St Albans crowned Britain’s home extension capital
St Albans people love a home extension... - Credit: Getty Images/iStockphoto
More home extension applications are being submitted in the St Albans district than anywhere else in Britain.
St Albans topped the list for home extensions - Credit: Archant
According to construction project data provider Barbour ABI, over the past two years there has been an average of one extension application annually for every 35 private homes.
The report said: “Not all will be built, but that level of planning applications represents a significant concentration of work and compares with a GB average figure for extensions of one application for every 120 homes.”
St Albans came second in the list of the top 10 districts for loft conversions - Credit: Archant
Apart from a desire for more space and the ability to pay for the necessary work, the report found that there were two big factors influencing the likelihood of such an application being submitted: the availability of land to extend into and the value of the house.
It continued: “The first factor probably explains why it is only the more suburban areas of London that appear in the top 10 boroughs for extensions. The second explains why it is well-to-do boroughs that populate the top of the table. The link between higher house prices and more applications for extensions is very strong.”
St Albans had the eighth highest home improvement applications in the country - Credit: Archant
Not surprisingly, St Albans also scored high in the loft conversion league table, coming in second place with 10 annual applications per 1,000 private homes over the past two years, behind Richmond upon Thames’ 10.8.
St Albans also placed eighth on the list of the top 25 districts for home improvements country-wide.
