Skylights and rooflights in Newton Poppleford

Newton Poppleford grew around the point where the old road crossed the Otter, and it still stretches in a line along the main street with lanes climbing away on either side. That shape tells you how the housing sits. Along the street are the oldest buildings: cottages and small farmhouses in cob and local stone, often rendered or limewashed, some still thatched, and a number of Victorian houses in brick and stone that were put up when the village had its own trades and inns.

Behind the street the village thickens. Twentieth century building filled the gaps between the lanes: pairs of semis, chalet bungalows and detached houses on cul-de-sacs, then newer infill on small plots. Many of the bungalows have been converted upwards, with a dormer or a rooflight turning the roof space into a bedroom, which is exactly where a roof window does the most good.

The valley floor is narrow, so houses near the river sit low and houses on the lanes sit high above it. That difference matters later, when we come to weather and damp, and it is one reason two houses a few hundred metres apart can need different specifications, because a roof on the valley side takes the wind very differently from a roof by the water meadows.

Newton Poppleford falls under East Devon District Council. On a street with no special designation, a rooflight on a house normally falls within general permitted development, so no application is made. The conditions that go with that, including those for side slopes, are covered on the Devon page about planning permission and building control, which also explains how the rules differ for listed houses.

The village has older houses, and some are listed. A listed cottage needs listed building consent before any exterior change, rooflights included, and the consent can reach inside to the ceiling and roof structure. Parts of the village may also lie in a conservation area, where the usual rights hold unless an Article 4 direction has withdrawn them. We do not assume either way. We check the position for your address with East Devon District Council before a design is settled.

The hills on either side of the valley are part of a protected landscape, the East Devon National Landscape, formerly the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

The hills on either side of the valley are part of a protected landscape, the East Devon National Landscape, formerly the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. That designation does not stop a rooflight on a house, but it is another reason the council can take a closer interest in a visible slope. Flats and maisonettes sit outside householder rights altogether, which means an application for a rooflight on one.

Product follows house, and in Newton Poppleford that works out as follows.

• For listed cottages and thatch, a small conservation rooflight on a rear slope is the usual answer, or a sun tunnel where the roof cannot take an opening.
• Victorian houses in slate generally take a roof window on the back slope, over a landing or loft room, where nothing restricts it.
• A chalet bungalow with a converted roof space wants a VELUX window for the bedroom, with a laminated inner pane above the bed.
• Kitchen and garden-room extensions suit a roof lantern where the room is tall enough, and a plain flat rooflight if the ceiling is low, whichever is chosen standing on a kerb that is lined and plastered inside.
• Where misted glass has made an old roof window useless, a replacement can go into the opening already there, so the ceiling is barely disturbed.

misting between the panes is the sign that a seal has failed

Some of the roof windows in the village's bungalows were fitted decades ago, and misting between the panes is the sign that a seal has failed. If the whole window is being renewed, frame and glass together, Building Control must be told, since windows are controlled fittings under Part L. If just the sealed glass has gone, while the frame remains sound, there is nothing to notify. We tell you which applies at the survey, and we handle the notification where it is needed.

An opening rooflight also lets heat out of a loft bedroom on a summer evening, which Part F counts as purge ventilation. In a bedroom facing the afternoon sun, solar control glass keeps the room tolerable. On a north-facing landing, clear high-performance glazing lets in the most light the frame will pass.

Exeter is a short drive up the A3052, with Sidmouth and Ottery St Mary close by, so booking a visit is simple. The roof is looked at from the outside first. Inside, we work out the distance from roof to ceiling, find out the ceiling's make-up and soundness, and record anything that bears on the finish, whether a cob wall rising into the roof space or an old crack running towards the cut.

The main road through the village is busy and its pavements are narrow, so the survey includes a plan for getting materials in. A scaffold or tower standing on the public road needs a licence from the county council, and that time is built into the programme. We also look at where the dust will go, because a village house with a narrow staircase needs a clear route for sheets and protection.

The written quote comes with the finish schedule and is agreed before work begins. We hand back a clean room, and the installation is covered by a ten-year workmanship guarantee. A cob cottage or a chalet bungalow on the main street can be put forward through the form on this page, on WhatsApp, or by mail to info@brightviewskylightsexeter.co.uk. Nearby we also cover Sidmouth and Ottery St Mary, and you can find the rest of our patch on the areas we cover page. The Brightview homepage describes the whole service.