North Cornwall · PL28 · Cornwall Council North
Small rear extensions in Padstow — under-3m designs that work hard
A Padstow rear extension under 3m doesn't need to feel small. The compact PL28 terraces and cottages we work on benefit most from a single tight move: a glazed corner, a side-light over the new kitchen, or a re-jigged level threshold to the garden. Under-3m and single-storey usually sits inside permitted development, which removes most of the planning risk. Extensions are the bread and butter of Cornish homes — adding the kitchen-diner the original layout never had, the bedroom for a growing family, or the light and views the back of the house should always have had. Padstow sits in North Cornwall, and that geography ends up in the drawings — Padstow is a working fishing harbour on the Camel Estuary, AONB-designated, with one of the strongest period property markets in Cornwall and a tight Conservation Area covering the inner harbour, with a building stock that leans toward modern coastal homes at Trevone and Trethillick and Georgian harbour terraces.
Padstow sits in North Cornwall — just off the A389; with Truro the closest city; 5 miles from Wadebridge.
- Conservation Area
- Cornwall AONB
- Coastal exposure zone
- ✓Under-3m PD route — no planning needed
- ✓Glazed corner detailing maximises light gain
- ✓Typical 8–15m² build: £30k–£55k
- ✓On-site build: 10–14 weeks
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Page purpose
Drawings only, or drawings through to handover in Padstow?
Both routes are open on a PL28 project, and the honest answer depends on whether you already have a builder you trust. Plenty of Padstow clients take the drawings, tender them locally, then come back to us for the build if the numbers do not stack up.
- Route one: feasibility, planning and a tender-ready technical pack
- Route two: the same pack, then the build under one contract
- Either way the survey and feasibility work is identical, so the decision can wait
- Fees quoted per stage against the PL28 scope, not as one opaque figure
Scope
Scope options for Padstow clients
Not every project needs every stage. On a Padstow job we scope to what the site and the consent route actually require.
Measured survey
An accurate record of what is actually there, which is where most avoidable cost is removed.
Heritage and design statements
Written justification where designation makes the design case as important as the drawing.
Structural coordination
Calculations coordinated with the drawings so building control sees one consistent story.
Construction and technical drawings
1:10 and 1:20 details for the parts of the job builders normally have to guess at.
Building regulation drawings
Full Plans sets with sections, construction notes and coordinated structural information.
Local watch-list
What usually catches extension projects out in Padstow.
Watch #1
Cornwall AONB and Heritage Coast across the whole peninsula
Watch #2
Principal residence sentiment from the parish on new dwellings
Watch #3
Tight medieval lanes around the harbour limiting site logistics
Watch #4
Granite-and-slate vernacular controls on visible elevations
Who this is for
Straight facts about working with us here
- Design and build are offered from the same studio, which means the person answering your Padstow questions has seen the detail built.
- Applications for Padstow are handled through Cornwall Council, with Bodmin the nearest planning office we deal with regularly.
- Designated-area work is routine here, so heritage and landscape statements are produced alongside the drawings rather than outsourced.
- Sites we know on the ground here include the area around the harbour and Prideaux Place.
Planning rules change and every site is different. For the final position on your address, check with Cornwall Council as the local planning authority or the Planning Portal.
What we focus on
Extensions considerations specific to Padstow.
01
Permitted development for rear extensions runs to four metres on a detached house, three on a semi or terrace — but Article 4 areas remove this in some parishes.
02
Extensions over a certain proportion of the original house trigger full Part L upgrade obligations to the existing building — worth knowing before brief is set.
03
Cornish granite and slate-hung walls react differently to new openings than modern brickwork — lintel choice and structural sequencing matter.
04
Wind and sea-spray exposure can drive material choices on west-facing extensions; we detail accordingly.
Quick check
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For projects in Padstow and the PL28 area.
Local context
Why Padstow is its own job.
Two things shape a Padstow application: parish character and policy. On policy — conservation Area is extensive, with most of the historic core protected. Padstow's Neighbourhood Plan operates a strong principal residence policy; second homes and holiday lets face explicit policy resistance. For extension specifically, parts of Padstow sit within a designated Conservation Area, which means materials, fenestration and roof pitches all need to read sympathetically with the existing streetscape; the surrounding landscape falls inside the Cornwall Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, so massing, height and landscape impact carry extra weight in any planning decision; coastal salt-laden air around Padstow drives detailing choices — fixings, render systems and timber treatments all need to be specified for exposure. Get that local reading right and the rest of the Padstow programme tends to run on time. On modern coastal homes at Trevone and Trethillick in particular — the kind you'll also find toward Constantine Bay — the extension brief always has to read the existing fabric first. Where a property sits inside a conservation area or is listed, the assessment tends to turn on materials, window detailing and how visible the change is from the street rather than floor area alone. Cornwall Council's conservation team, or the Planning Portal, is the right place to confirm what applies to a specific address. Salt air and prevailing wind change specification long before they change planning. We tend to draw weathering details in full, then check whether coastal or AONB policy narrows the design options for this address.
Planning note
Most extensions in Cornwall are either permitted development or a straightforward householder application — but Conservation Area and AONB sites need a more careful design conversation upfront.
Recent work nearby
Recent harbour-adjacent townhouse refurb hid services in a new internal core and freed the principal rooms.
See more recent North Cornwall work →Our process
How a Padstow extension project runs.
Step 1
Brief
We meet on site, talk through how you live now and what's missing from the current layout.
Step 2
Design
Two or three sketch directions with rough budgets, then refinement of the chosen route.
Step 3
Approvals
Planning or Cert of Lawfulness, then a full building regs package.
Step 4
Build
Either through your own builder with our drawings, or as a full build by our team.
Step 5
Handover
Snag, certify, hand over the keys to your new space.
Typical single-storey rear extensions run twelve to twenty weeks on site; two-storey and wraparound projects sixteen to thirty weeks.
FAQs
Padstow Extensions — local questions answered.
- What's the smallest worthwhile rear extension in Padstow?
- Anything from 8m² is worth doing if it unlocks a kitchen layout. Below that, the cost per m² makes a glazed door upgrade more sensible.
- Can I do a small extension in Padstow under permitted development?
- If the property has its PD rights intact, single-storey rear extensions up to 3m (terraced/semi) or 4m (detached) are permitted. Conservation Area sites lose this — full planning needed.
- How much does a small extension cost in Padstow?
- For 8–15m² in Padstow, allow £30k–£55k including a basic kitchen refit. Coastal detailing and salt-resistant ironmongery add 5–8%.
- How much does an extension cost in Padstow?
- Build costs in Cornwall typically run from around £2,200 to £3,200 per square metre for a good-quality single-storey extension, more for kitchen-grade fit-out or complex glazing. We give a realistic budget before drawings start, not after. In Padstow specifically, we'd start by checking the Conservation Area boundary before committing to a direction.
- Who do you usually work for in Padstow?
- A genuine mix: owner-occupiers, second-home and holiday-let owners, small commercial clients and the occasional smallholding. That matters because the right route for an extension depends on how the property is used, not just what it looks like, so we scope from the use first.
- Can you handle the build as well as the design?
- Yes — that's the whole point of the studio. One contract, one point of contact, no finger-pointing between architect and builder when something needs a decision on site.
Keep reading
Where to go next from Padstow
We cover Padstow and the wider PL28 district directly, typically alongside jobs in Wadebridge. Extensions enquiries here are common enough that we know the constraints before the first visit.
Other services in Padstow
Nearby places we cover
Small extensions in Padstow succeed on detailing, not scale. A well-placed rooflight and the right floor finish often deliver more than an extra metre of footprint.
Sketch a small Padstow extension that punches above its size
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