Covering Hitchin
Our coverage around Hitchin (SG4, SG5) also includes Letchworth Garden City, Stevenage and Luton.
Homes in the East of England
Across the East of England, newer estates often have integral garages and room for rear extensions, while older towns have Victorian terraces and conservation areas that shape what can be built.
What goes into a knock down and rebuild?
Knock down and rebuild means demolishing an existing house and building a new one in its place, often a bungalow or poorly built post-war house replaced by a larger, more efficient home. Because the new house counts as a new dwelling, the build is usually zero-rated for VAT.
- Planning application for the replacement dwelling
- New foundations, structure and full fit-out
- Reconnection of services and landscaping
What will a knock down and rebuild cost?
What knock down and rebuild typically cost. These are guide ranges; the written quote for your house replaces them.
| Knock down and rebuild | Guide price |
|---|---|
| Demolition and site clearance (total) | £15,000 to £35,000 |
| Rebuild, standard specification (per m²) | £2,100 to £2,600 per m² |
| Rebuild, good specification (per m²) | £2,600 to £3,100 per m² |
| Rebuild, high specification (per m²) | £3,100 to £3,700 per m² |
Planning and building rules in Hitchin
Projects in England go through two separate checks. Planning (or confirmation that the work is permitted development) comes from the district, borough or unitary council, and building regulations approval comes from the council’s building control team or a registered building control approver. Where work touches a shared wall or digs near a neighbour’s foundations, the Party Wall etc. Act 1996 applies.
This needs full planning permission from the council.
What can change the price or programme?
- A replacement dwelling is usually zero-rated for VAT where the old house is demolished completely to ground level.
- Asbestos is common in post-war houses and must be removed by licensed contractors where required.
How does the project run?
- Tell us about the project. Call, use the guide price tool or send the form with a few photos and a postcode.
- Site visit. We walk the plot or existing house, look at access, levels, services and boundaries, and talk through what could be built.
- Design and fixed price. You get drawings and a written price for the agreed specification before anything is ordered.
- We build it. Work follows an agreed programme, with inspections at each stage and a final sign-off.
Your questions answered
Is VAT charged on a knock down and rebuild?
Usually not on the new house, if the old one is demolished completely and the new building is a qualifying dwelling.
What happens about asbestos?
An asbestos survey is done before demolition and any asbestos is removed safely first.
Can you visit a house in Hitchin to quote?
Yes. After a short call we arrange a site visit to measure up and agree what the design needs to do, then send a written price.
Also covering
- Knock down and rebuild in Letchworth Garden City
- Knock down and rebuild in Stevenage
- Knock down and rebuild in Luton
- Knock down and rebuild in Harpenden
Learn more about knock down and rebuild, or see every project we cover in Hitchin.