Skylights and rooflights in Broadclyst

Much of the village grew up as part of the Killerton estate, and the National Trust still owns a good deal of the land and buildings around it. That history shows in the housing. There are clusters of cottages built to a family resemblance, with the same chimneys, the same modest eaves and the same generous gardens, set beside older farmhouses and cottages that were here long before any estate plan.

Around the green and the church you find the older core: cob and stone cottages under thatch or slate, some of them rendered and limewashed, a few with a single storey of rooms tucked under the roof. Further out, the village spreads into twentieth century housing: brick semis and bungalows under concrete tile, built when Broadclyst became a commuter village for Exeter.

A kitchen in a 1960s semi and a bedroom under a thatched roof are different jobs from the first measurement.

The newest layer is on the edges and in the countryside nearby. Modern estates, barn conversions and extended farmhouses sit alongside the older streets, and the growth of nearby Cranbrook has changed how much new building happens in this corner of East Devon.

Roof pitch changes from street to street as well. Cottages tend to have steep slopes with small dormers, while the later houses carry shallower tiled roofs, and a rooflight sized for one will sit awkwardly on the other. Ceiling heights follow the same pattern, low in the cottages and generous in the newer houses.

That variety is why we do not quote a Broadclyst job from a standard list. A kitchen in a 1960s semi and a bedroom under a thatched roof are different jobs from the first measurement.

Most ordinary houses in Broadclyst can fit a rooflight with no planning application at all, since the general permitted-development limits cover a modest unit on a main slope. Those limits are spelled out in the planning and building control guide for Devon, so here we deal with what is particular to the village.

Two things change that. The first is designation. Part of the historic centre of Broadclyst lies within a conservation area designated by East Devon District Council, and many of the older cottages and farmhouses are listed. A listed cottage needs consent before the outside is altered in any way, and cutting into an old roof structure falls under that. In a conservation area the usual right normally survives, though the council can withdraw it by direction, so ask East Devon's planning team about your own street before you choose a design.

a barn conversion often has its permitted development rights removed by the conversion permission, so the original decision notice is worth finding.

The second is the building itself. Flats and maisonettes get no householder rights, and a barn conversion often has its permitted development rights removed by the conversion permission, so the original decision notice is worth finding. Where a house is on National Trust land, the landlord's own permission is needed on top of the council's.

If your cottage is listed or in the conservation area, conservation rooflights for listed buildings covers what a consent application needs.

Around Broadclyst the choice runs roughly as follows.

• A cob cottage with slate or tile on its back slope suits a conservation rooflight, kept small and set low in the roof.
• A barn conversion usually wants a long, slim unit or a pair of roof windows between the trusses, lined with deep splayed reveals.
• Kitchen and family-room extensions take a roof lantern or a flat unit on an upstand, with a plastered kerb to finish it indoors.
• A dark hallway or bathroom is the place for a sun tunnel, which needs just a small opening and little structural change.

the better answer is usually fresh frame and glazing set in the same opening, because the old lining and ceiling edge are left almost untouched.

Where a house has an old roof window with misted glass, the better answer is usually fresh frame and glazing set in the same opening, because the old lining and ceiling edge are left almost untouched. Replacing the whole unit is the right call when the frame is tired as well as the glass, while a failed sealed unit alone can be swapped in the existing frame.

Swapping an entire rooflight is notifiable to Building Control, and a brand-new one cut into an existing roof counts as building work that must meet Part L. We handle both.

A few questions are particular to the village: does the property sit on National Trust land, is the cottage listed, and has an earlier owner altered the roof so that part is thatch and part is tile or felt? Photographs of the roof and room, sent with your quote request, answer many of these before we visit.

A survey here starts outside, slope by slope, then moves to the room and the loft. We take the depth between roof and ceiling, test the ceiling material and whether it is sound, and note anything that will shape the finish, like a beam, a cornice or a crack heading for the opening.

We settle these points at the survey so there are no surprises on the first morning.

Access varies as much as the houses. Some cottages stand on narrow lanes where a delivery lorry needs planning, and a barn conversion may have a long drive and a steep or very high roof that needs a tower or scaffold. Newer streets are easier to reach but often have shared parking and rules about where materials can be left. We settle these points at the survey so there are no surprises on the first morning.

The price follows in writing, with the room's finish settled on paper before work begins. Thatch dust and plaster dust are both kept off your furniture, the room is handed back clean, and the job carries our 10-year workmanship guarantee. Because every cottage differs, the written note names the materials involved, so you can compare it with what is found once the ceiling is open. For a cottage on a lane or a house on a new road, the quote form starts it, and a message on WhatsApp or to info@brightviewskylightsexeter.co.uk works as well. Slightly further out we also work in Cranbrook and Whimple, the areas page lists every other place, and our skylight and rooflight installation homepage shows the full range.