House Extensions · Four Oaks
Four Oaks didn't get its name from the extensions.
Four Oaks Conservation Area protects the mature trees and generous plots that give the area its character. There's no Article 4 Direction here, unlike the High Street conservation area in the town centre, so more permitted development survives than you'd expect. Touch a protected tree without giving Birmingham City Council six weeks' written notice, though, and that's a different conversation.
Good to know:
Any tree work inside the conservation area, pruning included, needs six weeks' written notice to Birmingham City Council, whether or not that tree carries an individual Preservation Order. Miss the window and the council can respond with a fresh Tree Preservation Order before you've laid a single brick, turning a straightforward extension into a much longer one.
Design First approach
What we spend most of our time on.
You'll be living in this space for years after the tree officer's letter is filed away, so that's where the real work goes: how the extension sits against a mature garden, whether the new kitchen actually opens the house up, whether it solves what's been bugging you about the layout. Respecting the conservation area is part of getting that right, not a separate box to tick.
Start with what's not working
We look at your house as it stands, not a generic version of it: where the current layout fights you, where the light doesn't reach, what your family's outgrown. The brief comes from that, not a template lifted from the last five-bedroom house on the road.
How it feels to be in the room
Where a window catches the garden, how the new space meets the old hallway, the walk from kitchen out to the trees. These are the details you'll still notice long after the neighbours have stopped watching the scaffolding come down.
A scheme that earns its place
A badly proportioned extension doesn't hide. Getting the massing and materials right isn't just good manners to the street. In a conservation area, it's also what makes the planning case hold up.
How it works
Four stages, built around the conservation area.
Each stage accounts for what a conservation area actually requires, tree notices included, not just a standard planning application.
Consultation & check
We check your property's conservation area status, any existing tree protection, and whether permitted development still applies, before any design work starts.
Design & feasibility
We design around your garden's mature trees and your plot's proportions, not against them, so the scheme reads as though it always belonged there.
Submission
Your application goes in with the conservation area and any tree notice requirements already accounted for, so it isn't held up waiting on paperwork nobody flagged early.
Build support
Building regulations, contractor tenders and site visits follow, with the same team from first sketch through to completion.
start the conversation
Let's design around what's already there.
A free consultation tells you what your plot, its trees and its conservation area status mean for your extension, before any design work starts.
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[Client name], homeowner
What we do
Beyond extensions.
House extensions are our most requested service here, but they're rarely the only thing a project needs.
House Extensions
Rear, side and wrap-around extensions designed to sit comfortably in Four Oaks Conservation Area, not just clear the planning department's first read.
Developer Architects
Working with developers and landlords on infill and small-site schemes across the wider Birmingham and West Midlands area, where conservation area constraints are part of the brief from day one.
3D Visualisation
A practical way to see the extension before it exists, useful for getting everyone in the household, or a conservation officer, looking at the same proposal.
Thinking about extending in Four Oaks?
A free consultation tells you what your plot, its trees and its conservation area status mean for your extension, before any design work starts.
FAQ's
Common Questions
Not automatically. Four Oaks doesn't carry an Article 4 Direction like the High Street conservation area in the town centre, so many single-storey rear extensions still fall under permitted development. Two-storey, side or wrap-around schemes, and anything affecting a protected tree, usually do need a full application. We check your specific property before any design work starts, at no cost.
Any tree work inside the conservation area, pruning included, needs six weeks' written notice to Birmingham City Council, whether or not that tree carries an individual Preservation Order. Miss that window and the council can respond with a fresh Tree Preservation Order before you've laid a single brick. We build the notice period into your programme from day one.
Yes. Design starts with how you use the house now and what the extra space needs to do for your family, not with the conservation area boundary. A scheme that's genuinely well resolved tends to be the one that clears conservation area scrutiny too, but that's a result of good design, not the starting point for it.
Fees are fixed for house extensions, set by the scale and complexity of your project rather than a percentage that moves with your build cost. You'll have that figure before design work starts.
Yes. Four Oaks, Mere Green, Roughley and the Streetly borders all fall under Birmingham City Council for planning, and we work across the whole area.
LOCAL TO YOU
Covering Four Oaks and the surrounding area.
Covering Four Oaks, Mere Green, Roughley and the Streetly borders, all assessed by Birmingham City Council. We also work throughout Sutton Coldfield and in Solihull, each with its own planning nuances.
