Extending a home in a conservation area: Hemingfords, Godmanchester, Kimbolton, Olney and Woburn

Many of our local villages have conservation areas. Here’s what that means for your extension or renovation, and how to get approval.

Conservation areas protect the special character of historic places, and our patch has plenty of them. Building in one is perfectly possible; it just needs the right approach.

• Permitted development rights are reduced: side extensions and cladding need permission
• Demolition of some buildings and walls needs consent
• Trees are protected, so works need notice to the council
• Design and materials are looked at more closely

Successful schemes respect the scale, rooflines and materials of the street, whether that’s Olney’s limestone, the timber frames of Godmanchester or Kimbolton’s Georgian brick. Contemporary designs can work well too, when they’re carefully detailed.

If your home is listed, you’ll need listed building consent for most internal and external changes. It’s important to get this right before work starts, so we build it into the programme from day one.