Newcastle Roof Conversions works across South Shields and the rest of South Tyneside. We carry out the survey, drawings, approvals and building work, so one team keeps track of the details from the first visit to final sign-off. You can see the other towns we cover on our areas served page.
On this page
Can you convert the loft above an upper Tyneside flat?
Usually yes, as long as the roof has enough height and the right consents are in place. The paperwork is heavier than for a house, so it helps to understand it before you pay for drawings.
A Tyneside flat looks like an ordinary terraced house from the pavement, yet each building holds two homes, with a pair of front doors side by side. Plenty of older streets in South Shields were built this way, and it is the upper flat that sits under the roof.
Full planning permission comes first
Permitted development rights, which let many houses add a rear dormer without an application, do not apply to flats or maisonettes. Any dormer on an upper flat, and in most cases new rooflights too, will need a planning application to South Tyneside Council. We prepare the drawings and the application, and we size the dormer so it sits comfortably in a row where the neighbouring roofs are often still untouched.
Consent from the flat below
In the usual Tyneside arrangement, the upper flat's lease takes in the roof and roof void, and each owner holds the freehold of the other flat. Structural alterations still need the other owner's agreement under the lease covenants. Some pairs in South Tyneside were set up differently, with one owner holding the freehold of the whole building, so the consent you need depends on your title. Ask your solicitor to check it early. We can supply drawings to help the conversation with your neighbour.
Finding room for a second staircase
The upper flat already has a stair rising from its front door, which leaves little spare landing for another flight. We often look at a new stair climbing above the existing one, or across part of a small back bedroom. Building regulations apply in full, and the fire escape route and the fire separation between the two homes are designed alongside the stair.
Seafront and riverside terraces in North Sea weather
Terraces close to the South Shields seafront and on high ground such as the Lawe Top, looking over the mouth of the Tyne, take the full force of wind and driving rain. On these houses the outside of a conversion needs as much thought as the room inside.
We pay close attention to where a rear dormer meets the existing slates, to the leadwork around it, and to fixings and vents that will stand up to salt air. A breathable membrane and unbroken insulation keep the new room dry and warm through a coastal winter. Many of these terraces share chimney stacks and party walls with next door, so the Party Wall etc. Act 1996 comes into play, and we allow time for serving notices on the neighbours.
Hipped roofs on interwar semis around Harton
Where a 1930s semi on the south side of South Shields has a hipped roof, sloping at the side as well as front and back, much of the loft is lost to the slope. A hip-to-gable conversion replaces the sloping end with a straight vertical gable. Add a rear dormer as well and there is often space for a double bedroom with a shower room.
Because a semi counts as a house, the work may fall under permitted development, which caps the added roof volume at 50 cubic metres and sets conditions on materials and position. Similar houses run out towards Cleadon, although the old village centre there is a conservation area. If your loft is already tall enough, a rooflight conversion keeps the outline of the roof unchanged and needs much less outside work.
Which South Shields streets have extra planning controls?
Homes in the conservation areas of South Shields, including Westoe, Mill Dam and Mariners' Cottages, have fewer permitted development rights than other houses, and South Tyneside Council has made Article 4 directions in some conservation areas that remove more. A roof alteration visible from the street is the change most likely to need permission.
Westoe grew up around a village whose older core holds Georgian houses and large Victorian villas built for South Shields industrialists, and the boundary was later extended to take in surrounding streets of a similar character. Bigger roofs here can suit a well-proportioned rear dormer, but the materials, window style and position will be judged against the roofscape around it. We check your address against the council's maps before design starts, and if an older roof is likely to need a bat survey we tell you at the outset.
What sets the price of a loft conversion here?
Price follows the amount of structure and the approval work involved. A flat conversion with a full application and owner's consent takes more preparation than a rooflight room in a semi. The other main factors are the state of the roof covering, how the new stair fits, whether you want a shower room, and scaffold access on a narrow terraced street.
Building control is part of every job, through the council or a registered building control approver, and we arrange the inspections and the completion certificate. We also work over the river in North Shields, a short crossing on the Shields Ferry, and down the coast in Sunderland, as well as upriver towards Gateshead.
