Loft conversion in Southgate

Test the roof space before settling on a layout.

Start with the loft conversion brief

A measured roof survey should establish headroom, structural spans and where a staircase could meet the floor below. Plan the stair, escape route, insulation and building services together before treating the loft as another room.

Compare the proposed roof shape with the address-specific design guidance below. Record chimneys, shared walls and neighbouring rooflines, then ask the appointed designers to identify the structural work and consents the proposal needs.

The local building context

The appraisal shows the character changing from street to street. The High Street has tightly packed two- or three-storey terraces set close to the road, interspersed with groups of modern flats, while Cannon Hill has widely spaced, large detached properties in substantial gardens along a wide, tree-lined road. On the south side of The Green, individually designed houses of about 1930, with mock Tudor dominating, share casement picture windows and large, steeply pitched tiled roofs, with widespread use of brown brick. Flats also sit above the Edwardian and interwar shops at 22–56 Cannon Hill.

South-east of Southgate Circus, the Meadway Conservation Area follows Meadway, Greenway and Bourne Avenue between the High Street and Bourne Hill, with Grovelands Park as its immediate neighbour. Its management proposals describe brick-and-burr front garden boundaries and unpainted timber gates, and its appraisal finds houses that keep both their original form and a substantial proportion of their original features rare. Nos. 1–17 (odd) Abbotshall Avenue, a separate conservation area, are nine 1930s moderne houses, which Enfield’s Local Heritage List describes with flat roofs, curved projecting front bays, porch canopies and horizontal metal-framed Crittall windows.

Neither the name Southgate nor an N14 postcode tells you which council decides, whether a home is in a conservation area, whether it is listed or locally listed, whether an Article 4 direction covers it or which consent route the work takes. Enfield’s Southgate ward is served by N13, N14 and N21, the Southgate Green Conservation Area takes in addresses in more than one ward, and some addresses using the Southgate N14 name are in Barnet, which made tree preservation orders at Osidge, 151 Chase Side, and at Ashmole School, Burleigh Gardens. Confirm the council with the official lookup, then check the conservation area boundary, the Article 4 schedules, any list entry, the title or lease and the planning history of the property itself.

Local design and consent context

On 26 January 2006 Article 4(2) directions were made covering parts of eleven Enfield conservation areas, including Southgate Green, and the direction, confirmed as permanent, was sealed on 27 June 2006. Its Southgate Green schedule names addresses on Arnos Grove, Balaams Lane, Cannon Hill, Greenacre Walk, the High Street, Minchenden Crescent, Selborne Road and The Green. On elevations facing or visible from a highway or open space, it withdraws rights for alterations including windows, doors, roof coverings in a different material and rooflights, for roof additions, porches, hard surfaces, satellite antennas, gates, fences and walls, and for painting exposed brickwork; demolishing or replacing a chimney is covered on every elevation.

On 12 November 2008 Article 4(2) directions were made covering most of the Meadway Conservation Area; the council confirmed the direction on 29 January 2009, and its notice lists addresses on Bourne Avenue, Greenway, Meadway, Parkway, The Bourne and The Ridgeway. On 23 September 2009 further directions covered the new Abbotshall Avenue Conservation Area and households in the Southgate Green extension, and they were confirmed on 30 November 2009. Enfield’s Southgate Green page links the 2006 and 2009 directions and their maps.

For house extensions, DMD 11 tests a single-storey rear extension against a depth of 3 metres beyond the original rear wall for terraced and semi-detached houses, or 4 metres for detached houses, among other criteria, so read the policy in full. DMD 14 asks that side extensions do not create a continuous facade of properties or a terracing effect out of character with the locality, and that they keep at least 1 metre from the boundary with the adjoining property. Enfield’s policies map shows the areas each planning policy covers.

Access and site planning

For an Enfield address, a skip company must register with the council before placing a skip on any road, and a skip licence lasts 14 days unless extended. Scaffolding, hoarding or projections on or over a road or pavement need a licence, which is processed within 5 working days and lasts 30 days, with extensions possible; if Enfield decides the road should be closed, a temporary traffic order needs at least 6 weeks’ notice. Enfield asks you to email its parking team if parking restrictions must be suspended to deliver or collect equipment, and its parking page asks for suspension applications at least 10 working days ahead; a temporary dispensation for building works does not assure you of a space. For a Barnet address, that council’s rules apply.

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The Southgate area guide · Loft conversion across London · Hampstead Architecture & Planning · Hampstead Chartered Surveyors

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