Extending onto flat roof in Zone 1 London

stg123

Hi,

Looking for some advice and possibly a recommendation...

We live in a flat in Zone 1 in London (near Liverpool Street/Aldgate - a pretty built up area). There is a flat roof outside our kitchen (belonging to the roof of our downstairs neighbours' bedroom, and we were thinking about the possibility of extending out onto it.

We're very new to this and the complexity involved, so are looking for someone to give good advice about how realistic this is - probably an architect?

I imagine it could be fairly tricky to do - any scaffolding might need to go on pavements on the street, we'd obviously need planning permission in an area that's already pretty built up. We'd need to know the existing building was structurally strong enough to take another floor on top, and obviously we'd have to keep all our neighbours happy, particularly the downstairs neighbours. To that end - I'd wondered if lifting something prefabricated on top might be the fastest way.

Hopefully my ignorance on this is pretty obvious! Can anyone recommend an architect who'd be able to help us out with this?

sharkie

I bet the flat is leashold? so you will have to get the leasholders permission. think at best there will be some extra service charge involved too. Possibly building control too.

Now that roof next door, if it is the same leasholder as you then less bother. The person on the top floor may not be happy either as you may damage the waterproofing on his roof. Also the pounding of feet on his ceelings is not often appealing to the persons involved

Also think about the possibility of paying more council tax as you property would be worth more.

stg123

The flat is leasehold - so yes, we'd definitely have to get permission from the freeholder. Yup - we'd thought about having to pay a bit more council tax - that would be fair enough if we'd made our living space 25% bigger!

The flat roof belongs to our downstairs neighbour, who's already used to our footsteps. Obviously we'd have to have him on board too.

What I'm really looking for is an architect/project manager who has experience of this sort of thing, and could tell me whether it was a non-starter, worth a go, and if so how much and with what hassle!

starving_artist

Try this

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You get an hour's worth of time in return for a donation to Shelter.

sharkie

stg123 wrote: »

Yup - we'd thought about having to pay a bit more council tax - that would be fair enough if we'd made our living space 25% bigger!

If it was only reliant on living space! It is dependent the proprty value, so in theory if after fitting a new bath and if the evaluatiom over your current band then £. I would also guess that this would require a new lease too

keystone

stg123 wrote: »

Can anyone recommend an architect who'd be able to help us out with this?

I think you'll be needing a structural engineer. Consult their Institute for a local bod.

Cheers

dander

I would imagine you'd need a solicitor involved as well if you want to extend out on the top of someone else's flat because you're extending into space that you don't currently own.

Mankysteve

You may also need to beef up the foundations