Hip-to-Gable Loft Conversions
If you own a 1930s semi with a hipped roof, the hip-to-gable is how you win a real staircase and a full-width room — the sloping side roof is rebuilt vertically as a gable, and the loft stops being a triangle.
Bristol's inter-war suburbs — Horfield, Downend, Fishponds, Brislington — are full of hipped roofs whose lofts are too pinched at the sides for a conversion on their own. Building the hip up into a gable adds the missing volume, and paired with a rear dormer it typically yields a double bedroom, en-suite and landing that feel original to the house.
It is a bigger structural job than a dormer alone: the gable is built up in masonry or timber frame to match the house, the roof is re-framed onto it and the new faces are tiled and weathered into the old. It is exactly the kind of roof carpentry this company was founded on.
Is hip-to-gable permitted development?
Frequently yes on a semi, within the volume allowance and matching-materials conditions — but it is closer to the limits than a dormer, so we check your specific numbers before promising anything.
- Best for
- Hipped-roof semis
- Usually paired with
- Rear dormer
- On site
- 10–14 weeks
- Guide price
- from £50,000 + VAT
More loft conversions routes
Ready to talk about a hip-to-gable?
A visit costs nothing and commits you to nothing. We'll look at what your house can take, give you straight answers, and tell you plainly if the numbers don't stack up.
- You tell us the ideaThree quick questions — no essay required.
- We call within a working dayA real conversation about what your house can take.
- A visit, then an itemised quoteEvery line written down, and only if you want one.
- On site
- Mon–Fri, 8am–5pm
- Office calls
- until 6pm weekdays
- We reply
- within one working day