a terrace or semi is nearly always the case. Notices go out at least two months before work starts, and serving them late is how a build loses six weeks it did not need to lose.
HOW LONG A HOUSE EXTENSION TAKES IN PUTNEY
The shell is 12 to 16 weeks on site for a side return or rear extension, and 16 to 24 for a wraparound. Two-storey work is closer to six months.
Consent comes first. Permitted development you can start on quickly, a lawful development certificate or a full application adds around eight weeks, and prior approval takes 42 days. Made-to-measure cabinetry has an 8 to 14 week lead time that only overlaps with the build if the kitchen is designed while the shell goes up.
Plan on six to nine months from first conversation to finished room, and nine to twelve for anything two-storey.
EXTENSIONS WE HAVE BUILT UNDER WANDSWORTH COUNCIL
Wandsworth. A Victorian terrace on Nicosia Road. The side return was infilled under a pitched glass roof, sliding doors went across the back, and the steel column that replaced the flank wall was painted navy and left in the room.
Balham. A 1930s Art Deco semi that gained a two-storey side extension, a full-width rear extension and a dormer loft in one programme. The ground floor roughly doubled and from the street it still reads as it always did.
Furzedown. A late Victorian terrace on Parklands Road. The side return was infilled under a glass roof with the old external wall left as exposed brick, and the loft converted above it.
HOW WE WORK
In a Putney conservation street the drawing is not what gets approved. The detailing is. Matching stock brick, slate and sash proportions is what an officer looks at, and it is what trades who have worked together for years get right.
We work with the same experienced trades on project after project, chosen for the quality of their work and managed directly by Van Peake. James Peake oversees each job from the first visit to completion.
We take on residential projects across London. Our house extension page covers how we approach them. Upriver, our guide to house extensions in Richmond covers the same questions under Richmond upon Thames Council.
COMMON QUESTIONS
WHAT DOES A HOUSE EXTENSION COST IN PUTNEY?
Between £95,000 and £250,000 all in. The shell alone runs £45,000 to £90,000 for a side return, £55,000 to £130,000 for a rear extension and £110,000 to £250,000 for a wraparound. The kitchen adds a quarter to a third on top, and most published figures leave it out.
DO I NEED PLANNING PERMISSION FOR AN EXTENSION IN PUTNEY?
Often not. Outside Putney’s conservation areas a single-storey rear extension up to three metres is permitted development, and up to six through prior approval. Inside West Putney, East Putney, Putney Embankment and the other conservation areas, side extensions and two-storey work need a full application to Wandsworth Council.
HOW DO I CHECK IF MY PUTNEY HOUSE IS IN A CONSERVATION AREA?
Wandsworth Council publishes a map of its conservation areas and Article 4 directions on its website. Check the exact address rather than the street name, because several Putney boundaries run down the middle of a road.
WHAT IS THE 50 PER CENT RULE FOR EXTENSIONS?
Under permitted development, extensions and outbuildings together cannot cover more than half the area of land around the original house as it stood in 1948 or when first built. Earlier extensions count towards the half.
DO YOU WORK IN PUTNEY?
Yes. We are based in London and take on residential projects across the city. We have built extensions under Wandsworth Council in Wandsworth, Balham and Furzedown, and the practical limit is the site rather than the postcode.
START YOUR PROJECT
We take on residential projects of all sizes across London, from a single room to a full house renovation. Whether you are still working out what is possible or you know exactly what you want, please get in touch and we would be more than happy to talk it through with you.
Call 020 3503 1158 or email hello@vanpeake.co.uk
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