East Cornwall · PL13
Widegates 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. Anchor any Widegates extension in the local fabric and the rest follows — Widegates is a commuter village in the PL13 area, with everyday family housing, edge-of-village plots and quick routes to its parent town, with a building stock that leans toward post-war semis and bungalows.
Widegates sits in East Cornwall — covering PL13 from Looe, Duloe, Herodsfoot outward.
- Rural / open-countryside policy area
- ✓ Free first site visit, no obligation
- ✓ Plain-English feasibility before any drawings
- ✓ Cornwall Council regulars across every sub-area
- ✓ Fixed-fee planning packages, no surprise invoices
Who this is for
Widegates 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
Local snags worth knowing before drawing a Widegates extension.
Watch #1
Tighter Local Plan tests on isolated rural dwellings
Local proof — Most Widegates homeowners come to us after a extension quote elsewhere felt vague on planning — we lead with feasibility instead.
Get a free feasibility viewFAQs
Widegates 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 Widegates 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 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.
Local context
Why Widegates is its own job.
The planning backdrop in East Cornwall is real, not abstract: 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. Treat the PL13 parish brief as the design brief and the Widegates application has somewhere to land. Whether the project is on post-war semis 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 Widegates.
01
Drainage on older Cornish properties is rarely on a clean modern map; CCTV survey before design is often money well spent.
02
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.
03
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.
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 Widegates 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 Widegates homeowners pick a local studio for extension.
Building stock
Across Widegates (PL13) we work on post-war semis, bungalows, modern estates, older cottages, garden infill plots. Each stock type drives a different extension response — post-war semis in particular needs careful detailing here.
Parish & policy
Widegates sits in the parish of Widegates, which matters for how parish-level consultation lands on a extension application.
Coverage
We cover PL13 from our studio, with regular extension jobs also running in Looe, Duloe, Herodsfoot. Most Widegates site visits get booked within the same week.
What does a first Widegates consultation cost?
Nothing. We come to the property, walk the site, talk through what works on a PL13 plot and follow up with a written feasibility note inside a week — no obligation either way.
Request a free visitWidegates is part of Looe
Widegates sits inside the Looe catchment — we cover both as one extension territory.
See Extensions in Looe →Other services in Widegates
Nearby places we cover
A extension in Widegates stands or falls on how well it reads the street — we treat that as the design brief, not an afterthought.