Loft conversion builders covering Burpham, Wepham and the BN18 villages north east of Arundel. Dormer, hip-to-gable, Velux, mansard and L-shape conversions, surveyed, designed and built by one team, with architectural partners for drawings and National Park applications. Ask for a free, no-obligation quote.
Thinking about a loft conversion in Burpham? Apex designs and builds them here and across the BN18 villages north east of Arundel, a straightforward run inland from our Worthing base. This is the West Sussex Burpham, the downland village on the chalk shoulder above the Arun valley, rather than the larger place of the same name near Guildford. Worth saying at the outset: the planning position here is not the one that applies across most of the area we cover, and it changes how a project is best approached.
Burpham sits inside the South Downs National Park, and the village shares a single conservation area with neighbouring Wepham that covers effectively all of it. Two consequences follow. The first is that a planning application goes to the South Downs National Park Authority rather than to the district council, so advice picked up from someone in Arundel or along the coast is coming from a different desk with different priorities. The second matters more to your project. On land that is both National Park and conservation area, extensions to a roof are taken out of permitted development. A dormer or a hip-to-gable in Burpham is therefore a planning application from the very start, not something that might be squeezed under the national size limits.
That reads like an obstacle. In practice it simply moves the decision forward in the process. It means the choice of conversion is made on the drawing board, weighed against how the roof will read from the valley below, instead of being resolved once scaffold is already up. It also narrows the sensible shortlist to two routes. A rooflight scheme, which leaves the roof outline untouched, is the one that stays inside permitted development and can move quickly where the head height is already there. A properly designed dormer is entirely achievable in this village, but it has to be drawn well enough to be judged. We will tell you at the survey which of the two your roof actually supports. Our trusted architectural partners can prepare the drawings and submit any application on your behalf, and we build to current Building Regulations throughout. Contact us for a free quote on your Burpham loft conversion.
Two things decide which of the five fits a Burpham home rather than one: the roof you have, and what the designation will accept above it. Anything that alters the outline of the roof is assessed on appearance here, so the realistic shortlist is shorter than it would be for the same house down on the coastal plain. We go through both filters at the first visit so you are not paying for drawings of something that was never going to fly.
A dormer projects out from the roof slope to create standing headroom and real floor area where the roof used to close in. It remains the conversion that delivers most on this housing. What differs in Burpham is the route: it is a planning application rather than a permitted development job, so size, position and materials are all part of what gets assessed, and the drawing does the persuading. Rear dormers kept clearly below the ridge and in proportion to the roof are the ones that succeed here.
Applies where the side of the roof slopes inward instead of rising to a vertical wall. Building it up to a full gable recovers the volume the hip removes and widens the usable floor. It does, however, change the silhouette of the house as seen across open ground, which in a National Park village is precisely what the assessment examines. It is not ruled out and we have no interest in telling you it is, but it needs a case made for it rather than being assumed, and it reads best where neighbouring roofs already carry gables.
The one route in Burpham that stays within permitted development. The roof shape is left completely alone: we strengthen the structure, insulate, board out the floor and set rooflights into the existing slope for daylight. Subject to the standard limits on how far they project and how high they sit, this avoids the application step altogether, which on a designated village property takes a meaningful stretch out of the overall timeline. Everything depends on the head height already being there, which is the first thing we measure.
The largest change to a roof and the largest gain in floor area, rebuilding a slope to near vertical. Full planning permission is needed for a mansard anywhere; in a conservation area inside a National Park it also needs a genuinely strong argument on appearance. We would rather be straight with you at the survey than after you have paid for drawings: on the great majority of Burpham housing, a dormer or a rooflight scheme is the route that gets built. Where a property is an exception we will say so.
Suits a house with a two-storey wing running back from the main body. Dormers go on both roofs and are joined into one L-shaped floor, which gives room to separate a bathroom or a study from the bedroom rather than partitioning a single long space. Where a Burpham property has that shape, the second dormer generally sits away from open views, and that helps the case considerably when the application is assessed.
We design around the house in front of us rather than fitting a standard layout to it. The survey covers ridge height, head height at the wall plates, how the roof is framed, where the chimney breast runs and where a staircase can land without wrecking the floor below. On a Burpham property we add one more question to that list, which is what the roof can be seen from, because in a National Park conservation area the view of your roof from open ground is part of what gets decided. Knowing that early is what separates a scheme that gets consent from one that gets refused and redrawn. You finish the visit knowing which route your roof supports and roughly what it will give you.
We are based in Worthing and the Arun villages are regular working territory for us, not an occasional trip inland. That matters here more than it does in most places we cover, because Burpham is one of the few parts of our area where the application goes to the South Downs National Park Authority rather than to a district council, and the two do not weigh a proposal the same way. We know what tends to get through on these roofs and what tends to come back. The same team runs your project from the first survey to handover.
In a village where the outside of the roof is assessed before anything is built, the quality of the finish is not a nice extra, it is the thing the consent was granted for. We detail the junction where a new dormer meets old roof properly, match materials rather than approximating them, and keep the lines true where they will be seen from a distance. Inside gets the same treatment: level floors, flat plaster, joinery that still closes a year on, insulation detailed rather than stuffed in. All work meets current Building Regulations and we coordinate with your inspector at every stage needing sign-off.
A Burpham project runs through six stages from first survey to handover, with one difference worth flagging: consent work sits earlier here than it does elsewhere, because the design has to be settled before much else can be priced with confidence. We handle the survey, the construction and the coordination in between; our trusted architectural partners handle the design and any application. Some duties stay with you by law and cannot be transferred to a builder, namely Party Wall notices, listed building consent where a property is listed, and the Building Control submission.
We come out, measure up and look at the roof structure, the head height and the clearance at the ridge. On a Burpham property we also look at where the roof is visible from, since that shapes what will get consent. There is no charge for the visit and nothing to commit to at the end of it.
Drawings carry more weight in a designated village than they do elsewhere, because they are what the authority actually assesses. Where you have none, our trusted architectural partners can produce the layout and technical drawings so the design and the build are considered together. You get a detailed quote and an indicative programme alongside them.
Applications for Burpham go to the South Downs National Park Authority, not to the district council, because the village lies inside the National Park. Since the village is also within the Burpham and Wepham conservation area, extensions to the roof such as dormers and hip-to-gable work fall outside permitted development and need full planning permission. Alterations that stay within the existing roof slope, rooflights in particular, generally remain permitted development subject to the usual limits, and a Lawful Development Certificate is worth obtaining to put that on record. Our architectural partners can prepare and submit whichever application is needed on your behalf, and we would always suggest confirming your own position with the authority directly. Party Wall notices are your legal responsibility and cannot be served by us.
Work starts once drawings, consents and structural calculations are all in hand. How long the build runs depends on the conversion type and the property, and we set out an indicative programme with the quote. The opened roof is kept weatherproof throughout. Access on the village lanes needs a little more thought than it does on an estate, so we agree scaffold, delivery and skip positions with you before anything arrives rather than working it out on the day.
You appoint and book the inspections, either through the local authority building control service or through an approved inspector of your choosing. This is separate from planning and applies whichever route your conversion took. We build to the current Building Regulations and work around the inspection visits so each stage is seen before it is covered up.
Once the final inspection is signed off on your side, the room is handed over. Keep the completion certificate, the approved drawings and any planning decision notice together with the property paperwork, because in a designated village those are the documents a buyer’s solicitor will ask to see.
Loft conversions completed around Burpham, across the Arun villages and out to the West Sussex coast, covering a range of property types and conversion styles. If you want to see work on a roof like yours, or on a property in a designated area, say so and we will send the closest comparable projects.
General context for Burpham homeowners considering a loft conversion, not legal advice. Confirm the position for your own property with the South Downs National Park Authority before work starts.
Planning authority. The village lies inside the South Downs National Park, so applications go to the South Downs National Park Authority rather than the district council.
Conservation area. Burpham and Wepham share one conservation area covering effectively the whole settlement, administered by that same authority.
Permitted development. On land that is both National Park and conservation area, roof extensions such as dormers need full planning permission, while rooflights within the existing slope generally remain permitted subject to the usual limits.
Lawful Development Certificate. Worth obtaining wherever a scheme proceeds without a full application, so the position is recorded for a future sale.
Low ground. The valley brooks below the village sit in higher flood zones while the village stands above them, so this bears on access and ground level works rather than on the loft.
Listed buildings and party wall. Listed building consent is separate from planning permission, and serving a Party Wall notice on an attached property is the homeowner’s responsibility.
Apex covers these villages from Worthing and Burpham is a regular destination for us rather than an outlying one, with Wepham and Warningcamp homeowners equally welcome to get in touch. Down in the valley, our Arundel loft conversion page sets out a different planning position, since the built-up part of that town sits outside the National Park. For other Park villages where the same designation applies, see Washington and the Storrington page. We also work regularly in Angmering, a short way south.
Every project opens with a free site visit. We measure the roof, check the head height, look at what the roof can be seen from and tell you plainly which route your property supports. From there our trusted architectural partners can take on the drawings and any application, and you will want to confirm the position for your own address with the National Park Authority before work begins.
Apex works on loft conversions across Worthing, Brighton & Hove and the wider West Sussex coast. The pages below give a closer look at
the housing, planning and conversion types we see in each area. If your town or village isn’t listed, we likely still cover it, get in
touch for a quick check.
Questions Burpham homeowners put to us before starting a loft conversion. If yours is not covered, send it through the contact form and we will come back to you.
The build itself varies with the conversion type and the property, with rooflight schemes quickest and mansards longest. In Burpham the bigger variable usually sits before the build rather than during it. A rooflight conversion can generally proceed without a planning application, so the timeline is essentially the build. A dormer needs full permission because of the National Park and conservation area designations, so drawings and a decision period come first. That is the main reason we press to establish which route suits your roof at the survey rather than later. We give you a realistic programme for both stages when we quote.
For a dormer or a hip-to-gable, yes. Burpham is inside the South Downs National Park and within the Burpham and Wepham conservation area, and on land carrying those designations extensions to a roof are removed from permitted development, so full planning permission is required. The application goes to the National Park Authority rather than the district council. Alterations that stay within the existing roof slope, principally rooflights, generally remain permitted development subject to the usual limits on projection and height, and a Lawful Development Certificate is worth having to record that. Our trusted architectural partners can prepare and submit whichever application applies, and Building Regulations apply either way.
Nearly always, yes. The roof is kept weatherproof from the moment it is opened and most of the work happens above your existing ceilings. There are noisy days when the steels are lifted in and when the stair opening is cut, and we tell you in advance when those fall. On a Burpham property the disruption tends to be more predictable than average, because the consent process means the design is fixed before anyone starts, so there is less of the mid-build redesign that causes the worst weeks on other jobs.
Loft conversions consistently rank among the better returning home improvements, though what any one property gains depends on the house, the local market and the standard of the work. Burpham is a small downland village where houses are held for a long time and do not come up often, so for most owners here the more relevant value is not the resale figure at all. It is being able to add the bedroom the family needs without leaving a village that is genuinely difficult to buy back into. Where a sale does follow, a scheme with its consent and certificates in order is worth noticeably more than one without them.
As a working guide, around 2.2 to 2.3 metres from the top of the existing ceiling joists to the underside of the ridge, which leaves enough once the new floor and the insulation have taken their share. Head height matters more than usual in Burpham, because it is what decides whether the rooflight route is open to you. If the height is already there, you can convert without a planning application. If it is short, the height has to be created by a dormer, and that puts you into the application route. It is the first measurement we take on the free visit, and we check at the wall plates as well as at the ridge.
In Burpham the honest answer starts with the designations rather than the roof. Where head height allows it, a rooflight conversion is very often the right call, because it keeps the roof outline untouched, avoids the application and gets you the room soonest. Where you need real floor area, a rear dormer designed to sit below the ridge and in proportion with the roof is the realistic option and does get consent when drawn properly. Hip-to-gable is possible where the surrounding roofs already carry gables. A mansard is rarely the right recommendation on this housing. We confirm which after seeing the roof.
Yes, every one of them, and entirely separately from planning. A rooflight conversion in Burpham may well avoid a planning application, but it still has to satisfy the regulations in full. They cover structural stability, which usually means steel beams and strengthened joists; fire safety, including a protected escape route, fire doors and interlinked alarms; the staircase and the headroom over it; insulation; and sound separation from the rooms below. Making the submission and arranging the inspections is the homeowner’s responsibility, through the local authority building control service or an approved inspector you appoint. We build to the standards and work with whoever you choose.
