Planning, permitted development, and everything else people ask.

Yes — that's the whole point of our feasibility stage, and it's free. You describe the house and what you want; we give you a ballpark figure. Homeowners routinely spend thousands on architect's fees before anyone has told them what the building work will cost, then value-engineer the scheme into something they didn't want. Do it the other way round.

No. If you already have drawings we'll price from them and work with your architect. If you don't, talk to us first — we can tell you the likely cost range, what's driving it, and whether the project is worth designing. We're also happy to give early budget advice to architects' clients, and several architects use us that way.

It depends entirely on the house, and we'll tell you honestly. A loft is often the cheapest square metre because the roof and walls already exist. A rear extension buys the most usable living space. A knock-down rebuild occasionally beats a deep extension — usually when the existing structure is poor or the plot allows a much better layout. We'll price the realistic options rather than the one that suits us.

Tom and Rob have both spent their working lives in construction, and Inspiring Developments Ltd has been trading since November 2021 — company number 13725251, which you can look up on Companies House before you ring us. We won't quote you a combined years figure: our own older marketing material gives two different numbers for it, and we'd rather correct that than pick whichever one sounds better.

Often not. Many single-storey rear extensions in England fall under permitted development rather than needing a full planning application — but permitted development has hard limits on depth, height, eaves height, materials and how much of the garden you're covering, and it is removed or restricted on some properties entirely. We'll tell you at feasibility stage which route your project is likely to take. Your local planning authority makes the final call, not us.

It's a national set of rules that lets you carry out certain works without applying for planning permission, provided you stay inside the limits. If you do, you don't need permission — though you will still need building regulations approval, which is a separate thing. If you step outside the limits by even a small margin, you need a full planning application.

The usual ones: going beyond the permitted depth or height, building forward of the principal elevation, side extensions wider than half the original house, raising the roof or adding a dormer to the front, covering too much of the garden, or using materials that aren't in keeping. Permitted development rights are also restricted or removed on flats and maisonettes, on listed buildings, in conservation areas, in Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty and National Parks, and on properties where a previous planning condition (an Article 4 direction, for example) has removed them. Always worth checking — some estates have had rights removed without the current owner knowing.

It's a certificate from your council confirming that what you've built, or propose to build, is lawful without planning permission. You don't legally need one for permitted development work — but it's cheap insurance and buyers' solicitors ask for it. If you're relying on permitted development, we'd normally suggest getting one.

A rooflight conversion usually doesn't. A rear dormer often doesn't either, within the volume allowances — but a dormer on the front elevation almost always does, and the rules on volume, materials, side-facing windows and how close the dormer sits to the eaves are specific. Conservation areas change the answer. We'll tell you which side of the line your loft falls on before you commission anything.

Planning is about whether you're allowed to build it — size, appearance, impact on neighbours. Building regulations are about whether it's built safely and properly — structure, insulation, fire, drainage, ventilation. Permitted development gets you out of the first one, never the second. Every extension, loft conversion and structural opening we build is done to building regulations and inspected.

If you're building on or near a shared boundary, cutting into a party wall, or excavating close to a neighbour's foundations, you'll likely need to serve notice on your neighbour under the Party Wall etc. Act. It's usually straightforward, but it has statutory notice periods built into it — which is why we raise it at pre-construction stage rather than the week before we dig.

A householder planning application in England is typically determined in around eight weeks from validation, though it can run longer if the council asks for more information or the case is contentious. A Lawful Development Certificate is usually quicker. We plan programmes around those timescales rather than promising you a start date that assumes everything lands first time.

Feasibility gives you a ballpark. If you want to proceed, pre-construction gives you detailed, accurate pricing and a programme of works — so you know what's included, what isn't, and roughly when each stage happens, before anything starts. Jenny Hills' review describes the aim: "They gave us a competitive but realistic quote." Realistic is the operative word; the cheapest quote on your kitchen table is usually the one that grows the most.

Not without a conversation and a written figure. Genuine variations happen — you change your mind about the kitchen, or we open a floor and find something nobody could have known about. What shouldn't happen is discovering an extra on the final invoice. Being clear on the costs is one of the five things we hold ourselves to.

A dedicated project manager is assigned to every project, and Tom or Rob stays involved throughout. You also get a WhatsApp group set up specifically for your build, which is the bit clients mention most: "any issues were flagged and resolved quickly," as Jenny Hills' review puts it.

Usually, yes, and we plan for it rather than around it. Janet Lewis's kitchen renovation ran with the family still in residence: "They made it possible for us to live in the house alongside the works by temporarily replumbing sink and washing machine." Where staying put genuinely isn't sensible we'll say so, and we'll tell you at pre-construction rather than in week three.

Often. Phasing — doing the work in stages, or services first and finishes later — is one of the things we talk through at pre-construction, along with staying in the property. It costs a bit more in time and usually a bit more in money; sometimes it's still the right answer.

Ask us. We once built a set of temporary steps so a client's dog could still get into the garden mid-build, and it's in their review. None of that is heroic — it's just what happens when someone on site is actually paying attention.

We snag the job, finish the making-good and decoration, commission what needs commissioning, and hand it over. Chris Spicer's review is the outcome we aim for: "We were so happy with the work we asked them back for an additional follow job."

We deliver projects across Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire and Buckinghamshire, from our unit at The Enterprise Centre on Porters Wood in St Albans. That's St Albans, Harpenden, Redbourn, Wheathampstead, Radlett, Hatfield, Hemel Hempstead, Berkhamsted, Welwyn Garden City, Watford, and out to Luton and Dunstable. If you're near the edge of that, just ask.

No. Alongside domestic work we take on conversions and new builds for developers, and workspace maintenance, alteration and expansion for businesses.

Unit 5 Upper, The Enterprise Centre, Porters Wood, St Albans AL3 6EN. Mon to Fri, 8:00am to 4:00pm. You're welcome to ring first.