Gateshead Council is the planning authority, and the old village centre is a conservation area. Most homes beyond it date from the twentieth century, which opens up a wider choice of conversion types than an older terrace usually allows.
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Rooms Planned Around the View
On many Whickham streets the rear or side of the house faces down the hill, so the position of the new windows matters as much as the size of the room. We start with where you would like to look out from: a desk by a north-facing window, a bed that catches morning light, or a gable window that frames the valley below.
A dormer gives you a vertical window at a comfortable sitting height, which suits a view better than a rooflight angled at the sky. Where a house gains a new gable wall, that wall can take a tall window of its own. We also think about the houses below yours on the slope, since a large window looking down into a neighbour's garden can raise objections and may need obscure glazing if it sits on a side wall.
How Does an Exposed Hillside Site Change the Build?
It mostly affects weatherproofing, insulation and how we run the job. Wind-driven rain reaches a hilltop roof at a sharper angle than it does in a sheltered valley street, so dormer cheeks, flashings and the joints around new windows get extra attention in the detailing. Ridge and verge tiles on any new gable are fixed mechanically rather than bedded in mortar alone, which suits a roof open to strong winds.
Insulation levels are set by building regulations, but on a windy site we pay close attention to airtightness too, because draughts through gaps in the roof make a room feel colder than its rating suggests. During the build the roof is open for a period, so we sequence the work to get the new structure covered quickly and use sheeted scaffolding where the exposure calls for it.
Gardens that fall away from the house can also make scaffolding more involved, and we look at access on the first visit rather than leaving it to the start date.
Mid-Century Semis and Detached Houses
A large share of Whickham was built up as a residential suburb during the middle decades of the last century, with estates of semi-detached and detached houses spreading out from the older core. Many of these homes have hipped roofs, and their lofts are higher than they first look.
Hip-to-Gable With a Rear Dormer
On a hipped semi, a hip-to-gable conversion straightens the sloping side into an upright end wall, after which a rear dormer lifts the ceiling across the back. Together they usually give room for a double bedroom, a shower room and a stair that lands at a sensible point. On a detached house both side hips can be squared off, which gives an even larger floor.
When an L-Shaped Dormer Fits Better
Some detached houses have a main roof with a lower wing running off it. Here an L-shaped dormer joins a dormer on the main slope to one on the wing, creating a wrap-around floor plan with windows facing two directions. On a hill, that can mean one room with views up the valley and down it.
What Can Be Done With a Bungalow Roof?
Quite a lot, depending on the pitch. Bungalows with steep roofs often have the height for a bedroom or two with rooflights and a short stair, leaving the ground floor as it is. Where the roof is too shallow, a piggyback conversion lifts the roof to create a proper upper storey, and that needs a planning application because it changes the height and outline of the building.
For bungalows we look carefully at the stair, because it takes space from the rooms you already use. A straight flight against an internal wall, or one rising from the hall, usually keeps the impact low. We also check the walls and foundations can carry the extra load before going further, and we can plan the work so you stay in the house for much of it.
If a rooflight design is enough, a Velux conversion leaves the roof shape as it is and normally falls within permitted development outside the conservation area.
Planning Around the Old Village Centre
Whickham already appears in the Boldon Book of 1183, and its historic core is covered by the Whickham Conservation Area. Inside that boundary, permitted development rights do not include roof extensions, so any dormer needs a planning application to Gateshead Council, and the design will be judged on how it fits the older buildings around it.
Beyond the conservation area, a typical semi or detached house can add up to 50 cubic metres of roof space under permitted development, subject to the usual conditions on materials, front slopes and side windows. Flats and maisonettes sit outside these rules altogether. Every habitable loft room also needs building regulations approval, and on a semi the shared wall usually brings in the Party Wall etc. Act 1996, so we help you deal with the notices early.
Across Gateshead and the Tyne
As well as Whickham, we work throughout the rest of Gateshead and further south in Washington. North of the river, we carry out conversions in Newcastle suburbs such as Gosforth. The full list of areas we serve covers the rest of the region.
