Builders in Chatham

Before you get quotes for building work in Chatham, check which planning rules apply to your home. Planning applications go to Medway Council. Chatham has conservation areas, including New Road and Maidstone Road, and some have Article 4 directions, which mean changes such as new windows, doors or roofs at the front of a house need planning permission. If your home is listed, any work that affects its character may need listed building consent.

If you're thinking of converting or extending a house to let to sharers, check first. Medway Council has brought in controls in seven wards, covering parts of Chatham, Gillingham and Strood, so that turning a family home into a small house in multiple occupation needs planning permission. Room sizes, fire safety and licensing rules apply too.

Most building work in Chatham falls into a few types:

• Rear extensions and kitchen extensions on Victorian terraces, often filling in the side return beside the back addition.
• Loft conversions with a rear dormer on terraces, and hip-to-gable conversions on later semi-detached houses.
• Extensions and garage conversions on later estates, such as Walderslade and Lordswood.

Chatham is built on hillsides, and much of Medway sits on chalk. Your building control officer or engineer will set the foundation depth for an extension, especially on sloping sites or near trees, and may ask for trial holes. A good builder will allow for this rather than guessing. On terraced and semi-detached houses, work on or near a shared wall often needs a party wall agreement with your neighbours before it starts.

When you compare builders, ask for itemised quotes on the same drawings. Check that each quote says who deals with building control and what the payment stages are, and never pay large sums upfront. Reviews on Trade Pilot are tied to real, invoiced jobs, so you can see how a builder has handled projects like yours.