Plain answers about the planning stage.

It is everything that happens before a builder lifts a tool. Brief, survey, design, planning, and tender. The phase ends with a buildable package that a contractor can price and deliver against. Get this phase in the right order and the build itself becomes a calmer, more predictable thing.

We stop at the point construction begins. The hands that design your renovation should not be the hands that price the build. Keeping those two roles separate protects you. We hand you a complete package, and you choose your contractor.

Permitted development is the set of works you can carry out without applying for planning permission, within limits set by national rules. A full application is required when your project sits outside those limits, in a designated area, or affects a protected building. We confirm which route applies before any design work begins.

A single thread from first idea to a contractor-ready package. One person owns that thread. You receive measured drawings, a coherent design, a planning submission where one is needed, and the documents your builder needs to price and start. Everything in order, in one place.

A relaxed call to listen, not to sell. You describe the home, the family, and what you are trying to change. We ask the questions that surface the things you have not thought about yet. By the end you have a clearer picture of the path. There is no pressure to continue.

The package and its price are fixed before we begin. The guidance inside it is honest, not commercial. We will tell you when a design choice will cost you later, and when an idea is worth defending. Where statutory fees apply, those are the council’s figures, not ours.

Often, yes. A renovation can be designed as one coherent scheme and built in stages as budget and life allow. We will tell you when phasing is sensible and when it costs more than it saves. The design always considers the whole, even when the build does not.

A standard grant of planning permission is valid for three years from the date of the decision. To keep it alive, a material start must be made on site within that window. Phasing across longer timeframes needs careful planning so that consent is preserved.

Nothing formal. Your address, a rough sense of what you want to change, and any constraints you already know about. Photos help. So does a budget, even a soft one. If you have nothing yet, bring the conversation, and we will draw the rest out together.

You move into construction with a package that has been ordered, drawn, and documented properly. Your chosen contractor prices against a single source of truth. We remain reachable for design questions while the build runs, but the build is theirs to lead. That handover is deliberate.