Regions we cover
LINX Design & Build is a London design and build contractor with offices in Chelsea, Shoreditch and Ealing. One in-house team designs, secures planning approvals for and builds extensions, loft conversions, renovations and new homes across all 32 London boroughs and the City of London. Every project starts with a free survey and a fixed-price quote.
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Design & build
Building in London means working with 33 separate planning authorities: the 32 boroughs and the City of London Corporation. Each sets its own design guidance, conservation areas and Article 4 directions, so a rear extension that is permitted development in one street can need full planning permission in the next. We check the rules for the exact address before any design work starts.
Most London homes are terraced or semi-detached and sit close to their neighbours, so party wall agreements, restricted site access, parking suspensions and skip licences are part of almost every project. Planning for these from the first survey keeps the design, the approvals and the build on one programme, run by one team.
London's housing is dominated by Victorian and Edwardian terraces, from workers' cottages in Hackney and Battersea to tall stucco houses in Kensington and Chelsea, alongside Georgian squares in Islington and Marylebone, mansion blocks, and 1930s semis in outer boroughs such as Ealing, Barnet and Bromley. Terraces suit side-return and wrap-around extensions and rear dormer or mansard loft conversions, while interwar semis often take hip-to-gable lofts and full-width rear extensions.
Our services
Our architects design for London's narrow plots and terraced streets, with drawings prepared to each borough's design guidance and conservation-area requirements from the first sketch.
Find out more 02We confirm whether a project needs planning permission, prior approval or a Lawful Development Certificate at the specific address, then prepare and submit the application to the right borough.
Find out more 03Side-return, wrap-around and rear extensions to Victorian and Edwardian terraces are London's classic extensions, and some can be built under permitted development where the house and street allow it.
Find out more 04Rear dormer, L-shaped and mansard loft conversions add bedrooms and bathrooms to London terraces; mansards almost always need planning permission, and so do dormers in conservation areas.
Find out more 05We renovate and restructure period London homes, from rewiring and replumbing to removing internal walls, applying for listed building consent where the house is listed.
Find out more 06New homes in London are usually infill plots, backland sites or replacement houses, each needing full planning permission and close attention to neighbours' light and privacy.
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
Conservation areas remove some permitted development rights. In a London conservation area, loft conversions, side extensions and cladding cannot be built under permitted development, and the larger prior-approval rear extension scheme is not available, so these all need planning permission. Many boroughs also use Article 4 directions to control windows, doors and front boundaries. Permission is still regularly granted where the design respects the street, and we design with that in mind from the start.
Often, yes, but it will need planning permission. Flats and maisonettes have no householder permitted development rights, so a loft conversion that alters the roof of a top-floor flat needs a full application, and the lease will usually require the freeholder's consent too. Building Regulations approval, a protected escape route and, where walls are shared, Party Wall etc. Act 1996 notices also apply. We review the planning history and the lease position before design starts.
Sometimes. A side-return infill can be permitted development if it meets the limits for side extensions, which are a single storey, no more than 4 m high and no wider than half the original house, and the house is not in a conservation area. Wrap-around extensions that combine side and rear elements usually need planning permission. Many London side returns sit in conservation areas, so an application is common. A Lawful Development Certificate confirms the position before you build.
The cost depends on the design, the structure of the house, access and the finish you choose, so we price each London project individually. After a free survey, we give a fixed-price quote for the agreed scope. Factors that are common in London, such as restricted access, parking suspensions, party wall requirements and conservation-area materials, are priced in from the start rather than added later.
Householder planning applications have an 8-week statutory determination period, which runs from the date the borough validates the application. Conservation-area and larger schemes can take longer if the borough asks for amendments. Prior approval for a larger single-storey rear extension is decided within 42 days, and party wall agreements can usually run alongside planning. Build time depends on the scope, and we confirm the programme once the design and approvals are settled.
We take on projects in all 32 London boroughs and the City of London, from our offices in Chelsea, Shoreditch and Ealing. That includes inner boroughs such as Kensington and Chelsea, Westminster, Camden, Islington and Hackney, and outer boroughs such as Richmond upon Thames, Kingston upon Thames, Barnet, Bromley and Croydon. Every project starts with a free survey at the property and a fixed-price quote.