South Cornwall · PL23 · Cornwall Council Central
Polruan 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. Anchor any Polruan extension in the local fabric and the rest follows — Polruan sits opposite Fowey across the river, accessible by passenger ferry, with a tightly packed slate-cottage village clinging to the cliffs above the harbour, with a building stock that leans toward slate-hung cottages and modern carefully detailed coastal homes.
Polruan sits in South Cornwall — just off the A39; covering PL23 from Fowey, Bodinnick outward.
- Conservation Area
- Cornwall AONB
- Coastal exposure zone
- Rural / open-countryside policy area
- ✓Conservation Area experience built into the fee
- ✓Cornwall Council Central sub-area regulars
- ✓Free first site visit, no obligation
- ✓Plain-English feasibility before any drawings
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Free Polruan feasibility call
Tell us about your extension. We reply within 1 working day — no obligation.
Who this is for
In Polruan the extension brief is almost always a private homeowner improving a forever home — so we lead with feasibility and long-term value, not show-home rhetoric.
Local watch-list
What usually catches extension projects out in Polruan.
Watch #1
Conservation Area controls on materials, window proportions and roof form through central Polruan
Watch #2
AONB landscape-impact testing on anything read in long views across South Cornwall
Watch #3
Exposure detailing on slate-hung cottages — fixings, render systems and joinery specified for salt-laden air
Watch #4
Local Plan tests on isolated dwellings, plus lane access for plant and deliveries around Polruan
Local proof — Our South Cornwall workload means a Polruan extension project never has to wait for an out-of-county team to drive down.
Get a free feasibility viewFAQs
Polruan Extensions — local questions answered.
- 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. In Polruan specifically, we'd start by checking the Conservation Area boundary before committing to a direction.
- 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.
- 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.
- We live in the house. Can a extension in Polruan be done while we stay put?
- Usually yes for single-storey and rear work, with a temporary kitchen or bathroom arrangement agreed before the start. Whole-house remodels and roof work in Polruan are often easier if you move out for a few weeks. We set that expectation at feasibility stage rather than halfway through.
- 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.
Quick check
Want a straight answer on whether your Polruan project is worth pursuing?
Send a few details — we'll come back within 1 working day with a plain-English view on planning risk, likely cost band and whether it's a project we'd take on.
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Get a free feasibility view
For projects in Polruan and the PL23 area.
Who this is for
Why this page exists, and who it is for
- Drawings, planning and building regulations are all produced in-house, so a extension enquiry does not get passed between firms.
- Designated-area work is routine here, so heritage and landscape statements are produced alongside the drawings rather than outsourced.
- Applications for Polruan are handled through Cornwall Council, with Truro the nearest planning office we deal with regularly.
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.
Keep reading
Follow the chain: survey, drawings, build
Polruan is covered from our Fowey run. Being a smaller place, the local detail matters more than the headline policy: lane access, neighbour proximity and what the immediate street already looks like.
Page purpose
Drawings only, or drawings through to handover in Polruan?
Both routes are open on a PL23 project, and the honest answer depends on whether you already have a builder you trust. Plenty of Polruan 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 PL23 scope, not as one opaque figure
Scope
What we can draw, survey and build around Polruan
Clients in Polruan take different slices of this list, and that is deliberate.
Measured survey
An accurate record of what is actually there, which is where most avoidable cost is removed.
Construction and technical drawings
1:10 and 1:20 details for the parts of the job builders normally have to guess at.
Heritage and design statements
Written justification where designation makes the design case as important as the drawing.
Building regulation drawings
Full Plans sets with sections, construction notes and coordinated structural information.
Structural coordination
Calculations coordinated with the drawings so building control sees one consistent story.
Local context
Why Polruan is its own job.
Locally, conservation Area covers the village core; AONB and Heritage Coast across Lanteglos parish. Cliff-edge sites face strict controls and access for any build is logistically tight. For extension specifically, parts of Polruan 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 Polruan drives detailing choices — fixings, render systems and timber treatments all need to be specified for exposure; 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 Polruan projects parish-up, not template-down — the PL23 context shapes the design from day one. Whether the project is on slate-hung cottages in the centre or further out toward Fowey, 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 Polruan.
01
Wind and sea-spray exposure can drive material choices on west-facing extensions; we detail accordingly.
02
Cornish granite and slate-hung walls react differently to new openings than modern brickwork — lintel choice and structural sequencing matter.
03
Drainage on older Cornish properties is rarely on a clean modern map; CCTV survey before design is often money well spent.
04
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 Polruan 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 Polruan homeowners pick a local studio for extension.
Building stock
Across Polruan (PL23) we work on slate-hung cottages, fishermen's terraces, Victorian villas above the village, modern carefully detailed coastal homes. Each stock type drives a different extension response — slate-hung cottages in particular needs careful detailing here.
Parish & policy
Polruan sits in the parish of Lanteglos, which matters for how parish-level consultation lands on a extension application.
Coverage
We cover PL23 from our studio, with regular extension jobs also running in Fowey, Bodinnick, Lanreath. Most Polruan site visits get booked within the same week.
What does a first Polruan consultation cost?
Nothing. We come to the property, walk the site, talk through what works on a PL23 plot and follow up with a written feasibility note inside a week — no obligation either way.
Request a free visitPolruan is part of Fowey
Polruan sits inside the Fowey catchment — we cover both as one extension territory.
See Extensions in Fowey →Other services in Polruan
Nearby places we cover
On a Polruan site the success of a extension is decided in week one — by reading the constraints right, not by drawing them away. Lane access and rural policy tests shape what is realistic on an isolated plot.
Start a Polruan project with us We know how slate-hung cottages behave here.
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