Guides · 4 min
Hip-to-gable loft conversions
Changing the side of the roof from a hip to a gable adds space, and it changes the pair.
What the change is
A hipped roof slopes in at the side. A gable is a straight up-and-down triangle. Filling that triangle in creates a lot of loft space. It also makes one half of a pair of semis look different from the other.
On a house outside special land, a hip-to-gable can be permitted development if it stays inside the volume limits and the other roof rules. The volume is easy to use up, especially if you also add a big dormer.
Where it struggles
Councils and inspectors often refuse a hip-to-gable that unbalances a matching pair, or that faces a street where the roofs are all the same. In a conservation area the right is often gone.
Check with your council. Rules change, and every house is different.
Questions
Does hip-to-gable count towards the 40 or 50 cubic metres?
Yes. The new roof volume counts. A dormer on top of a hip-to-gable can push you over the limit.
Will it match next door?
If next door stays hipped, your house will look different. That is the usual objection.
Check with your council. Rules change, and every house is different.