Grand fronts, shallow roofs
Cheltenham was a single street until the spa took off. George III came in 1788, and the population went from 3,076 in 1801 to about 20,000 by 1826. Montpellier, Pittville, Lansdown and Bayshill all went up in that rush, and they set the look of the town. Brick faced with painted stucco, iron balconies, Welsh slate.
That is the catch for anyone hoping to build upwards. Conservation appraisals describe Regency roofs as shallow, often hipped, and hidden behind parapets or balustrades. Plenty are close to flat. A tall Montpellier villa can have very little usable space in its roof. Get a surveyor to measure before you fall for the idea; Cheltenham's extensions guide asks for at least 2.1 metres of headroom over half the span.
The other complication is protection. About 2,600 buildings in the borough are listed, 387 of them Grade II*, and the Central Conservation Area alone covers around 599 hectares, roughly an eighth of the borough. If your house is listed, any change to the roof, inside or out, needs listed building consent whatever its grade.
Clay tiles in St Mark's, slate in St Paul's
Better roofs for converting are often in less famous places. The Poets estate in St Mark's was built by the town council between 1920 and 1934, mostly as semis, with hipped, catslide and steeply pitched roofs in machine-made clay tile. Those pitches give real headroom. The estate became a conservation area in 2001, though, and the appraisal wants its tall stepped chimneys kept, so plan around the stacks rather than through them.
St Paul's is the opposite. It grew from about 1820 as artisan housing. Two-storey stucco terraces, many with basements, have slate roofs tucked behind small parapets, and the pitches on Brunswick Street are low. Some will convert. Many won't without raising the roof, which in a conservation area is a planning matter.
Out in the suburbs the picture changes again. A 2011 council survey of private housing found that in the outer parts of town only 8.6% of homes were pre-1919, while 42.4% dated from 1965 to 1981. Hesters Way went up from 1951 as council housing and Warden Hill was selling new bungalows by 1957. Later houses tend to have trussed roofs, which can be converted but need steelwork to replace the trusses.
Fitting the type to the house
Rear dormer. The usual choice for a 1950s or 1960s semi in Hesters Way, Warden Hill or Up Hatherley. Inside any of the seven conservation areas, permitted development for dormers is restricted, so expect to apply.
Hip to gable. Semis were the largest group in that 2011 survey, at 31.1% of private homes, and plenty have hipped ends. On the Poets estate the hipped roof is part of what the conservation area protects, so a gable there is a hard sell.
Read our full guide: Hip-to-Gable Loft Conversions: What It Involves and Which Houses It Suits →
Rooflights. Cheltenham's extensions guide calls rooflights a less obtrusive alternative to dormers. The Regency appraisals are cooler about them, so in the Central Conservation Area keep them off the front.
Mansard. Sometimes the only route on a parapet house with a near-flat roof, because the parapet can hide a new storey behind it. It will need planning permission, and listed building consent if the house is listed. Bring an architect in early.
L-shaped dormer. Suits a Victorian terrace with a back addition. The second dormer over the outrigger is where a shower room usually fits, so ask the surveyor to look at that roof as well as the main one.
En-suite. Decide early where the soil pipe will run. On a stucco terrace with a parapet front, the only sensible route is down the back of the house.
Bedroom. What most families here are after. Building control will want fire doors on the escape route and linked smoke alarms before it signs off.
Office. A rooflight room on the back slope of a St Mark's semi makes a quiet place to work and keeps the front untouched. Run power and data up while the floor is open.
Read our full guide: Loft Home-Office Conversion: What Works Well Up There and What to Specify →
Permission. Outside the conservation areas and away from listed buildings, many rear dormers can go ahead under permitted development. Inside them, assume you need an application. Building regulations approval is needed either way.
Cost. We don't publish a Cheltenham price. A low Regency roof that has to be rebuilt and a 1960s semi with a simple dormer are different jobs entirely. Get three firms round to look.
One Article 4 direction, seven conservation areas, a shared inspector
Cheltenham has a single Article 4 direction, covering St Paul's ward since 2019, and it only stops houses being turned into shared houses without permission. It doesn't touch roofs. What matters for a loft are the conservation areas. The big Central area has 19 character areas, Pittville and Leckhampton among them. The others are Prestbury, Swindon Village, the Poets, and three in Charlton Kings (Cudnall Street, Bafford and St Mary's).
Read the borough's extensions guide before anyone draws. It's short. A dormer should sit within the roof, be only a little wider than its window, and stay clear of the hip and ridge. Materials should match.
Building control is Cheltenham and Tewkesbury Building Control, a shared service the two councils set up in 2010, with Cheltenham as the host. Your builder may use a private approved inspector instead. Either way, keep the completion certificate. A buyer's solicitor will ask for it.
Where these facts come from
- Cheltenham Borough Council: conservation areas
- Cheltenham Borough Council: Article 4 directions
- Cheltenham Borough Council: listed buildings
- Cheltenham Borough Council: Residential Alterations and Extensions SPD (2008)
- Cheltenham Borough Council: Old Town character appraisal
- Cheltenham Borough Council: the Poets conservation area appraisal (draft)
- Cheltenham Borough Council: private sector house condition survey (2011)
- Cheltenham Borough Council: building control
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Questions people in Cheltenham ask
My house is in Pittville. Can I still convert the loft?
Possibly, but check the roof first. Pittville is one of the character areas of the Central Conservation Area, so dormers need permission, and Regency roofs there tend to be shallow and hidden behind parapets. A survey of the headroom will tell you whether there's a room up there before you spend money on drawings.
Does the Article 4 direction in St Paul's stop me building a dormer?
No. It only removes the right to turn a family house into a small house in multiple occupation. A dormer in St Paul's is controlled because the area is in the Central Conservation Area, not because of the Article 4 direction.
My house is on Cheltenham's local index but isn't listed. What difference does that make?
Cheltenham keeps an index of about 450 locally valued buildings. Being on it doesn't take away your permitted development rights, but if you do need to apply, the planners will weigh the building's local value.
Why does the building control paperwork mention Tewkesbury?
Because the service is shared. Cheltenham and Tewkesbury Building Control covers both boroughs, run from Cheltenham. It's still your local authority building control.