House Extensions in Brighton & Hove
Safe-Bricks plans and builds house extensions in Brighton for homeowners who want a substantial, properly coordinated project. A large part of the city's housing is Regency, Victorian and Edwardian, often built in bungaroosh, flint or soft brick, which is the kind of construction we have worked with for years.
Brighton & Hove is our home territory. We carry out work across the city, from Kemp Town and Hanover to Hove, Preston Park and Patcham.
Project types
House Extensions we deliver in Brighton & Hove
Single-storey rear and side-return extensions
Open-plan kitchen and living extensions, often with steel beams to remove the original rear wall.
Double-storey extensions
Additional bedrooms and bathrooms above new ground-floor space, coordinated with the roof structure of the existing house.
Wraparound extensions
Combined side and rear extensions that need careful structural and drainage planning.
Extensions combined with internal remodelling
Where the extension and the reworking of the existing house are planned and built as one contract.
Building in Brighton & Hove: what to plan for
Conservation areas and Article 4 directions
Much of central Brighton and Hove sits in conservation areas, and some streets carry Article 4 directions that remove permitted development rights. Whether your extension needs planning permission depends on the exact address. Check with Brighton & Hove City Council's planning service, or ask your architect, before you commit to a design.
Bungaroosh and older party walls
Many older Brighton houses have bungaroosh walls: lumps of chalk, flint and brick set in lime. Cutting new openings or tying an extension into these walls needs the structural engineer to allow for the actual wall condition, which is usually only confirmed once opening-up starts.
Narrow plots and restricted access
Terraced streets often have no rear access, so materials, spoil and steels come through the house or over neighbouring land. We build this into the programme and site setup rather than finding out on day one.
The Party Wall etc. Act 1996
Rear extensions on terraces commonly involve notifiable work under the Party Wall Act. Notices should be served well before the start date, so neighbour agreements don't delay the programme.
Extending Brighton's period housing
Most house extensions in Brighton are added to buildings that are more than a hundred years old. Regency terraces in Kemp Town and Brunswick, Victorian villas in Preston Park and Edwardian semis in Hove were built with solid walls, lime mortar and shallow footings. Those houses move and breathe differently from a modern extension, so the design has to manage the joint between them.
As extension builders in Brighton and Hove, we start by working out how the existing rear wall is built and what it is carrying. A bungaroosh wall can look sound behind its render and still need significant repair before a steel beam can bear on it. We find that out before the price is fixed, not after the wall is opened up.
Double-storey extensions in Brighton
A double storey extension in Brighton is often the most effective way to add bedrooms on a tight terraced plot, but it attracts closer scrutiny. Planning officers look at overlooking, loss of light to neighbours and the effect on the roofline seen from the street or rear gardens. In conservation areas, materials and window proportions matter as much as size.
Structurally, a two-storey addition usually involves:
- New foundations sized for the full load, designed around the existing footings next door.
- Steelwork to open the ground floor while carrying the new first floor and roof.
- Tying the new roof into the existing roof structure without overloading old rafters.
- Fire separation and escape routes that meet Building Regulations for the enlarged house.
Building on Brighton's streets
Parking suspensions, skip licences and scaffold licences from Brighton & Hove City Council all take time to arrange, and some central streets have strict loading hours. On terraces without rear access, every bag of cement and every length of steel comes through the house. We plan protection, delivery sizes and waste removal before starting so the house stays usable and the programme stays realistic.
Do you need planning permission for an extension in Brighton and Hove?
Sometimes not. Many single-storey rear extensions to houses can be built under permitted development: up to three metres deep on a terraced or semi-detached house and four metres on a detached house, with larger extensions possible through the prior approval process, which consults the neighbours.
Those rights are narrower in Brighton and Hove than in most places. They do not apply to flats or maisonettes, which make up a large share of the city's period housing, or to listed buildings. The city has more than thirty conservation areas, where side extensions and cladding need permission, and in some of them Article 4 directions remove further rights. Parts of the city also fall within the South Downs National Park.
Where a design relies on permitted development, we recommend applying to Brighton & Hove City Council for a lawful development certificate before building.
Side-return and rear extensions on terraced houses
The typical Brighton terrace has a narrow rear outrigger with a passage beside it. Filling in that side return and opening the back of the house into one room is the extension we are asked about most often.
The points that decide whether it works well are:
- Light to the middle room, which loses its window. Rooflights along the side return or a glazed roof usually solve it.
- The boundary wall. Building on or against it normally needs party wall notices, and an old garden wall is rarely fit to build from.
- Drainage. The gully and inspection chamber for the kitchen and bathroom are usually in the side passage and have to be moved or built over with the right access.
- The steel frame that replaces the rear and side walls of the outrigger, and what it bears on.
- Levels between the house and garden, which often differ by several steps on Brighton's hills.
Chalk, old drains and foundations
Most of Brighton and Hove is built on chalk, which generally carries foundations well. The risks are local: made ground behind old retaining walls, soft pockets where the chalk has dissolved, and Victorian clay drains that have leaked for decades. A trial hole and a CCTV drainage survey before the foundations are designed cost little compared with a redesign on site.
Where a public sewer runs under or close to the footprint, a build-over agreement with Southern Water is normally needed before work starts.
Preferred project budget
£100k–£250k+
Typically starting within 3–6 months
Planning a substantial project in Brighton & Hove?
We are best suited to projects with construction budgets of £100,000–£250,000 or more, where one contractor manages the build from scope to completion.
This is the construction budget range we are best placed to deliver. It is not a quotation or an estimate of what any particular project will cost — every scope is priced individually after assessment.
Discuss Your House Extension in BrightonProcess
How we manage the work
We control the scope, programme and the interfaces with your architect and structural engineer from the start.
- 01
Project assessment
We review your objectives, the existing building, drawings and constraints before any scope is written.
- 02
Defined scope of works
A clearly itemised scope sets out what is included, what is excluded and what depends on investigation.
- 03
Design & approvals coordination
We work alongside your architect, structural engineer and building control, and planning or listed consent where required.
- 04
Managed construction
A single point of contact manages programme, trades, site safety and quality throughout the build.
- 05
Completion & handover
Snagging, sign-off documentation and a clear record of the materials and methods used.
Our work in Brighton & Hove
These are completed Safe-Bricks projects in Brighton & Hove. They are repair and restoration contracts, not extensions, but they show how we handle the city's older building fabric.
House Extensions in Brighton & Hove: common questions
Preferred project budget
£100k–£250k+
Ready to discuss your project?
Tell us about the property, the drawings you have, your start date and budget. We'll tell you plainly whether the project is a good fit.
This is the construction budget range we are best placed to deliver. It is not a quotation or an estimate of what any particular project will cost — every scope is priced individually after assessment.
Discuss Your House Extension in Brighton