East Cornwall · PL14
One studio for extension in Dobwalls
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. Dobwalls sits in East Cornwall, and that geography ends up in the drawings — Dobwalls is a commuter village in the PL14 area, with everyday family housing, edge-of-village plots and quick routes to its parent town, with a building stock that leans toward bungalows and older cottages.
Dobwalls sits in East Cornwall — covering PL14 from Liskeard, Menheniot, St Cleer outward.
- Rural / open-countryside policy area
- ✓ One studio — design, planning and build under one roof
- ✓ Local to East Cornwall — not a national franchise
- ✓ Fixed-fee planning packages, no surprise invoices
- ✓ Measured-survey accuracy from day one
Our process
How a Dobwalls 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.
Local proof — Most Dobwalls homeowners come to us after a extension quote elsewhere felt vague on planning — we lead with feasibility instead.
Get a free feasibility viewWhat we focus on
Extensions considerations specific to Dobwalls.
01
Wind and sea-spray exposure can drive material choices on west-facing extensions; we detail accordingly.
02
Drainage on older Cornish properties is rarely on a clean modern map; CCTV survey before design is often money well spent.
03
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.
04
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.
Local context
Why Dobwalls is its own job.
Two things shape a Dobwalls application: parish character and policy. On policy — applications here usually turn on neighbour amenity, parking, overlooking and whether new work fits the rhythm of existing streets. For extension specifically, Cornwall Council's Local Plan applies tighter tests to isolated rural dwellings here, so design rationale and policy fit need to be set out clearly from the outset. Get that local reading right and the rest of the Dobwalls programme tends to run on time. On bungalows in particular — the kind you'll also find toward Tremar — the extension brief always has to read the existing fabric first.
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.
Local watch-list
What usually catches extension projects out in Dobwalls.
Watch #1
Tighter Local Plan tests on isolated rural dwellings
Dobwalls is part of Liskeard
Dobwalls sits inside the Liskeard catchment — we cover both as one extension territory.
See Extensions in Liskeard →Local fabric
What sets a Dobwalls extension brief apart.
Building stock
Across Dobwalls (PL14) we work on post-war semis, bungalows, modern estates, older cottages, garden infill plots. Each stock type drives a different extension response — bungalows in particular needs careful detailing here.
Parish & policy
Dobwalls sits in the parish of Dobwalls, which matters for how parish-level consultation lands on a extension application.
Coverage
We cover PL14 from our studio, with regular extension jobs also running in Liskeard, Menheniot, St Cleer. Most Dobwalls site visits get booked within the same week.
Can you handle both planning and build in Dobwalls?
Yes — design, planning, building regs and full construction run under one roof. For clients with an existing Dobwalls builder we can stop at a tender-ready Full Plans pack instead.
Request a free visitWho this is for
Dobwalls runs the full mix — owner-occupier, holiday-let, commercial and the occasional smallholding — so we scope every extension enquiry from the use-class up.
FAQs
Dobwalls Extensions — local questions answered.
- How much does an extension cost in Dobwalls?
- 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 Dobwalls specifically, we'd start by checking the latest parish-level planning history before committing to a direction.
- 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.
- What about the Party Wall Act?
- If you share a wall with a neighbour or build close to a boundary, the Act applies. We flag it early, recommend a surveyor and keep the programme aligned with the notice period.
- Will my house be liveable during the build?
- For most rear and side extensions, yes — we sequence the works so the kitchen and one bathroom stay functional until the new build is watertight and connected.
- How long does the whole process take?
- Allow roughly three months for design and approvals, then twelve to twenty weeks on site for a typical single-storey extension. Wraparounds and two-storey add-ons take longer, mostly through approval and groundworks.
Other services in Dobwalls
Nearby places we cover
Every Dobwalls extension we work on is treated as a PL14 job in its own right — local fabric, local policy, local builders.