What an amazing view! You have the opportunity to do something nice here and the current extension wont complement it. The thickness of the walls also look a bit worrying to be honest. Does it keep the area warm enough in winter? Energy efficiency is important. Especially if you want to extend to the rear i would consider taking it down, and make a new floor plan. You'd be throwing away the windows anyway. I'd love to have a go at the design for this. Not often you get to design something with such views. Don't hesitate to drop us a message pls! Cheers!

Hi Sophie, I dont think for us it will be a problem. our attached neighbour is on the south side of us so we wouldn't be blocking their sun. And the neighbour on our detached side is set back from us, so our extension would end up level with them. I know there's the 45 degree rule with the right to light so maybe that was your issue? one of our neighbours has quite a large first floor extension but only on half the house (on the detached side) so we're not sure if we might have to do the same, that would still work for us to make a bigger bedroom and add an en-suite, we just wouldn't also extend the existing bathroom. Maybe your issue was due to the side you want to extend on, would it work for your layout to extend the other side, perhaps that would be allowed? Or maybe you could get round the 45 degree rule with a cleverly shaped extension? did you get an architect and put in for planning or didnt get that far?

My suggestion woukd be to knock through your kitchen and dining room. Turn your existing study into a utility/bootroom/pantry. Put a door with a keypad lock on it (similarly the side gate) which will really encourage you/the kids to use it raher than the front door. Put your kitchen cabinets floor to ceiling along the stairs wall and continue to the back of the house with the last door being a ’secret’ door into the boot room. At the bottom end of the stairs ne of this run of cabinets' , build a lower level cabinet to house the guinea pigs (following the kitchen cabinet line but not tall so the stairs don’t feel narrow). Don’t worry about your comfy chair but definitely Use the money you save on not building an extension to tidy up your patio and get some comfy chairs out there. Maybe even a glass veranda cover if money allows. Similarly, buy comfy bar stools for your island and you’ll sit there all day. Make sure you have a socket in your island somewhere to plug in a laptop. The kids can do their homeweork there while you potter. The rest of the dining room become a dining/sitting room and your living room becomes a snug/study. These two activities rarely happen at the same time but it means that working from home is not confined to a cupboard. Your front door is then a non-muddy entrance for grown ups and guests. One last thing, if you have a dog, put a hot/cold mixer tap outsude the bootroom to rinse the dog outside before bringin him in. Good luck with it all.

Hi Monique! I'm currently installing a septic tank, so I recently had to deal with all the drainage and sewerage planning issues. In my experience, even if you don't have a manhole cover in your garden, getting a drainage system plan can save you a lot of trouble. The builders we contacted made it very clear that knowing the exact location of existing drainage pipes is crucial before starting any excavation work. One incorrect excavation can damage a pipe, which is a costly mistake. In our case, having a plan helped us correctly position the new septic system and avoid conflicts with underground utilities. It may seem like an unnecessary step, but it's a really good precaution, especially for extensions that add bathrooms, kitchens, or utility rooms. So yes, I would recommend getting a plan—it gave us peace of mind and made discussions with our builder much easier. Hope this helps!