Builders in Northwood

Northwood was a hamlet of a few dozen houses until the Metropolitan Railway arrived in 1887, when Frank Carew bought the Eastbury Park Estate land for development. By 1902, Northwood had around 2,500 people living in 500 houses, with 36 shops. Building continued through the twentieth century, including the spacious Copse Wood and Gatehill Farm estates.

At the 2021 Census, 62% of households in Northwood and Northwood Hills lived in houses: 29% semi-detached, 17% detached and 15% terraced. Median semi-detached prices were about £670,000 to £775,000 in the year to March 2026.

Carew built some of the first houses himself, including cottages along the west side of the High Street. Much later, Northwood's streets stood in for Surbiton in the BBC sitcom The Good Life, which gives a sense of the area's settled suburban character. Roof extensions here, as across Hillingdon, should be on the rear slope only and no wider than two-thirds of the roof.

Northwood has two conservation areas, Northwood Town Centre (Green Lane) and Northwood Frithwood. The Copse Wood and Gatehill Farm estates are Areas of Special Local Character with their own policy, DMHB 6. New development there is expected to follow the area's vernacular styles and traditional roof forms, two-storey side extensions should be set in at least 1.5 metres from the side boundary (more on wider plots), and in Copse Wood most trees are protected by Tree Preservation Orders.

Elsewhere, policy DMHD 1 applies, including the 4-metre limit on single-storey rear extensions to detached houses and the borough-wide Article 4 direction on rear extensions over 4 metres. Tree protection matters on many Northwood plots, so we check for Tree Preservation Orders before planning foundations.