House
extensions
in Putney, SW15
Architects, Engineers, Surveyors & Builders Under One Roof.
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Hampstead Chartered Surveyors & Building ConsultancyPutney's appraisals ask for small rear extensions that stay out of sight from the street, and on Deodar Road for no further harm to the houses' views from the Thames.
Two Putneys meet in the extension drawings. On Putney Hill, grand Victorian villas and mansion blocks reward ambitious whole-house schemes; on Disraeli Road and the grid off the Lower Richmond Road, long Edwardian and Victorian family terraces call for the classic pairing of side return below and loft above. The riverside adds a third strand — flats and conversions around Putney High Street where any extension thinking runs through the freeholder first.
What unites them is selectivity. SW15 extension work concentrates on the houses where a rear garden, a workable side return and sound structure genuinely allow more family space, rather than forcing area onto plots that cannot take it. The terraces off the Lower Richmond Road are the reliable hosts — family houses that take lofts and rear extensions in their stride.
Putney sits in the London Borough of Wandsworth, and conservation areas protect its best streets between the river and the heath, so external design is judged against that setting. Cost, meanwhile, turns on the fabric: villa or terrace structure, party walls, drainage and rear levels, tree and boundary constraints, glazing specification and the access between established SW15 streets and their gardens.
Small rear additions in West Putney and by the river
West Putney's appraisal warns that its six character areas are so distinct that development appropriate in one could be highly inappropriate in another, so an extension starts with which pocket of the conservation area the house is in.
In its grid of streets with open rear gardens, the appraisal wants extensions kept to a minimum and built with respect for the area, rear extensions small and exemplary in design, and it notes that individual side extensions have already broken the rhythm of some streets.
On Deodar Road, rear extensions have been particularly damaging to the views of the houses from the river, and the appraisal asks that any change to an existing extension bring it more into keeping with the architecture.
East Putney's appraisal lists every rear extension of more than one storey that goes beyond the original rear wall among the works that need planning permission in that conservation area.
LP5 adds the borough-wide tests: an extension subservient to the house, a substantial depth of garden left open, and no terrace effect from filling the gaps between buildings.
Outside Putney: Holland Avenue, Wimbledon, a Wimbledon house with a new two-storey extension at the back and side.
Where a rear garden backs onto the next street, as many do in West Putney's grid, we draw the extension as it will be seen from that street as well as from the house.
We photograph the back of the house from the garden and from the neighbours' side, and by the river from wherever the garden can be seen, so the extension is drawn as it will actually be seen.
Sources: Wandsworth: West Putney conservation area appraisal and management strategy; Wandsworth: Deodar Road conservation area appraisal and management strategy; Wandsworth: East Putney conservation area appraisal and management strategy; Wandsworth Local Plan 2023–2038 (adopted 19 July 2023).
House Extensions in Putney: Questions
Does the river affect an extension in Putney?
On Deodar Road, yes. The houses' long back gardens run down to the Thames, so their backs are seen from the river, and the appraisal says rear extensions there have already damaged those views.
Can I extend an Oxford Road house?
Usually at the back, with care. Oxford Road's appraisal values its detached, semi-detached and terraced Victorian houses and the front gardens that make the streets green, so an extension stays at the rear and, as LP5 asks, subservient to the house.
Do Putney's conservation areas affect extensions?
Yes. West Putney wants rear extensions small and exemplary, Deodar Road wants no more loss of its river views, and the Lifford Street area's narrow plots leave little room; LP5 applies to all of them.
Which Putney houses take extensions well?
Houses with deep gardens give the most room, but West Putney's appraisal still asks that extensions be kept to a minimum where rear gardens are open to the next street.
Do trees and garden boundaries matter for a Putney extension?
Yes. West Putney's appraisal says it is inappropriate to replace a front fence with a brick wall or railings, or to raise the boundary, and Deodar Road's treats its long front and back gardens as a distinctive feature.
How much does a side-return extension cost in Putney?
It is priced after a survey from the floor area, the structural opening into the house, the roof and glazing chosen and the finishes, before VAT.
Can flats near Putney High Street be extended or reconfigured?
Inside, often, with the landlord's consent where the lease asks for it. Outside, flats have no permitted development rights, so an extension needs planning permission; the High Street's shop terraces have homes on their upper floors.
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