Croydon · SE19 · SE25 · CR0
Builders in Croydon, SE19 and SE25
Rear extensions, conservatory replacements and open plan kitchens across Crystal Palace, Upper Norwood, South Norwood and central Croydon — on ground that is very rarely flat, which changes the job more than most people expect.
What we built in SE19
A semi-detached property in Upper Norwood with a conservatory at the back — freezing in winter, unusable in summer, and occupying the best aspect in the house. We removed it and built a properly insulated rear extension in its place, warm enough to be part of the house every day of the year rather than a room you shut the door on in November.
The design leans hard on daylight: a floor-to-ceiling window onto the garden, a large rooflight above the dining area, and crittall-style doors keeping the frames slim so the glass does the work. The move worth copying is smaller than any of those — an internal window set above the door into the hallway, borrowing light from the new extension and pushing it into the middle of the house, which on a semi is always the darkest part.
The ground is rarely flat
Upper Norwood and Crystal Palace sit on a hill, and a great many properties across this part of the borough have a noticeable level change between the back of the house and the garden. That has real consequences for a rear extension, and it is the reason two visually identical extensions on the same street can be very different jobs.
You are choosing between three approaches: stepping down into the garden, building up to meet the existing floor level, or terracing the garden to meet the extension. Each one changes the foundations, the drainage runs, the retaining structure and quite often the planning position — because height above ground level is one of the things permitted development measures, and on a sloping site the ground level is not a single figure.
Drainage deserves its own thought here. On a slope, falls that would be automatic on a level plot have to be designed, and existing runs sometimes go in directions nobody expects. It is entirely workable. It is simply not something to leave until the groundworkers arrive with a digger and a start date.
The middle of the house is the part nobody photographs
Extending to the rear makes a house deeper. That is the point, and it is also the risk, because the centre of the plan gets darker with every step you add. A beautifully lit new room at the back and a gloomy tunnel to reach it is one of the most common outcomes in south London, and it is almost always avoidable at drawing stage.
Three moves fix it. Glazing that runs floor to ceiling rather than sitting in a wall like a window. Rooflights placed over the part of the plan no wall can reach, since on a rear extension the rooflights do more for the room as a whole than the doors do. And borrowed light: an internal window, a glazed panel beside a door, a fanlight over an opening — moving daylight from the room that now has plenty into the hallway or middle room that has none.
On a semi-detached house this matters more than on a terrace. A semi has a party wall on one side and its own flank wall on the other, and the middle room usually ends up with one window facing a narrow side passage. Think about the middle of your house before you think about the back of it.
The housing stock
Croydon covers more ground than most London boroughs, and the housing changes across it. SE19 and the surrounding Norwood area run to substantial Victorian villas and terraces, often tall, often on the slope, with pockets of conservation area particularly around Crystal Palace. Move out towards Shirley, Addiscombe, Sanderstead and Purley and it becomes interwar and postwar semi-detached suburbia with wide frontages and long gardens. New Addington, Thornton Heath and parts of the centre carry a large amount of postwar and ex-local-authority stock, where the freehold position and any interest retained by the council are worth confirming before drawings are commissioned.
Plots here are generally generous by inner London standards, and that is the borough's real advantage. A rear extension of proper depth is often viable where a Wandsworth terrace would push you sideways into a side return instead. Side access is frequently good enough for materials in and spoil out without going through the house, which makes the build itself markedly less disruptive to live through.
The exception is the town centre and the corridors around it, where flats and converted flats dominate. Those have no permitted development rights for extensions, and a lease that will need the freeholder's consent before anything is drawn.
Planning in Croydon
Applications go through Croydon Council. Many single-storey rear extensions fall under permitted development, and the larger plots mean more schemes stay within it here than in inner London. That is a general rule, and the borough has conservation areas, including around Crystal Palace and parts of South Norwood, where those rights are restricted.
Two points are specific to this borough. The first is the slope: because permitted development limits are measured in height above ground level, a sloping site can put an otherwise ordinary extension outside them without anyone intending it. The second is character. Much of Croydon is suburban and consistently built, and where guidance on the character of an area applies, a scheme that works with the rhythm of the street has an easier route through than one that ignores it.
Building regulations approval is needed regardless, and a party wall agreement wherever you build at a shared boundary — on a semi that is one neighbour, and on the older Norwood terraces it is both.
Common questions about building work in Croydon
Do you work across Croydon?
Yes. Home Constructive builds throughout Croydon, including Upper Norwood, South Norwood, Crystal Palace, Sanderstead and Purley. Most of our work in the borough sits in SE19 and SE25. If your address is just outside, ring us anyway and we will tell you plainly whether it is a job we should take.
What sort of houses do you work on in Croydon?
Victorian terraces through Upper and South Norwood, and interwar semi-detached houses as you go further south. The terraces take side return and rear extensions; the semis usually have the garden for a wraparound, and often a loft that converts without much argument.
Do I need planning permission for an extension in Croydon?
Frequently not. A good number of houses in the borough still hold full permitted development rights, which covers many single storey rear extensions and rear dormers. Conservation areas around Crystal Palace and elsewhere change that. We confirm your street with the council before drawings rather than assuming.
How do I get a price for work in Croydon?
It starts with a free site survey at the house. We look at the structure, the drainage and the services, tell you what the house will and will not allow, and price the work we have actually seen. Ring 07891 981021, Monday to Saturday, or send the address and what you are thinking of doing and we will arrange a time.
Book a free site survey in Croydon
We will look at the levels first, because in this part of London that is what decides the job — the foundations, the drainage, the retaining and often the planning route all follow from it.
The survey is free. You will get a straight answer about what your house will take, and about what the ground behind it is going to ask for.
From the portfolio
Croydon, SE19 · Rear extensionGround floor rear extension