Kitchens, bathrooms and extensions in Haywards Heath
Haywards Heath is about a mile from our base in Lindfield, right on our doorstep. In the town we’ve built a tile-hung first-floor extension, renovated a whole house with bespoke carpentry, and finished an extension in monocouche render and cedar cladding.
- Postcodes
- RH16, RH17
- Planning
- Mid Sussex District Council
- From Lindfield
- On our doorstep
- Hours
- Mon to Fri, 8am to 6pm
A railway town, built in layers
The station opened on 12 July 1841, and even by the early 1850s only about two hundred people lived here. By 2001 it was nearly 23,000. That growth left the town in layers. The first are the big Victorian and Edwardian villas around Muster Green and The Heath, and the Victorian semis on Sydney Road. Tall rooms, good gardens, and very often a narrow kitchen at the back that wants knocking through or extending.
Lucastes is mostly 1950s and 1960s, with a handful of substantial Victorian houses mixed in, and those post-war homes tend to need everything at once: kitchen, bathroom, and sometimes the heating and wiring as well. Bolnore Village has gone up from the late 1990s onwards. Its original kitchens and bathrooms are now twenty-odd years old, which is about when hinges tire, laminate worktop joints swell and shower trays begin to weep at the seal.
Our first-floor extension in Haywards Heath, finished at the end of 2024, added a bedroom with an en-suite and dressing room. We tile-hung it and gave it a pitched roof so it matched the existing house. Going up instead of out like that is worth considering on plots where the garden is too good to build on. A structural engineer has to check the extra load first, and the position of the new stairs is usually the hardest decision in the whole design.
Muster Green, Franklands and four more
Planning here is decided by Mid Sussex District Council, and the town has six conservation areas: Muster Green, Franklands Village, Lewes Road, Lucastes, The Heath and Mill Hill Close. Two of them are unusual. Franklands Village was built in the 1930s by the local Rotary Club as a “model village”, and it keeps its uniform design, wide verges and pond. Mill Hill Close is about thirty late-1930s flats and houses by the local architect Harold Turner, with Sir Edwin Lutyens as honorary adviser.
The council’s 2018 conservation areas document records no Article 4 direction in any of them, so the picture is simpler than in Lindfield. Conservation area status still counts, though. Inside those boundaries you need permission for a side extension or anything more than single-storey at the back, and for recladding the house in render or timber. Muster Green includes listed buildings such as The Old House and The Dolphin. On newer estates, look out for planning conditions that removed permitted development rights when the houses were approved.
Jobs that suit Haywards Heath houses
A lot of people here commute from the station, so one point of contact and a clear programme matter as much as the finish.
- ExtensionsRear and side-return kitchen extensions on Victorian and Edwardian houses, and first-floor extensions like the tile-hung one we built here.
- KitchensKitchen-diners made by opening up a Sydney Road-style semi. We put in the steel, deal with Building Control and fit the kitchen, so there’s no gap between builder and fitter.
- En-suites & shower roomsAn en-suite taken out of a large bedroom, or a tired Bolnore shower room turned into a walk-in shower.
- RenovationsWhole-house renovations with the trades coordinated by us and the joinery planned from day one. Bespoke carpentry is one of our specialities.
Muster Green, Bolnore and the relief road
The town’s oldest corner is Muster Green, where a Civil War skirmish was fought in 1642 and the railway cutting later took the eastern end of the green. Bolnore Village is the newest, built from the late 1990s, and the A272 relief road opened in August 2014. Wherever you are in town, we agree delivery times with you in advance. And if you’re in London all day, questions and photos can go back and forth on WhatsApp instead of waiting for an evening phone call.
Do you fit kitchens in Haywards Heath or only build extensions?
Both, and often in the same job. We design and fit kitchens, often Howdens with worktops from local fabricators such as Sussex Stoneworks, and we do the building work around them as well: knocking through, putting in steels, extending. With one firm doing both, nobody argues about whose fault a wonky wall is when the units go in.
Is a first-floor extension possible on my Haywards Heath house?
Often, yes, though it usually needs planning permission. The first questions are structural. Can the walls and foundations below take the load, and how will the new roof meet the old one? Ours in the town added a bedroom with an en-suite and dressing room, tile-hung and pitched to match the original house, which is what made it sit comfortably on the street.
Do you work on Bolnore Village homes?
Yes. Most Bolnore houses date from the late 1990s onwards, so their original kitchens and bathrooms are old enough to replace. They’re simpler to work on than a Victorian villa, with straighter walls and more predictable pipework. Before planning anything external, it’s worth checking the planning history, because some newer estates had permitted development rights removed when they were approved.
Can I extend a house in Franklands Village?
Possibly, but expect more scrutiny than elsewhere in town. Franklands became a conservation area in 1989 because its 1930s model village design is so consistent, so an extension that breaks the pattern from the road is unlikely to be welcome. Something modest at the back stands a much better chance. We’d speak to Mid Sussex District Council before you commit to a design.
Areas we cover
Starting a project in Haywards Heath?
Tell us what you have in mind. Mike will come over, take a look and give you a written quote.
