House extensions across Hemel Hempstead
Where we work
From the Old Town to Woodhall Farm
We’re based in Hemel Hempstead and work in every part of it: the older streets around the High Street and Boxmoor, and the neighbourhoods that grew up after it became a New Town.
Beyond Hemel, we also build across St Albans, Harpenden and Hatfield. If you’re not sure whether you’re in our area, just ask.
The older parts of town
Hemel Hempstead was a market town long before the New Town, and some of the places it absorbed have histories of their own.
Older houses mean matching brick, tile and detail matters more, and around the High Street the council checks it through planning.
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Old Town
The original town along the High Street, protected by the council as a conservation area. Extensions and roof changes here need materials and a design that suit the street.
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Boxmoor
A village that the town grew around in the 1950s and 1960s, beside the moors the Box Moor Trust has looked after since 1594.
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Apsley and Nash Mills
Paper-making country. John Dickinson bought Apsley Mill in 1809 and Nash Mills two years later; the Paper Trail museum now tells the story on the Apsley site.
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Leverstock Green
A village on the St Albans side of town, with its own parish since about 1849.
The New Town neighbourhoods
Hemel Hempstead was designated a New Town on 4 February 1947, and Geoffrey Jellicoe’s plan built it as a ring of neighbourhoods around a new centre. His Water Gardens there, finished in 1959, are now a registered historic park.
Many homes here are semis and terraces, so a party wall notice is often part of extension and loft work.
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Adeyfield
The first of the New Town neighbourhoods, designed as part of Jellicoe’s plan.
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Bennetts End
The second neighbourhood, with building under way from 1951.
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Chaulden, Gadebridge and Warners End
The neighbourhoods on the western side of the Gade valley, across from the Old Town.
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Grovehill, Highfield and Woodhall Farm
The northern and north-eastern neighbourhoods, built in stages from the 1950s onwards as the town kept growing.
Local planning
Planning permission in Dacorum
Dacorum Borough Council is the planning authority for Hemel Hempstead. The borough has 25 conservation areas, including the Old Town around the High Street, and more than 2,000 listed buildings. In a conservation area, side extensions, dormers and external cladding that would elsewhere go ahead under permitted development need a planning application. A listed building needs listed building consent for most alterations as well.
Away from those, plenty of single-storey rear extensions and loft conversions can be built under permitted development, within national size limits, and most garage conversions that stay inside the existing walls need no planning permission at all. Where that applies, a Lawful Development Certificate from the council is worth getting, so there’s no doubt when you sell.
Two things apply everywhere: Building Regulations approval for every extension and conversion, and, on a semi or terrace, the Party Wall etc. Act 1996 for work on or near the shared wall.
Hemel Hempstead reviews
From Hemel Hempstead homes
More reviews from Hemel Hempstead postcodes on our Checkatrade profile, quoted word for word. See all 30 on Checkatrade.
House renovation in Hemel Hempstead
Needed to do whole house renovation remotely (from Manchester) using local builder. All areas handled marvelously well by Trev and his team: complete rewire with new electric board, plumbing and heating, including new and repositioned radiators, new bathroom, new stair rails, fresh plasterwork throughout, and structural work, and replacement of garden wall with new fencing. Good accommodating communication with photographic updates. Even moved furniture from room to room to get plastering done. Facilitated receipt of delivered goods. One slight neg: a few paperwork memos required! :-)
Excellent work and great communication so far
We’re halfway through our project with Trevor and are really pleased with how everything is going so far. Trevor and his team have been fantastic – friendly, professional, and clearly very skilled. He’s completely redoing our roof after issues left by a previous builder, and the improvement in quality has been obvious from the start. Trevor is super easy to contact, always happy to answer questions, and works closely with our structural engineer, which has given us a lot of confidence. The project has been well organised and stress-free, and we’re really looking forward to the finished result!
Front extension
We had t woodman builders build our front extension, from beginning to end the whole team were 10/10, they cared for our home and exceeded my expectations every time. They are reliable and honest, any questions I needed answered they would take the time to explain and talk me through it.
Front extension, lots of internal works.
The service I received was top level, all the workers were polite and skilful. My house was left clean and everything packed away so I could continue with family life. I’m so so happy with all the works, everything is perfect and lots of people comment on the works and the level of quality. Definitely will be calling this company for any further works.
Free consultation
Whereabouts in Hemel are you?
Give us your postcode and a few details and we’ll ring to arrange a free visit.