Builders · Hampshire & West Sussex

Craft you can see.
Costs you can trust.

Q: How much does a loft conversion cost?

It depends on the roof you are starting with, the type of conversion and the specification. We provide a written, itemised cost plan against a defined specification before you commit.

Q: Do I need planning permission for an extension or loft conversion?

Often not, as many extensions and loft conversions fall under permitted development. Permitted development rights are restricted in conservation areas and on listed buildings. We advise at the first site visit and coordinate applications.

Q: Can we stay in the house while you work?

Usually on extensions and loft conversions. On a full internal refurbishment it is often faster and cheaper to move out while the work is carried out.

Q: Which areas do you cover?

South Hampshire and West Sussex, including Portsmouth, Fareham, Havant, Waterlooville, Petersfield, Winchester, Chichester, Midhurst and Arundel. We are based in Portchester.

New builds, extensions, loft conversions, refurbishment and heritage restoration across Hampshire and West Sussex — run by a director who spent his career pricing construction, so the budget is built as carefully as the building.

Start a conversation See what we build

£50k £4m

The range of contracts we take on.

Historic lime and flint walling at Portchester Castle, Hampshire

Close detail of coursed stonework and lime bedding

Portchester Castle — a few streets from our door

Why Chester Oak

A builder that thinks like a quantity surveyor

Most build problems are money problems wearing a hard hat: the drawing that was never priced, the variation nobody wrote down, the trade booked before the spec was fixed. We were trained to find those before they cost you anything.

The same discipline applies whether we're repointing a wall that has stood for eight hundred years or setting out a new house on a bare plot.

Priced properly, once

Every job starts with a proper cost plan against a fixed specification — not a one-page estimate you'll be renegotiating by week three.

ii.

One director throughout

You deal with Connar from first site visit to final snag. No handover to a project manager you've never met.

iii.

Trades we'd use at home

A small, settled list of carpenters, brickies, roofers and finishers we've worked with before and would put in our own houses.

iv.

Old buildings understood

Lime, lath, flint and soft brick behave nothing like modern construction. We treat period fabric on its own terms.

What we build

New builds, extensions, loft conversions, refurbishment and heritage restoration

Five things, done thoroughly, across Hampshire and West Sussex. We'd rather be excellent at a short list than adequate at everything.

New builds

Individual new build houses and small residential schemes across Hampshire and West Sussex, taken from bare plot through groundworks, structure and fit-out to a home that's ready to live in. Built to current regs, detailed to last considerably longer.

Extensions

Single and double-storey, side returns, wrap-arounds and garden rooms. The hard part is the join — where new meets old, and how you live in the house while we're in it. Both get planned before we start.

Loft conversions

Dormers, hip-to-gables, mansards and rooflight conversions with the structural, fire and staircase design resolved on paper first. Usually the cheapest square metres you'll ever add to a house.

Refurbishment

Full house refurbishments and targeted works: rewires, replumbs, kitchens and bathrooms, joinery, plaster and decoration. Sequenced so trades aren't standing on each other, which is where refurb budgets usually go.

Heritage restoration

Listed and period property across Hampshire and West Sussex, repaired with materials that let the building breathe: lime mortars and plasters, traditional joinery, sympathetic reinstatement of lost detail. Conservation officers engaged early, not appealed to late.

Selected work

Recent projects

The Gables

Drayton, Hampshire

A full internal refurbishment of an 1875 Victorian villa in the heart of Drayton, including a loft conversion and structural openings at ground floor to open the plan up.

The brief was to make a large Victorian house work the way a family lives now without stripping out what makes it Victorian. Openings were formed and supported so the ground floor reads as one space, while the original character of the house was kept intact.

Built: 1875
Scope: Full internal refurbishment, loft conversion, structural openings

Loft conversion in Portchester, Hampshire — dormer bedroom with freestanding bath

Open-plan kitchen and living space with island and roof lanterns

The Crossway

Portchester, Hampshire

A chalet bungalow taken from two bedrooms to four. A new dormer and a gable build-up turned cramped roof space into full-height rooms, including a principal suite with a freestanding bath open to the bedroom.

Chalet bungalows are one of the best-value conversions in the country: the roof structure is usually already doing half the work. The skill is in getting the head height, the staircase and the fire escape route to resolve on paper before anyone opens the roof.

Property: Chalet bungalow
Scope: Loft conversion, dormer and gable build-up
Result: Two bedrooms to four

The Limes

Finchdean, Hampshire

Internal alterations, new windows and a new kitchen to a Georgian house built in 1780.

Replacing windows in a period house is where a lot of buildings quietly lose their character. Getting the proportions, glazing bars and reveal depths right matters as much as the thermal performance — a Georgian elevation is a set of ratios, and the eye notices when they're off.

Built: 1780, Georgian
Scope: Internal alterations, new windows, new kitchen

Heritage work

Old buildings were built to breathe, and they need to keep breathing

Flint, lime, soft brick and green oak all move and take up moisture. Seal them in cement and modern render and they rot from the inside. We repair period fabric with materials that match what's already there — and we'd rather lose a job than get that wrong.

How we work

Five stages, and you'll know which one you're in

Stage one

First conversation

A call and a site visit. What you want, what the building will allow, and an honest view on whether the budget and the brief are in the same room.

Stage two

Cost plan

A written, itemised cost plan against a defined specification — with provisional sums and unknowns identified as exactly that, in writing.

Stage three

Drawings and approvals

We coordinate with your architect, engineer and building control — or introduce you to ours — so what's approved is what's been priced.

Stage four

Build

A programme with real dates, a tidy and safe site, and a weekly written update covering progress, spend against plan, and anything decided on site.

Stage five

Handover

Snagging closed out, certificates, warranties and manuals handed over in one pack — and we pick up the phone afterwards.

Connar Peters

Director

Also: Director, Peters Cost Consultants Ltd
Field: Construction cost management
Contracts: £50,000 to £4 million
Direct: 07501 700046
cpeters@chesteroakdevelopments.co.uk

Our director

The person pricing your job has spent a career doing exactly that

Chester Oak is led by Connar Peters, who also runs Peters Cost Consultants Ltd. His career has been spent on the commercial side of construction — pricing, programming and controlling projects from modest domestic works up to major schemes.

That's an unusual background for a builder, and it's the whole point. The discipline that keeps a large project honest — a proper cost plan, a fixed specification, variations agreed in writing before they're built — works just as well on a loft conversion. Most homeowners have simply never been offered it.

"Nobody enjoys the conversation about money halfway through a build. So we have it at the beginning instead, properly, with the figures written down."

The Chester Oak Developments team in Portchester, Hampshire

The people you'll actually deal with Replace this caption with names and roles once the team page is written.

Working with us

The unglamorous parts, in order

InsuredPublic liability and contract works cover in place — certificates available on request.

ContractedWritten contract on every job, with a payment schedule tied to stages, not to guesswork.

CompliantCDM 2015 duties met, building control coordinated, certification handed over at completion.

ReportedA weekly written update on progress and spend, so nothing arrives as a surprise.

Where we work

Building across Hampshire and West Sussex

We're based in Portchester, between Portsmouth and Fareham. We work across south Hampshire and into West Sussex — roughly an hour from the yard, because a builder who can't get to your site quickly isn't much use when something needs deciding.

Hampshire

Portchester
Fareham
Portsmouth
Havant
Waterlooville
Denmead
Wickham
Bishop's Waltham
Hambledon
Emsworth
Petersfield
Winchester
Gosport
Southsea
Finchdean
Drayton

West Sussex

Chichester
Midhurst
Petworth
Arundel
Bognor Regis
Selsey
Bosham
Westbourne
Singleton
Storrington

Not on the list? If you're within about an hour of Portchester, call and ask — the right job is worth the drive.

Common questions

Questions we're asked most

Do you work on listed buildings and conservation areas?

Yes. Heritage restoration is one of our five core services. Listed building consent and conservation area constraints change what's possible and what it costs, so we get the conservation officer involved early rather than designing something that later has to be unpicked.

How much does a loft conversion cost?

It depends entirely on the roof you're starting with, the type of conversion and the specification you want — anyone quoting a figure before seeing the house is guessing. What we will do is give you a written, itemised cost plan against a defined specification, so you can see exactly what you're paying for before committing.

Do I need planning permission for an extension or loft conversion?

Often not — many extensions and loft conversions fall under permitted development. But permitted development rights are restricted in conservation areas and on listed buildings, and they don't apply at all to some properties. We'll tell you which camp you're in at the first site visit and coordinate the applications either way.

Can we stay in the house while you work?

Usually, on extensions and loft conversions. On a full internal refurbishment it's often better not to — the work goes faster and costs less when trades aren't working around a family. We'll be honest about which applies to your job before you commit to anything.

What size of project do you take on?

Contracts from around £50,000 to £4 million, from a single loft conversion to a small residential scheme.

Which areas do you cover?

South Hampshire and West Sussex — Portsmouth, Fareham, Havant, Waterlooville, Petersfield, Winchester, Chichester, Midhurst, Arundel and the surrounding villages. We're based in Portchester.

Contact

Let's talk about your project

Tell us what you're planning and roughly what you have in mind to spend. You'll speak to Connar, not a call handler, and we'll tell you straight away whether we're the right firm for it.

Email: enquiries@chesteroakdevelopments.co.uk Connar direct: cpeters@chesteroakdevelopments.co.uk

Telephone: 07501 700046

Office: Unit 10 West Street
Portchester
PO16 9UZ

We cover: Hampshire and West Sussex

Craft you can see.Costs you can trust.