A single-storey extension is a new ground-floor room built onto your house, usually at the rear or side, with its own foundations, walls and roof, creating a bigger kitchen, living space or bedroom without moving home.
We arrange a single-storey extension for homeowners in Reading and the wider Berkshire. The job is planned, priced and managed by us and carried out by tradespeople engaged under our contract, so there is one agreement and one contact. On a typical home the work takes 10–16 weeks on site, and guide pricing in the South East is £39,000–£84,000, VAT included.
- Guide price
- £39,000–£84,000 inc VAT
- Time on site
- 10–16 weeks on site
- Postcodes
- RG1, RG2, RG4, RG6 and RG30
- Planning rules
- England
- Local area
- Berkshire
- Survey
- Free, with a written quote
How much does a single-storey extension cost in Reading?
What should you budget for a single-storey extension in Reading? Use the figures below as a starting point. Prices in the South East sit about 12% above the national guide, so the range here is £39,000–£84,000 including VAT. Your fixed price comes in writing once we've surveyed the property, at no charge.
| Type of job | What it usually involves | Guide in Reading |
|---|---|---|
| Small extension (8–12m²) | A modest rear or side extension, such as a utility room or a slightly larger kitchen. | £24,500–£45,000 |
| Typical rear extension (15–25m²) | A kitchen-diner or family room with bifold doors and a rooflight or lantern. | £39,000–£84,000 |
| Large or wrap-around (30m² plus) | A wrap-around or wide rear extension, often with structural steelwork into the house. | £78,000–£146,000 |
Your price depends mostly on:
- Floor area, shape and number of corners
- Roof type, rooflights, lanterns and the amount of glazing
- Ground conditions, foundation depth and drains to divert
- Finishes, kitchen, flooring and heating specification
What’s included?
- Groundworks, foundations and below-ground drainage
- Flat or pitched roof, with rooflights or a lantern if specified
- Steel beams to open into the existing house
- Windows and external doors, including bifolds if chosen
- Plastering, screed floor and internal doors
- Building control inspections and completion certificate
Building in Reading
Reading's Victorian terraces often show the town's patterned red and silver-grey brickwork, while Windsor, Maidenhead and Newbury mix Georgian, Victorian and Edwardian houses. Bracknell grew as a post-war new town with planned estates, Slough has a great deal of interwar and post-war housing, and newer developments sit on the edge of most towns.
Period terraces lend themselves to side-return extensions and dormer lofts; post-war and new-town homes often need replacement windows, roofline renewal and extra space. Larger detached houses commonly take on kitchen extensions, bifold doors and landscaping.
These patterns matter for a single-storey extension: older walls, roofs and floors in Reading can need different materials or extra preparation compared with newer homes.
Permissions for a single-storey extension in Reading
Homes in Reading come under the regulations for England, summarised below. We don't rely on general rules alone: we confirm the position for your address with the council before a quote goes out.
In England, many single-storey rear extensions are permitted development: typically up to 3 m deep on a semi-detached or terraced house and 4 m on a detached house, no more than 4 m high, and covering no more than half the land around the original house. Larger rear extensions can go through the prior approval process. Side extensions, flats, listed buildings, conservation areas and homes where permitted development rights have been removed need planning permission.
Building Regulations approval is needed for almost every extension, covering foundations, structure, insulation, drainage, ventilation and fire safety. If the work is on or near a shared wall or boundary, the Party Wall etc. Act 1996 may apply.
Rules change and every property is different, so we check the planning history and constraints for your address before we quote.
What happens after you get in touch?
We look at the job
Book a visit and we'll come to you. The survey covers measurements, the state of what's there now and any obvious constraints, so the price that follows is based on your actual home, not an average.
Price and scope agreed
You get the price in writing, itemised so you can see where the money goes. As long as the specification stays the same, that is the price you pay for a single-storey extension.
Booking the work
Before anyone starts, we confirm the programme in writing, check whether consents are required and arrange deliveries. If a skip or scaffolding on the road needs a permit, we apply for it.
The work itself
The job proceeds in the order set out in the programme, with dust and debris kept under control. Finally we tidy away, inspect the work together and pass the finished project over to you with its paperwork.
Why homeowners choose us
Single-storey extensions in Reading: questions
Do I need planning permission in Reading?
It depends on the work, the size of the project, your property type and whether the building is listed or in a conservation area. Reading is in England, so England's rules apply. Many smaller jobs need no planning application, but some still need building control approval. We check what applies to your address before quoting.
How much does a single-storey extension cost?
A typical single-storey rear extension of 15–25m² costs £39,000–£84,000, built to a plastered finish ready for your kitchen and decoration. As a guide, allow roughly £1,600–£2,800 per square metre plus fixed costs for groundworks, steelwork and fees. Smaller extensions cost more per square metre. The kitchen, flooring and large glazed doors are usually the biggest extras. We confirm a fixed price for the agreed specification after the survey.
Do you cover Lower Earley, Wokingham and Crowthorne?
Yes. As well as Reading, we cover Lower Earley, Wokingham and Crowthorne and the rest of Berkshire. Our coverage is UK-wide, so the process is the same wherever you are: a free site survey, a quote in writing that fixes the price for the agreed scope, and one point of contact while the work is planned and carried out.
Do I need an architect for an extension?
You need proper drawings for an extension, but not always a full architect service. A designer or architectural technician can produce planning and building regulations drawings, and a structural engineer provides beam and foundation calculations. If you already have drawings, we price from them. If not, we can arrange the drawings and calculations as part of the project so everything is coordinated from the start.
Is a flat roof or a pitched roof better on an extension?
A flat roof is quicker to build and usually costs less, gives a clean modern look and works well with a roof lantern. A pitched roof matches the main house, sheds water faster and allows a vaulted ceiling, but it costs more and its height can affect neighbours. Modern flat roofs in EPDM rubber or GRP last well when properly detailed. Planning rules on height can also decide the choice.
Nearby towns
We welcome enquiries from all RG1, RG2, RG4 and RG6 postcodes in Reading, plus Lower Earley, Wokingham and Crowthorne. Each one gets the same survey at no charge and a written price fixed for the work described.