East Cornwall · PL30
Lanivet extensions — a East Cornwall studio
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. On a Lanivet site, the brief always meets the place — Lanivet is a village south-west of Bodmin claiming to be the geographic centre of Cornwall, with a Norman church and a tight Conservation Area at the village core, with a building stock that leans toward Edwardian houses and modern small estates.
Lanivet sits in East Cornwall — covering PL30 from Bodmin outward.
- Conservation Area
- Rural / open-countryside policy area
- ✓ Free first site visit, no obligation
- ✓ Plain-English feasibility before any drawings
- ✓ Fixed-fee planning packages, no surprise invoices
- ✓ Measured-survey accuracy from day one
Who this is for
Lanivet 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
What usually catches extension projects out in Lanivet.
Watch #1
Conservation Area material and fenestration controls in central Lanivet
Watch #2
Tighter Local Plan tests on isolated rural dwellings
Local proof — Most Lanivet homeowners come to us after a extension quote elsewhere felt vague on planning — we lead with feasibility instead.
Get a free feasibility viewFAQs
Lanivet 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 Lanivet specifically, we'd start by checking the Conservation Area boundary 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 Lanivet is its own job.
The planning backdrop in East Cornwall is real, not abstract: conservation Area covers the village core including the church. Bodmin and Wenford Railway and the A30 corridor shape edge-of-village development. For extension specifically, parts of Lanivet sit within a designated Conservation Area, which means materials, fenestration and roof pitches all need to read sympathetically with the existing streetscape; 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. Treat the PL30 parish brief as the design brief and the Lanivet application has somewhere to land. Whether the project is on Edwardian houses in the centre or further out toward Bodmin, 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 Lanivet.
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
Wind and sea-spray exposure can drive material choices on west-facing extensions; we detail accordingly.
03
Drainage on older Cornish properties is rarely on a clean modern map; CCTV survey before design is often money well spent.
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.
Our process
How a Lanivet 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 Lanivet homeowners pick a local studio for extension.
Building stock
Across Lanivet (PL30) we work on traditional granite cottages, Victorian villas, Edwardian houses, post-war bungalows, modern small estates. Each stock type drives a different extension response — Edwardian houses in particular needs careful detailing here.
Parish & policy
Lanivet is its own town in East Cornwall, with planning history that's specific to the PL30 catchment.
Coverage
We cover PL30 from our studio, with regular extension jobs also running in Bodmin, Blisland, Luxulyan. Most Lanivet site visits get booked within the same week.
What does a first Lanivet consultation cost?
Nothing. We come to the property, walk the site, talk through what works on a PL30 plot and follow up with a written feasibility note inside a week — no obligation either way.
Request a free visitOther services in Lanivet
Nearby places we cover
From initial feasibility to final handover, we manage extension projects across Lanivet with careful attention to what makes East Cornwall unique.