South Cornwall · TR10
House Extensions in Mabe Burnthouse
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 Mabe Burnthouse, that work is shaped by the place itself — Mabe Burnthouse is a residential village west of Penryn with strong commuter demand from the Falmouth and Truro areas and significant late-twentieth-century estate expansion, with a building stock that leans toward 1960s and 1970s estates and modern Persimmon and Bovis estates.
Local context
Why Mabe Burnthouse is its own job.
Outside Conservation Area and AONB but the wider parish includes designated areas. Mabe parish operates active input on edge-of-village schemes; granite quarrying heritage shapes some site planning. For extension specifically, Mabe Burnthouse sits outside the headline designations, which usually gives a slightly more flexible starting point — but parish-level character still matters. That's why we treat every Mabe Burnthouse project as a TR10-area job first — not a generic Cornwall job with a postcode bolted on.
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 Mabe Burnthouse.
01
Drainage on older Cornish properties is rarely on a clean modern map; CCTV survey before design is often money well spent.
02
Cornish granite and slate-hung walls react differently to new openings than modern brickwork — lintel choice and structural sequencing matter.
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.
Our process
How a Mabe Burnthouse 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
Mabe Burnthouse Extensions — common questions.
- 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 Mabe Burnthouse specifically, we'd start by checking the latest parish-level planning history before committing to a direction.
- 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.
- 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.
Other services in Mabe Burnthouse
Nearby places we cover