Regions we cover
LINX Design & Build takes on architecture, planning, extensions, loft conversions, renovations and new builds across Leicester and Leicestershire. One in-house team designs each project, secures approval from Leicester City Council or the relevant district or borough council and builds it, starting with a free survey and a fixed-price quote.
Tell us about your project — we'll come back with next steps and a time for a free survey.
Design & build
Leicester City Council is a unitary authority, and the rest of the county is divided between seven district and borough councils, from Charnwood around Loughborough to Harborough in the south. Unlike much of southern England, Leicestershire has no designated Green Belt; instead, local plans protect green wedges and, in some districts, areas of separation between settlements, which mainly affect new homes on the edge of towns.
Leicester's housing is largely Victorian and Edwardian terraces and villas, in areas such as Clarendon Park, Stoneygate, Knighton and Highfields, with interwar and post-war suburbs beyond. In the county, market towns such as Market Harborough, Melton Mowbray, Ashby-de-la-Zouch and Market Bosworth have historic centres, and Charnwood villages such as Quorn and Woodhouse Eaves feature local stone and Swithland slate.
Leicester's terraced streets in Clarendon Park, Highfields, Belgrave and the West End suit rear dormer lofts and side-return extensions, while Stoneygate and Knighton have larger Victorian and Edwardian villas suited to sympathetic extensions and full renovations. Oadby, Wigston, Birstall and the city fringes have interwar and post-war semis that suit hip-to-gable lofts and wrap-around extensions, and the county's villages mix brick cottages, farmhouses and modern estates.
Our services
Our architects design for Leicester's Victorian terraces and villas, the county's market towns and Charnwood's stone villages, to each council's design guidance.
Find out more 02We prepare applications to Leicester City Council and the seven district and borough councils, including conservation-area and listed building cases.
Find out more 03Side-return and rear extensions suit Leicester terraces, while semis and detached homes in Oadby, Market Harborough and Loughborough suit wrap-around and two-storey extensions.
Find out more 04Rear dormer lofts suit Clarendon Park and Highfields terraces, and hip-to-gable conversions suit interwar semis, often under permitted development.
Find out more 05We renovate Victorian and Edwardian homes and older village properties, including listed buildings where listed building consent is required.
Find out more 06We design and build infill and replacement homes, checking green wedge and settlement policies, and mining legacy where relevant, before the design is fixed.
Find out morePlanning
How it works
We visit, measure up and talk through what you want to build and what the site allows.
Our in-house team draws the scheme and handles planning or a Lawful Development Certificate, plus Building Regulations.
You get an itemised, fixed price in writing before any work starts.
One team builds it, keeps you updated weekly and hands over with a 10-year structural guarantee.
800+ projects completed since 2017 · 4.9★ from 500+ reviews · See our starting prices
Questions
No. Leicestershire has no designated Green Belt, which sets it apart from much of southern England. Instead, local plans protect green wedges around Leicester and, in some districts, areas of separation between towns and villages. These policies mainly affect new homes and larger developments on the edge of settlements. Extensions to existing houses are usually judged on design, neighbours' amenity and any conservation-area or listed building status.
Often not. A rear dormer or hip-to-gable loft conversion on a Leicester house can usually be permitted development if it adds no more than 40 m³ on a terraced house or 50 m³ on a semi-detached house, keeps dormers off the roof slope facing the road and uses similar materials. Stoneygate, South Highfields and other conservation areas need planning permission, as do flats. Leicester City Council can confirm lawfulness with a certificate.
Stoneygate villas usually suit a single-storey rear or side extension that sits back from the main house, either in matching brick or in glazing that contrasts with the original. Because much of Stoneygate is a conservation area, side extensions and the larger prior-approval rear extension are not permitted development there, so most schemes need a householder application to Leicester City Council. We design to the conservation area's character from the outset.
We price each Leicester and Leicestershire project individually: after a free survey, we give a fixed-price quote for the agreed design and specification. Cost depends on the size and structure of the extension, foundations, drainage, access to the rear of the house and finishes. Local factors, such as rear access to a terrace, matching Victorian brickwork or Swithland slate on an older village house, are included in the quote from the start.
Householder planning applications to Leicester City Council and the county's district and borough councils have an 8-week statutory determination period from validation. Prior approval for a larger single-storey rear extension is decided within 42 days. Applications in conservation areas or for listed buildings can take longer if amendments are requested. Building Regulations approval runs alongside. We confirm the build programme once the design and approvals are settled.
We take on projects across Leicester and Leicestershire, including Stoneygate, Clarendon Park, Knighton, Oadby, Wigston, Market Harborough, Lutterworth, Blaby, Hinckley, Market Bosworth, Loughborough, Quorn, Melton Mowbray, Ashby-de-la-Zouch and Coalville. Every project begins with a free survey at your home and a fixed-price quote from our in-house design, planning and build team.