Loft Conversion In a Terraced House

Terraced housing is probably the main type of property that seeks a loft conversion from its current owners. The reason for this is usually to do with the fact that it may be the only option for adding extra habitable room floor space as many terraced housing only have rear gardens for extending and often these area are small or have adverse neighbour implications for a normal extension.

Provided the existing roof pitch is steep enough and has a generous floor joist to ridge height of around 3M then the loft conversion as a habitable and function bedroom for example is usually very achievable provided the new stair set can be easily located. Ceiling joists to underside of ridge heights below 2.8m are usually impractical to convert unless the roof is obliterated with a big flat roof rear facing ugly box dormer window.

Many terraced houses have wonderfully large roof voids that are ideal for conversion especially some of the Victorian terraced houses where they are also traditional cut roofs. More modern terraced dwellings such as those built after 1970 often have pre-formed trussed rafters and these roof designs do not lend themselves for easy or cost effective loft conversions.

Many Planning Authorities are usually resistant to the placing front facing dormer windows no matter how pretty and small they appear for fear of other homeowners completing the same works and adversely affecting the street scene and local character. If your street already has a recent precedent for front facing dormer windows with other terraced houses then you should be OK at obtaining Planning Permission for the loft conversion. If you are the first and setting a new precedent for others in the street to follow then the Planners may be resistant.