Loft Conversions in Ealing W5: L-Shaped Dormers on the Victorian Terraces, Hip-to-Gables on the 1930s Semis, Permitted Development and Prices
By Anderson & the LCCL Construction Team | Finchley N3
Ealing is two kinds of house. South and east of the Broadway — around the Common, Ealing Green, the roads off Uxbridge Road and across into West Ealing W13 — it is Victorian and Edwardian: three-storey terraces, two-storey terraces with rear outriggers, and large semi-detached villas with slate roofs and butterfly or pitched profiles. North and west, towards Pitshanger, Hanger Hill and the Brentham estate, it is the 1930s: hipped-roof semis on generous plots. The loft that works is set by which of the two you own, and so is the planning route.
As LABC Building Excellence Award Winners 2024 for Best Residential Extension in London — and London Regional Winner 2026 for Best Conversion or Alteration to an Existing Home — we design and build both: the L-shaped dormer that turns a Victorian terrace's outrigger into a second room, and the hip-to-gable with a rear dormer that gives a 1930s semi a full-width top floor. Ealing is a straight run from our Finchley base down the North Circular, and West Ealing is where we built the project described below.
Not sure whether your project needs planning permission? Enter your postcode and tick what you want to build — about two minutes, free, and the from-price for each part that qualifies appears on screen and in your inbox.
The Ealing house and the loft that suits it
On a Victorian terrace with a rear outrigger — the two-storey back addition that holds the kitchen and bathroom — the loft that makes sense is the L-shaped dormer: a full-width dormer across the main roof and a second dormer along the outrigger roof, joined at the corner. It produces two rooms rather than one, typically a double bedroom with an en-suite and a second bedroom or study, 30 to 40 square metres in all. On a three-storey terrace the same dormer gives a fourth floor, and the stair and fire strategy need more thought because the escape route is longer.
On the 1930s semis of Pitshanger, Hanger Hill and Greystoke, the roof is hipped at the end, which cuts the usable loft to a wedge. A hip-to-gable builds that hipped end up into a vertical gable, a rear dormer is added across the back slope, and the result is a full-width room with a proper landing — 25 to 35 square metres with an en-suite. On a detached house with hips at both ends, a double hip-to-gable does the same on both sides.
A Velux loft — rooflights only, no change to the roof shape — suits the taller Victorian houses with a high ridge, where 15 to 25 square metres of bedroom fits under the existing slopes. It is the lowest-cost loft and, as the next section explains, the one that stays permitted development in Ealing's conservation areas.
Is a loft conversion permitted development in Ealing?
On most Ealing houses, yes. A loft on a house (not a flat) is permitted development where the new roof space stays within 40 cubic metres on a terrace or 50 on a semi or detached house, no dormer faces the road, nothing rises above the existing ridge, the materials match the house, side-facing windows are obscure-glazed, and the dormer sits at least 200 mm back from the eaves. An L-shaped dormer on a terrace usually fits inside 40 cubic metres; a hip-to-gable with a rear dormer on a semi usually fits inside 50. We apply to Ealing Council for a Lawful Development Certificate so the position is confirmed in writing before work starts; the fee is £274 and the decision takes up to eight weeks.
Where the answer changes is the borough's conservation areas, of which Ealing has more than most outer boroughs. In a conservation area the dormer and hip-to-gable rights fall away and a loft that changes the roof shape needs a householder planning application (£548, eight weeks); a rooflight loft usually remains permitted development. Several Ealing conservation areas also carry Article 4 directions — Brentham Garden Suburb and the Hanger Hill Garden Estate are the best known — which remove further rights and can bring rooflights and even windows under planning control. Our Planning check reads the conservation-area and Article 4 data for your postcode before it gives an answer; the council has the final say on any application.
Not sure whether your project needs planning permission? Enter your postcode and tick what you want to build — about two minutes, free, and the from-price for each part that qualifies appears on screen and in your inbox.
Building control in Ealing
Building regulations apply to every loft whatever the planning route. In Ealing the inspections are carried out by the council's own building control team or by an approved inspector; we work with both. The inspector sees the new floor structure and steel beams before they are covered, the staircase and headroom, the fire-protected route from the loft to the front door with fire doors on the rooms that open onto it, the insulation and ventilation of the new roof, and the completed loft before the completion certificate is issued. Our structural engineer produces the calculations for the beams and the new floor, and the drawings go to building control before the scaffold goes up.
What a loft conversion costs in Ealing
Velux / rooflight loft: from £32,400 inc. VAT (£27,000 + VAT), 15–25 m², four to six weeks on site.
Rear dormer: from £56,400 inc. VAT (£47,000 + VAT), 20–30 m², six to eight weeks on site.
L-shaped dormer: from £58,800 inc. VAT (£49,000 + VAT), 30–40 m², eight to ten weeks on site.
Hip-to-gable with rear dormer: from £60,000 inc. VAT (£50,000 + VAT), 25–35 m², eight to ten weeks on site.
Mansard: from £76,800 inc. VAT (£64,000 + VAT), 30–45 m², ten to fourteen weeks on site, planning application always required.
Every figure is design and build at economy specification, shell-and-plaster finish, and includes the survey, the drawings, the structural calculations, building control and a 12-month workmanship guarantee, with a 10-year LABC structural warranty on every project. The final price is fixed in writing after the survey and is postcode dependent. A loft built together with a rear or side-return extension starts from £98,400 inc. VAT (£82,000 + VAT) under one contract.
Our project in Ealing W13
In West Ealing we took on a Victorian house whose owners wanted the whole property brought back and enlarged at the same time: an L-shaped loft conversion over the main roof and the outrigger, a side-return extension to make an open-plan kitchen with an island, a new kitchen, and a full refurbishment of the rooms in between. The loft gave a large bedroom with glazed doors at the rear and a rooflight on the front slope, and a separate shower room. Because the rear roof came off completely, the scaffold carried a temporary roof over the house — a "tin hat" — so the rooms below stayed dry and work continued through wet weeks. The side return and the loft ran as one programme under one contract, which is the point of doing them together: one scaffold, one set of steels, one building control file.
Anderson's advice
On an Ealing terrace the party wall is the item that moves the date, not the planning. An L-shaped dormer cuts into the party walls on both sides and bears steel on them, so both neighbours get a notice under the Party Wall Act and have 14 days to consent or dissent. If one dissents and surveyors are appointed, the award takes two to three months, and no steel goes in until it is signed. Serve the notices the week the structural drawings are finished, not the week before the scaffold is booked; our team has seen a three-month delay turn into a start on the planned date simply because the notices went out early.
Why Ealing homeowners choose LCCL
One contract and one point of contact: our team surveys the roof, draws the loft to the permitted development limits or to the conservation officer's requirements, runs the Lawful Development Certificate or the planning application, produces the structural calculations, serves the party wall notices, deals with building control and builds the loft with the same site team from scaffold to completion certificate. Clients see one price, one programme and one person to call.
What our clients say
“They completed our loft conversion to a very high standard, and the quality of workmanship throughout was excellent. The team was professional, reliable, and completed everything within a very reasonable timeframe.”
— Alina A, Google Reviews
Frequently asked questions
Do I need planning permission for a loft conversion in Ealing?
Usually not. Outside the borough's conservation areas, an L-shaped dormer within 40 cubic metres on a terrace, or a hip-to-gable and rear dormer within 50 cubic metres on a semi, with no dormer facing the road, is permitted development, and we confirm it with a Lawful Development Certificate from Ealing Council. Inside a conservation area, or on an Article 4 street such as Brentham or the Hanger Hill Garden Estate, a dormer needs a householder planning application and the council has the final say.
How much does a loft conversion cost in Ealing?
From £32,400 inc. VAT (£27,000 + VAT) for a Velux loft, £56,400 inc. VAT (£47,000 + VAT) for a rear dormer, £58,800 inc. VAT (£49,000 + VAT) for an L-shaped dormer and £60,000 inc. VAT (£50,000 + VAT) for a hip-to-gable with a rear dormer, design and build at economy specification. The final figure follows the survey and the drawings.
Which loft conversion suits a Victorian terrace in Ealing?
An L-shaped dormer. A full-width dormer across the main roof joined to a second dormer over the rear outrigger gives two rooms — usually a double bedroom with an en-suite and a second bedroom or study — and on most Ealing terraces it fits inside the 40 cubic metre permitted development allowance.
Get a figure for your own project
Not sure whether your project needs planning permission? Enter your postcode and tick what you want to build — about two minutes, free, and the from-price for each part that qualifies appears on screen and in your inbox.
To book a free 30-minute consultation call about your Ealing loft conversion, call LCCL Construction on 020 8037 7332 or get an instant estimate at https://www.lcclconstruction.co.uk/instant-quote.
One team, one contract, one point of contact — from first sketch to handover.
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