Loft conversion specialists working across Rustington and the Arun coast. We design and build dormer, hip-to-gable, Velux, mansard and L-shape conversions, including on the single-storey and chalet-style homes that make up so much of BN16, with in-house architectural support on every project. Contact us for a free, no-obligation quote.
Thinking about a loft conversion in Rustington? On a lot of homes here the roof is not the difficult part. The staircase is. BN16 holds a large share of single-storey and chalet-style houses, and on those the new stair has to come out of the space you already live in rather than off an existing landing, so where it lands decides both how much of the ground floor you keep and how much usable room you gain above it.
That is where we start. At the first visit we measure floor to ridge, work out the head height you would genuinely stand up in once the new floor is built up and the roof lined, look at the roof structure and any chimney stacks, and set out two or three honest options for where a staircase could go. On a shallow roof the answer is often a dormer, or a change to the roof shape, rather than rooflights alone, because without one too little of the room clears the height that makes it worth having. On a two-storey Rustington house the job runs more conventionally, and we will tell you on the day which of the two you are dealing with.
Working across Rustington, we take a joined-up approach from the first drawing to the finished room. Our in-house architectural support covers layout planning, structural coordination and technical drawings, and prepares a planning application or Lawful Development Certificate where one is needed, with Arun District Council as the planning authority. We build to current Building Regulations throughout. Contact us for a free, no-obligation quote on your Rustington loft conversion.
Which conversion suits a Rustington home depends on the roof pitch you are starting with, how much of the new floor sits above usable head height, and whether the roofline is allowed to change. Five types come up across BN16. On the single-storey and chalet-style houses the realistic choice is narrower than it first looks, because head height rules some of them out before any design work begins, and we would far rather tell you that at the first visit than after a drawing.
The most common answer on Rustington’s lower-pitched roofs, because it creates head height rather than simply borrowing what is already there. A dormer projects out from the roof slope to give a flat ceiling and standing room across a usable width, and it generally returns the most floor area of the five types. On a chalet-style house it is often what turns a cramped upper level into a proper room. Away from the conservation area at the village core, a rear dormer may fall within permitted development rather than needing a full application.
Suited to the hipped roofs found through Rustington’s residential roads, where the side of the roof slopes inward instead of rising to a flat wall. Rebuilding that slope up to a full gable recovers the volume the hip takes away, which on a modest roof can be the difference between a viable conversion and an awkward one. It changes the shape of the house seen from the side, so how the new gable sits against the house next door is worth thinking about, and it is frequently paired with a rear dormer to square off the new floor.
The lightest touch of the five. Nothing changes outside beyond the plane of the glazing: we strengthen the structure, insulate, board out the floor and fit rooflights for daylight. It is the quickest option, the least likely to need planning permission on a house outside the conservation area, and it holds the roofline exactly as it is. The caveat in Rustington is head height, because a shallow roof with rooflights alone often leaves too little of the room usable to justify the work.
The biggest change of the five, rebuilding a roof slope to near vertical for maximum floor area and headroom across the whole footprint. Full planning permission is almost always required and the appearance of the house changes substantially, so it suits larger properties rather than the low roofs of a single-storey home. In and around the conservation area at the village core the design detail would be examined closely, which is a conversation to have with Arun District Council and a planning consultant before committing to the idea.
Works where the house has a two-storey rear projection to build onto, adding a dormer to both that projection and the main roof to create an L-shaped upstairs layout. It delivers more than a standard dormer without the planning weight of a mansard. Not every Rustington house carries that projection, and on the single-storey stock it does not arise at all, so it is one of the first things we look for on site.
The best conversion is the one your existing structure will actually support, so we design around your roof rather than from a template. On Rustington’s single-storey and chalet-style homes that means being precise about two numbers early: the head height you will genuinely have once the floor build-up and the roof lining are in, and the run a staircase needs to land properly. Get those right and a roof that looked marginal often gives a full double bedroom with an en suite. Get them wrong and you build a room nobody uses. You leave the first visit knowing which of the two you are looking at.
We are based in Worthing, and Rustington is a short run west along the coast, so a site visit or a call-out mid-build is easy to arrange. We work regularly along this stretch of the Arun coast and know the general planning picture under Arun District Council, as well as how differently a job runs depending on whether the house sits in the older heart of the village or on the later residential roads around it. You get a local team on site, the same standards from first day to last, and a crew that treats your home as somewhere people are living.
Our team and specialist partners work to a finish that stands up to close inspection: level floors, plumb walls, clean plaster lines and well-fitted joinery. Where a conversion changes the outside of the house, the new work has to look like it belongs there rather than like something bolted on, and that matters on the quieter residential roads of Rustington where a whole run of houses shares a similar roofline. All work is carried out to current Building Regulations and we coordinate with your Building Control inspector at the relevant stages. Recent projects are shown in the gallery below.
Six stages take a Rustington loft from first visit to finished room. Our in-house architectural support carries the design and any application, and we build the job itself, so what stays with you personally is short and clearly flagged: Party Wall notices, appointing Building Control and any listed building consent remain the homeowner’s responsibility, and are best discussed with a surveyor, architect or the council.
We come to your Rustington home, measure floor to ridge, look at the roof structure and work out where a staircase could realistically land. On a single-storey or chalet-style house that last point shapes everything else, so we spend proper time on it rather than leaving it to the drawing stage. You get an honest view of what the space can deliver before anyone talks about design. No cost, no obligation.
If you already have drawings we will price against them. If not, our in-house architectural support takes the design on, producing the layout and the technical drawings an application or certificate needs. One team carries the scheme from first sketch through to site, and a detailed quote and outline programme arrive alongside the drawings.
Where a planning application or Lawful Development Certificate is needed, our architectural partners can prepare and submit it to Arun District Council on your behalf. We would always suggest confirming the planning position for your own address directly with the council, and talking to a surveyor or architect about Party Wall requirements before work starts. Party Wall notices are the homeowner's legal responsibility and cannot be served by the builder.
Construction starts once the consents, drawings and structural calculations are in place. How long it runs depends on the conversion type and the property, and we set out an indicative programme at quote stage. The opened roof is kept weatherproof throughout. Where a staircase is being cut into an occupied ground floor, we sequence the work to keep the house liveable for as much of the build as possible.
You appoint Building Control, either the local authority team or an approved inspector, and you book the visits. Our part is to build to the current regulations and to give you good notice when a stage is ready, so nothing is closed up before it has been seen.
Once the final inspection has been signed off we hand the finished room over. Keep the completion certificate and the rest of the paperwork with your property records, along with any planning or certificate documents, because a buyer's solicitor will ask for them.
A selection of recent projects completed along the West Sussex coast and across the wider Sussex area, covering a range of conversion types and property sizes. If you would like to see something closer to your own type of house, ask us and we will pull out the relevant examples.
The notes below are general context for Rustington homeowners considering a loft conversion and do not constitute legal advice. Always confirm the position for your property with Arun District Council, and where relevant with an architect, planning consultant or party wall surveyor, before any work starts.
Planning authority. Planning in Rustington is handled by Arun District Council, which also covers Littlehampton, Angmering, East Preston and Ferring.
Conservation area. A conservation area covers the historic core of the village around the parish church, where permitted development rights are usually tighter and a full planning application is more likely.
Permitted development. On houses outside that core, many loft conversions proceed under permitted development, subject to the usual volume and position limits and to any Article 4 Direction, with a Lawful Development Certificate worth obtaining for your records.
Listed buildings. Listed buildings are concentrated around the old village heart, including the medieval parish church. Listed building consent is separate from, and additional to, planning permission.
Coastal flood risk. Lower ground towards the seafront falls within Environment Agency tidal and coastal flood zones. That bears on ground works far more than on a loft, but it can still be raised at planning stage.
Party wall. On semi-detached and terraced homes, serving any Party Wall notice is the homeowner’s legal responsibility and cannot be done by the builder.
Apex works right along the West Sussex coast into Rustington and the neighbouring Arun villages, with Littlehampton, Angmering, East Preston and Ferring all inside the same run, so arranging a visit is straightforward and the build keeps its pace once it starts.
The first step is a free site visit. We measure up, assess the roof structure and head height, and set out realistic options, including where a staircase can go, which on many Rustington homes is the question that decides the whole scheme. From there our in-house architectural support can take on the drawings and any application, and you will want to confirm the planning position for your address directly with Arun District Council and discuss Party Wall requirements with a surveyor or architect before the build starts.
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 we are asked regularly by Rustington homeowners. If yours is not covered here, send it through the contact form and we will come back to you.
It depends on the conversion type, the size and condition of the property, and the consents involved. Rooflight conversions are usually quickest, with dormer, hip-to-gable, L-shape and mansard builds taking progressively longer. On a single-storey or chalet-style house the staircase works add time on the floor below, because you are altering the space you live in as well as the roof above it. We give you an indicative programme for our part of the work at quote stage, and your architect or planning consultant is best placed to estimate the design and consent phase.
Often not, but it depends on where you are and what you are proposing. Homes inside the conservation area at the village core usually have permitted development rights restricted or removed, so a full application to Arun District Council is more likely, and details such as dormer position, materials and window design are looked at more closely. Elsewhere in Rustington many conversions fall within permitted development, subject to the national limits on volume, position and window design and to any Article 4 Direction affecting your road. A mansard or a raised roof is a different matter and normally needs permission wherever it is. Where an application or a Lawful Development Certificate is needed, our in-house architectural support can prepare and submit it, and we would always recommend confirming your own position with the council. Building Regulations apply either way and are separate from planning.
Usually, yes. The roof is kept weatherproof once it is opened and most of the work happens above the existing ceiling. Expect noise and dust at points, particularly during steel installation and when the staircase is cut in. On a single-storey home that stair opening is more disruptive than it would be in a two-storey house, because it is being formed in a room you use every day, so we agree the sequence with you beforehand and get that stage done and closed up as quickly as we can.
A well-built conversion has long been regarded as one of the better returns among home improvements, though the actual figure depends on the property, the quality of the finish and the local market at the time. In Rustington the pull is often practical rather than speculative: an extra bedroom, or a bedroom with an en suite, in a settled coastal spot where people tend to want to stay put rather than move on. Adding a proper upper floor to a single-storey home changes what the house is, which is a bigger step than adding a room to a two-storey one, so it is worth taking an estate agent’s view alongside ours.
As a general guide you want roughly 2.2 to 2.3 metres from the top of the existing ceiling joists to the underside of the ridge before the conversion begins, because the finished floor and the roof lining both take some of it. Rustington’s lower-pitched roofs are where this matters most: a rooflight conversion needs the height to be there already, whereas a dormer or a change to the roof shape can create it. Measuring it properly is one of the first things we do at the free visit, and we will say so plainly if the numbers do not work.
As a broad steer: a chalet-style or single-storey home with a shallow roof usually needs a dormer, and sometimes a change to the roof shape, to produce a room worth having. A hipped roof on a two-storey house often suits a hip-to-gable paired with a rear dormer. A house that already has a gable end may need only the dormer. Rooflights work well where the ridge is generous or where the roofline has to stay exactly as it is. Where there is a two-storey rear projection, an L-shape is worth considering. We will recommend the right option for your specific property at the free site visit.
Yes, on every loft conversion, whether or not planning permission is required. The regulations cover structural stability, which usually means steel beams and strengthened floor joists, fire safety including escape routes, fire doors and alarms, staircase design and headroom, thermal insulation, and sound separation between the new rooms and the rest of the house. On a single-storey house the escape route and the new staircase design tend to need the most thought, because the whole means of escape from the property is changing. Appointing Building Control and booking the inspections is the homeowner’s responsibility, either through the local authority or through an approved inspector. We build to the standards throughout and coordinate with whoever you appoint.
