Side return extensions to South Hampstead houses — filling the narrow side return to widen the ground floor into a single light-filled room, designed for the conservation area and built in-house.
Speak to the studio directly: 020 8054 8756
A number of South Hampstead houses have a narrow side return — the strip of outdoor space alongside the rear of the house that usually does nothing but hold bins. Filling it brings that width into the house, turning a cramped, dark galley kitchen into a wide, light room that spans more of the plot.
It is an effective extension on a period house because it adds usable width rather than just depth, and the new roof — typically part-glazed — floods the previously dark middle of the house with daylight. As with any extension here, the conservation area means it needs Camden planning permission and a careful design, and it sits on the neighbour’s boundary.
We design the infill to read naturally with the original house, win the consent, engineer the structure where the side wall is opened up, and build it through to a finished, light-filled room — all in one contract, with honest budgets in pounds sterling.
A side return adds width and light — but it sits on a boundary, so neighbours and structure matter.
Infilling the side return widens the ground floor across more of the plot — more usable than depth alone.
A part-glazed roof brings daylight to the previously dark centre of the house.
The infill sits against the neighbour’s boundary, so the Party Wall etc. Act 1996 applies.
In the conservation area the infill needs Camden planning and a design that respects the rear elevation.
From a consented infill to a finished, wide room — under one team.
Designing a side-return infill that suits the house and widens the ground floor.
A Camden planning application and heritage-led design for the conservation area.
Steel and the opening into the side wall, with Building Control.
Notices and awards on the boundary and shared walls.
A part-glazed roof and rooflights to bring light into the centre.
Walls, roof and weathering to current standards.
Kitchen or living fit-out, flooring and decoration.
Two-stage snagging and a clean handover.
We design and build side-return infill extensions on South Hampstead’s period houses across NW6.
South Hampstead sits within the London Borough of Camden — see our South Hampstead area page and North London refurbishment overview.
Book a no-obligation consultation at our North London studio on Finchley Road, in Hampstead, or at your property. We will give you an honest read on approvals, programme and budget band — in pounds sterling — before you commit.
Site visit · approvals read · outline budget band (GBP) · programme indication. No obligation.
Send Project DetailsThe same NW3 design-build team covers the neighbouring areas: