ENH4006 BUILT ENVIRONMENT

ENH4006 Built Environment

ENH4006 Built Environment

More than a quarter of all UK houses are terraced and although there can be minimal space in which to extend, clever design solutions or choosing to simply remodel the existing layout instead can result in a surprisingly spacious, practical home.

The original layout of most terraced houses - tiny kitchens, smaller separate living rooms leading off from one another with little light allowed to penetrate each one - just doesn't suit modern life, and when you add to this some of the rather unsuitable alterations that have often been made over the years by previous owners, such as downstairs bathrooms and unsightly lean-tos, it is not unusual to find that a great deal of useful extra living space can be gained from simply rearranging the layout of the house rather than carrying out a full-scale extension. Indeed, you may find that you have no option but to remodel your existing spaces rather than extend, perhaps due to restrictions on your budget, but also due to a small courtyard garden or shared rear access (both common in this type of house), or living in a Conservation Area — all factors that could prevent a worthwhile extension.

Before starting out on your extension, consider how much money you have to spend, how much any work is likely to cost, and the final value that will be added by the new addition. Unless you really don't mind whether or not you make any profit from your new extension, then you need to think about ceiling prices on the road — the maximum value of any house in a certain area. However fabulous your extension, your house will still be a terrace, surrounded by other terraces, and this inevitably has an effect on what it will be worth.

Consider which elements and features add the most value. The best way to do this is to ensure that your new plans overcome a horribly negative aspect of the original house, for example a miniscule kitchen or ground floor bathroom. You are almost always onto a winner by adding well-planned bedrooms and en suites.

Problem #1: I need a bigger kitchen

Rarely did the original owners of period terraced houses seem to place the same importance on having a spacious, sociable kitchen as we do today. The most common layouts featured small, narrow kitchens tucked away to the rear of the house, sometimes with direct access out to the back garden, or occasionally leading into a separate scullery. They also often adjoined an outside WC and/or coal store, and the most cost-effective way of gaining extra kitchen space is to knock through into these spaces to simply incorporate them into the new kitchen, although this option does not offer much scope for changing the narrow galley-style layout of these kitchens.

The most popular way to get a bigger kitchen in a terraced house is to create a side-return extension. This involves incorporating the space behind the dining room, known as the 'side return', ...