Knock down and rebuild, or renovate?

If you've got a tired house on a good plot, the question is whether to renovate or knock it down and start again. When the plot is right but the house isn't, rebuilding is often the better answer.

If the house is dated, badly arranged or inefficient, a replacement dwelling lets you stop working around the problem and build the home you actually want.

On planning, you need full permission — but replacing a home is well-trodden ground and usually accepted in principle. In the green belt it's stricter: the new home can't be materially larger than the one it replaces.

Then there's the money. A new build can qualify for VAT relief that a renovation cannot — and that can genuinely change which option makes the most sense.

So before you commit, we run a feasibility study that costs rebuild against renovate, side by side. The decision gets made on real numbers, not a hunch.

Behind it all is two decades bringing schemes forward across London and the South East. We work across Hertfordshire, North and West London, Buckinghamshire and Essex — get in touch for an honest view on your own property.