Will Ealing approve a hip-to-gable loft conversion?

If planning permission is needed, Ealing's SPD 4 says a hip-to-gable change on a semi-detached or terraced house will normally be refused. Many such conversions are built under permitted development instead, outside conservation areas and where rights haven't been removed.

How deep can a rear extension be in Ealing?

Ealing's SPD 4 says that in most cases a single-storey rear extension up to 3 metres deep and 3 metres high will be acceptable, if the house hasn't been extended before and lines up with its neighbour. Detached houses, or houses with a wider gap to the neighbour, may allow more.

Which parts of Ealing do you cover?

We concentrate on Ealing Broadway and Ealing Common, West Ealing, Northfields and South Ealing, Pitshanger and Brentham, Hanwell, and Acton including Bedford Park.

← All areas

Areas we cover

Builders in Ealing

We carry out extensions, loft conversions and renovations in Ealing, concentrating on the Victorian, Edwardian and interwar houses of Ealing Broadway, West Ealing, Northfields, Pitshanger, Hanwell and Acton.

Planning authority: London Borough of Ealing
Postcode districts: W3, W4, W5, W7, W13
Our work here: Extensions, loft conversions and renovations

Kitchen-diner in a side-return extension of a Victorian terraced house, with a glazed roof along an exposed London stock-brick wall and glazed doors to a small courtyard — AI-generated illustration; not a completed Mirion project.

Our services in Ealing

We also take on auctions, bathrooms, design, driveways, kitchens, plumbing & heating, surveys and property development.

Areas in Ealing

Homes in Ealing

The London Borough of Ealing stretches from Acton to Southall and Northolt, but this guide concentrates on the older residential areas around Ealing Broadway, West Ealing, Northfields, Pitshanger, Hanwell and Acton. These grew with the Great Western Railway, which opened Hanwell station in 1838, and later suburban lines, leaving streets of Victorian and Edwardian terraces and semis alongside interwar estates.

At the 2021 Census, 50% of Ealing's 133,700 households lived in houses, with a notably high share of terraced houses (23%) compared with semi-detached (22%) and detached (5%). Terraced houses with rear outriggers are well suited to side-return extensions and L-shaped loft conversions.

Typical projects are side-return and rear extensions on terraces, rear dormer loft conversions, and renovations of period houses that keep their original features.

Planning and practical notes for Ealing

Ealing Council still applies its Residential Extensions SPD (SPD 4) as interim guidance while replacement guidance is prepared. It is more cautious than neighbouring boroughs in several ways. In most cases it expects single-storey rear extensions to be about 3 metres deep and 3 metres high, it normally refuses hip-to-gable roof changes on semi-detached and terraced houses where planning permission is required, and it says mansard roof extensions that change the roof slope will not usually be acceptable. More detail is on our Ealing extensions and Ealing loft conversions pages.

Ealing has many conservation areas. In Hanwell alone there are six, including Hanwell Clock Tower, Hanwell Village Green and Churchfields, and permitted development rights for roof enlargements and side extensions do not apply inside them.

Building work in Ealing: common questions

: If planning permission is needed, Ealing's SPD 4 says a hip-to-gable change on a semi-detached or terraced house will normally be refused. Many such conversions are built under permitted development instead, outside conservation areas and where rights haven't been removed.
: Ealing's SPD 4 says that in most cases a single-storey rear extension up to 3 metres deep and 3 metres high will be acceptable, if the house hasn't been extended before and lines up with its neighbour. Detached houses, or houses with a wider gap to the neighbour, may allow more.
: We concentrate on Ealing Broadway and Ealing Common, West Ealing, Northfields and South Ealing, Pitshanger and Brentham, Hanwell, and Acton including Bedford Park.