🗓️ Extension Planning in 2025: Managing Timelines and Costs in a High-Risk Market

Tuesday 17th June 2025

Original Post (June 2020): Home Extension Step-by-Step Guide

Our original 2020 guide focused on the design and execution steps of a home extension—a process that has remained largely the same. However, the context has drastically changed: time and cost control are now the biggest risks in a construction project.

Where We Are Now: The 2025 extension process requires far greater preparation and project management than ever before:

Financial Buffers: We advise clients to budget for a minimum 15% contingency buffer (up from the traditional 10%). This reflects the risk of unexpected structural issues in period properties and the continuing volatility of specialist material costs.

The Procurement Lead Time: The project Timeline is now dictated by procurement, not physical building time. Bespoke materials (e.g., high-performance glazing, architectural steel, specific heating systems) can have lead times exceeding 16 weeks. Our modern process involves placing orders immediately after planning consent is received, long before we break ground.

The Digital Difference: Modern project management relies heavily on digital collaboration tools to manage communication, procurement schedules, and site progress. We use these platforms to give clients real-time transparency, minimizing delays and ensuring the project on The Ridgeway (NW7) or Ballards Lane (N3) runs as efficiently as possible.