A fifth of British homeowners plan to make structural changes

The insurer is warning that even though homeowners may no longer have to seek planning permission, anyone looking to undertake structural changes that will increase the size of their property should inform their buildings insurer first in order to ensure that they are fully covered for the increased value of their home.
The findings show that in the 12 months from May this year up to 5.3 million homeowners intend to undertake some sort of major structural work, with 1.3 million saying they are planning on converting their loft or roof and 950,000 planning a rear extension to their property. Worryingly, 37 per cent of people planning on carrying out loft or roof conversions and 16 per cent of those planning on building rear extensions said that they were not aware that they had to inform their home buildings insurer before the works started.
Neil Laird, Sainsbury’s home insurance manager, said: "These new regulations will make it a lot easier for homeowners in England who want to build rear extensions or carry out loft conversions, though people should still check exactly what they do and don’t need permission for. However, as buildings insurance premiums are calculated based on the type of house, for example the number of bedrooms it has, creating extra rooms can have an impact on your premium even if you have unlimited cover.
"We want to make sure that homeowners are aware that they could be left underinsured or even invalidate their insurance entirely in the event of an incident during or after the works if they have not informed their insurer first."
On a regional basis, rear extensions are most popular in Greater London with 364,000 homeowners planning to carry one out within this time period. Loft or roof conversions are planned by more people in the North West (260,000) than anywhere else.