Ninety minutes. No cost. An honest answer.
You get a feasibility answer on the day and a written scope schedule within a week — or an honest reason why we think you should not do it.
- Written fixed price within five working days of the survey
- Same surveyor runs the job, start to finish
- No pressure to book on the day
- Surrey and South West London, within about an hour of Guildford
or email studio@northlight.example
The ones people actually ask.
Usually not. Most loft conversions are permitted development within a volume allowance of 40m³ for a terrace and 50m³ for a semi or detached house. You will need full permission if you exceed that, if the dormer faces a highway, or if you are on designated land — a conservation area, National Park or AONB. We establish which you are at the survey, before you spend anything.
For permitted development they have no say, because there is no application to object to. What they do have is rights under the Party Wall Act — if they dissent, or say nothing for fourteen days, a surveyor's award is required. We serve notices ten weeks ahead and talk to them first, which is why most of ours consent.
Yes, and nearly everyone does. Weeks one and two are easy because the work is outside. Weeks two to four are the noisy ones. Week five or six, when the staircase goes in, is the hard week — it lasts about five working days. We'll tell you in advance which days to be out.
It is priced as a variation, in writing, before anyone touches it, and you sign it off first. Nothing appears on a final invoice you have not already agreed.
Because a large upfront payment is the single clearest warning sign in this trade. Citizens Advice say never agree more than 25%. We cap ours at 15% and take the rest against completed stages.
No. The same four people run your job from scaffold to sign-off. It is why we only take one job at a time.
Because in this trade, anyone can call themselves a builder — there is no licence and no minimum qualification required by law. That is a big part of why so many homeowners say they struggle to find a builder they trust. We would rather you check us than take our word for it: ask for our accreditation numbers and call them yourself before you book a survey.
You are covered by an insurance-backed guarantee, issued in your name by the insurer — it pays out regardless of whether we are still trading. That is a real, separate policy, not just a promise from us, which is exactly the kind of protection Citizens Advice recommend checking for before you sign anything.
Only if it is done without building control sign-off — and that is the mistake that actually costs people money. A loft conversion without a completion certificate cannot legally be marketed as an extra bedroom, and a mortgage surveyor will value the property as if the room does not exist. We register every job with building control from day one, specifically so it is never a problem waiting for you at completion.