In 1964 Northumberland County Council chose the old mining village of Cramlington as the site for a planned new township. Unlike the government-backed new towns, most of its housing was built by private firms such as William Leech and J.T. Bell, and the estates came in stages: Whitelea from the late 1960s, Southfield in the early 1970s, Westwood in the early 1980s and Northburn through the late 1980s and 1990s.
Beyond Cramlington, we also work in Blyth and Morpeth, and in Gosforth on the northern side of Newcastle. Every town we cover is listed on our areas served page.
On this page
Room for a Third or Fourth Bedroom
For a family that has outgrown a three-bedroom semi or a four-bedroom detached house, the loft is often the simplest place to find another bedroom. Gardens on Cramlington's modern estates tend to be modest, and building upwards keeps yours intact while leaving the ground floor layout as it is. A loft bedroom with an en-suite also gives a teenager or a regular guest some distance from the rest of the house.
Moving is the obvious alternative, though stamp duty, fees and the upheaval of changing schools can make staying put the better option. We can show you what your loft could hold, so you have something concrete to weigh against a move.
Can a modern estate house take a loft conversion?
In most cases it can, although the roof usually needs more structural work than an older house would. Houses in Cramlington built from the late 1960s onward commonly have trussed rafter roofs, made in a factory and set closely along the length of the house, and those trusses carry loads in a different way from traditional rafters.
Why W-shaped trusses fill the loft
Each truss has diagonal webs running between the ceiling tie and the rafters, forming a W. The webs brace the whole roof, so they cannot simply be cut out. To clear the space we design a replacement structure, typically steel beams spanning between load-bearing walls, new floor joists sized for a habitable room, and new rafters or purlins where needed. A structural engineer's calculations support every part, and building control inspects the work at set stages.
Low pitches and limited headroom
Estate roofs are often pitched lower than Victorian ones, so even with the trusses gone the height in the middle can fall short of a comfortable room. A rear dormer running across most of the roof's width lifts the ceiling over the bulk of the floor and recovers proper standing room. At survey we measure from the top of the ceiling joists to the underside of the ridge, which tells us quickly whether a conversion is realistic.
Detached Homes, Semis and Bungalows on the Estates
Detached houses
Detached homes offer the most freedom. A large rear dormer suits a gable-ended roof, while a hipped detached house can have one or both sides built up with a hip-to-gable conversion and a dormer added behind. Where a garage is built into the house, we look closely at how the walls below will carry the new loads.
Semi-detached houses
Many Cramlington semis have shallow gable-ended roofs, close to the limit of what a dormer can rescue. Where a dormer cannot give enough height, a rear mansard with a near-vertical back wall is another option, though it needs planning permission. We look at the pair together, since you share a party wall and a ridge with next door, and notices under the Party Wall etc. Act 1996 will usually be needed before work starts.
Bungalows
There are bungalows across Cramlington as well. Where the roof is tall enough, a Velux conversion can give you a bedroom and shower room upstairs with rooflights for daylight. A low roof may need rebuilding at a steeper pitch through a piggyback conversion, which always needs planning permission.
Is the loft a good place for a home office?
Often it is the best spot in the house, because it sits away from the kitchen and the television and can have its own door at the top of the stairs. A desk works well under a dormer window, with full height to stand and even light across the screen. We plan sockets, data cabling and a radiator into the design so the room is usable all year, and built-in storage under the eaves can hold files and equipment.
If the room also has to serve as a guest bedroom, we leave space for a bed and keep the desk on the opposite wall.
What permissions will your loft need?
Building regulations approval in every case, and for many houses no planning application. Northumberland County Council is the planning authority for Cramlington, and most loft conversions on houses can use permitted development, with up to 50 cubic metres of added roof volume on semis and detached homes and 40 cubic metres on terraced ones. Dormers have to sit away from the road side of the roof and use materials similar in appearance to the existing tiles.
On newer estates, check two things before relying on permitted development. The original planning permission sometimes removed those rights by condition, and covenants in your deeds may require the developer's consent for roof alterations. We look up the planning history for your address and ask you to check your title.
For a loft added to a two-storey house, the fire safety rules normally call for a protected escape route down the stairs to an outside door, with fire doors to the habitable rooms and mains-wired smoke alarms. We design that in from the start, along with insulation to current standards and a staircase that meets the rules on headroom and pitch.
