Where we work
Covering SE4 · SE14 · SE15 · Southwark and Lewisham
Small kitchens planned properly, and shower rooms fitted into awkward spaces.
In the news
The rules and money around energy upgrades moved a long way in 2026. The short version, with the sources.
The government's Warm Homes Plan, published in January 2026, offers grants and low- and zero-interest loans for solar panels, batteries and heat pumps, with fully funded upgrades for low-income households.
The Future Homes Standard amends the Building Regulations from 24 March 2027, with a 12-month transition: new homes in England must generate renewable electricity on site — in most cases rooftop solar — and be built with low-carbon heating. It covers new homes, not extensions or refits, but it shows where the regulations are heading.
The Energy Saving Trust notes that installation costs less if scaffolding is already up for roof work. If you are planning a loft conversion or an extension, settle where panels, cables and a battery would go while the roof and the walls are open.
The houses here
Victorian terraces, many of them small, and a good number of flat conversions. Rooms are tight, so the layout decision matters more here than the specification does.
What you need permission for
Southwark's householder guidance is the one to read before you draw anything. Permitted development does not apply to flats or maisonettes at all, so any external change needs a full application. A large single-storey rear extension can go ahead under permitted development but needs Prior Approval, which means the council writes to your neighbours first. In a conservation area, or anywhere the council has an Article 4 direction, those permitted development rights are cut back again. Much of this area is covered by a conservation area, which removes permitted development rights that would apply elsewhere and brings windows, doors, roofs and front gardens into the application. Each conservation area has its own appraisal setting out the materials the council considers appropriate, and they differ — so the answer on one street is not the answer on the next.
Rules vary street by street, and none of this is advice about your particular house — we check yours before we quote, and we handle the applications.
Read the rules yourself
Photographs from our own finished jobs across South East London.
Check your postcode
We cover Nunhead and all of London. We are Nunhead builders first, with Nunhead on our doorstep, but the answer is yes a good deal further out than that. Put a postcode in and see.
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