East Cornwall · PL14
Duloe extension — feasibility first, drawings second
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. In Duloe, that work is shaped by the place itself — Duloe is a rural parish in the PL14 area, with farmsteads, lanes and scattered homes defining its built character, with a building stock that leans toward farmhouses and smallholdings.
Duloe sits in East Cornwall — covering PL14 from Looe, Herodsfoot, Lanreath outward.
- Rural / open-countryside policy area
- ✓ Free first site visit, no obligation
- ✓ Plain-English feasibility before any drawings
- ✓ 30+ years of Cornwall Council approvals
- ✓ rural policy area experience built into the fee
Who this is for
Duloe runs the full mix — owner-occupier, holiday-let, commercial and the occasional smallholding — so we scope every extension enquiry from the use-class up.
Local watch-list
Common Duloe pitfalls we plan around.
Watch #1
Tighter Local Plan tests on isolated rural dwellings
Local proof — Recent extension enquiries from Duloe have clustered around farmhouses — we know the route through Cornwall Council on these.
Get a free feasibility viewFAQs
Duloe Extensions — local questions answered.
- Do I need planning permission for an extension?
- Often no — single-storey rear extensions, side extensions and modest two-storey additions can sit inside permitted development on a typical detached house. Conservation Areas, AONB and Article 4 zones remove some of those rights, so we always check the address first. In Duloe specifically, we'd start by checking the latest parish-level planning history before committing to a direction.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- How much does an extension cost in Cornwall?
- 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.
Local context
Why Duloe is its own job.
Locally, open-countryside policy, access lanes, drainage and agricultural building history all need to be addressed before drawings go too far. 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. Which is why we scope Duloe projects parish-up, not template-down — the PL14 context shapes the design from day one. Whether the project is on farmhouses in the centre or further out toward Looe, the extension response is locally tuned.
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.
What we focus on
Extensions considerations specific to Duloe.
01
Drainage on older Cornish properties is rarely on a clean modern map; CCTV survey before design is often money well spent.
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
Wind and sea-spray exposure can drive material choices on west-facing extensions; we detail accordingly.
04
Cornish granite and slate-hung walls react differently to new openings than modern brickwork — lintel choice and structural sequencing matter.
Our process
How a Duloe 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 fabric
Why Duloe homeowners pick a local studio for extension.
Building stock
Across Duloe (PL14) we work on farmhouses, converted barns, rural cottages, smallholdings, scattered modern homes. Each stock type drives a different extension response — farmhouses in particular needs careful detailing here.
Parish & policy
Duloe sits in the parish of Duloe, 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 Looe, Herodsfoot, Lanreath. Most Duloe site visits get booked within the same week.
What does a first Duloe consultation cost?
Nothing. We come to the property, walk the site, talk through what works on a PL14 plot and follow up with a written feasibility note inside a week — no obligation either way.
Request a free visitDuloe is part of Looe
Duloe sits inside the Looe catchment — we cover both as one extension territory.
See Extensions in Looe →Other services in Duloe
Nearby places we cover
The extension jobs we're proudest of in Duloe are the ones where the planning route was clear before a single elevation was drawn.