Do I need council approval for an extension in Penshurst?

Usually yes, but often not a full DA. Many Penshurst homes qualify for a Complying Development Certificate through a private certifier, provided the extension meets the setback, site coverage and landscaped area controls, which is much faster than a DA through Georges River Council. Heritage items remove the CDC option. We confirm which pathway applies to your property before quoting.

How long does a home extension take to build in Penshurst?

Most extensions run 12 to 20 weeks on site. Design and approvals happen before that: a CDC takes about 4 to 8 weeks, and a DA can take up to 6 months, depending on council. We give you a programme with the quote, not after you have signed.

Can I live at home during the extension?

Usually yes. Because the work is concentrated at the rear or side, most Penshurst families stay in the house for most of the build, with a shorter disruptive period when we break through and connect the new space to the old. We plan the breakthrough stage with you so you know exactly when it is coming.

Should I extend out or add a second storey in Penshurst?

On a typical Penshurst block, extending out is usually the simpler and cheaper path per square metre because there is land to spare. Going up makes more sense when you want to keep every metre of yard or when the block is one of the tighter ones near the station. We build both, so the advice is honest: we look at your block and tell you which one your home actually wants. A house extension and a second storey are different builds with different engineering, and we quote both honestly.

Will the extension match my interwar brick house?

That is a design decision, and both answers can work. Matching interwar face brick exactly is often impossible because the brick is no longer made, so we either source the closest match and blend it, render the junction, or design a deliberately contemporary addition that lets the original house be itself. What must always match is the standard of the junction between them, which is where our detailing does its work.

How will I know what is happening during my extension?

Two ways. You get a weekly update from the builder running your job, whether or not there is good news in it. And you get access to our client portal, where you can log in any time to see your documents, selections, variations and job status. No chasing, no phone tag, no wondering.

Are you licensed and insured?

Yes. Strava Group holds NSW Builder's Licence 487370C and carries public liability insurance and Home Building Compensation Fund cover on all residential work over the statutory threshold. You can verify the licence directly through Verify NSW at verify.licence.nsw.gov.au.

Timber roof and wall framing in a renovation

Home Extensions · Penshurst NSW 2222

Home extensions in Penshurst, done properly.

Rear and side house extensions for Penshurst homes by a licensed extension builder. Most extensions run $70,000 to $300,000 depending on size and how much of the existing house has to change, itemised quote, honest programme, one builder from concept to handover.

Get Your Extension Assessed Call 0450 605 080

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487370C

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Georges River Council areaNSW Builder’s Licence 487370CItemised quotesClear inclusions & exclusions0450 605 080

Extending out, not up

More room at the back of a Penshurst home.

Strava Group builds home extensions in Penshurst: rear additions, side extensions and whole-of-back transformations that open the house to the yard. Penshurst is classic St George: interwar brick bungalows and Federation cottages on the older streets, a big stock of post-war full brick built by the families who settled here, and blocks that are deeper than they look. The front halves of these houses are worth keeping. The back halves, where the kitchens were squeezed in, are where the extension earns its money.

In Penshurst we regularly deliver:

Rear extensions and additions
Side extensions on wider blocks
Open plan kitchen, dining and living
Alfresco and indoor-outdoor connections
New master suites and family rooms
Laundries, mudrooms and storage done properly
Structural openings between old and new
Exterior upgrades to tie old and new together

Thinking about going up instead? That is a different build with different engineering, and we do that too: see second storey additions.

The classic Penshurst brief is a solid interwar brick bungalow with a small kitchen, an enclosed back verandah and a long backyard. The front stays. The back comes off and becomes the open plan living the house never had.

Floating timber staircase with glass balustrade beside a bright living room

Quick Answer

Most home extensions in Penshurst run $70,000 to $300,000 depending on size and how much of the existing structure has to change, at roughly $2,500 to $4,500 per square metre for ground floor work, with around $30,000 in preliminaries (design, engineering and council approvals, plus site set-up) on top. The block sizes here support proper open plan extensions, which tends to put projects in the lower and middle part of the band.

Local knowledge

What we know about extending in Penshurst.

Every suburb builds a little differently. This is what matters when you are extending a Penshurst home.

Council

Penshurst sits in the Georges River Council area under the Georges River Local Environmental Plan 2021 and the Georges River Development Control Plan. Most detached homes on standard residential zoning can pursue a ground floor extension through Complying Development with a private certifier rather than a full DA, subject to setbacks, site coverage and landscaped area, with heritage items going to a DA. We confirm the pathway for your property before quoting. Current planning controls are published by Georges River Council and on the NSW Planning Portal.

Housing stock

Interwar brick bungalows and Federation cottages on the older streets near the station, a large stock of 1950s and 60s full brick and brick veneer homes, and some later two storey houses. Many carry a lean-to, sunroom or enclosed verandah from decades ago that was never built to last. Those earlier additions usually come off and are replaced with something engineered.

Structure

Mid-century brick veneer homes are straightforward to extend once the load path is engineered. The older full brick and interwar houses need more care at the junction: we cut the openings cleanly, install engineered steel and tie the new frame into the existing brickwork properly, and the new floor has to meet an old suspended floor exactly.

Yard and block

Standard Penshurst blocks are typically 450 to 700 square metres, often deeper than they are wide. That leaves room for a full width rear extension while keeping a real backyard. Side access is usually workable, and where it is tight materials come through the house and the programme changes.

Services and ground

Penshurst sits on shale derived clay soils that move with moisture, with sandstone toward the ridge lines. New footings on an extension have to be engineered for the site class, not copied from the original house, and detailed against the existing footings so the two do not settle at different rates. Sewer lines often run along the rear of the block and are located before design starts.

Value

Penshurst is a well connected St George suburb with the station, the schools and the village strip holding demand, at a friendlier entry point than the waterfront suburbs nearby. A well built extension that converts a dated rear layout into open plan living with a genuine yard connection is one of the most reliable improvements you can make here, and it usually costs less than the stamp duty and agent fees involved in moving.

Start here

Tell us about your Penshurst home.

No sales pitch, no obligation. Here is exactly what happens when you enquire:

One at a time, takes about two minutes, so the first conversation is about your project rather than the basics.

Start Your Enquiry Call 0450 605 080

The Strava standard

How we build differently.

An extension lives or dies at the junction between old and new. We build for longevity, and on every Penshurst extension we run:

Every new-to-existing junction properly detailed

This is where most extensions crack, leak and part company with the house. It is almost always a detailing shortcut, not settlement. Ours get a proper structural tie, flashing and movement detail.

The existing structure gets rectified, not covered

Where the extension meets the house, we screw off and re-brace the adjoining structure, tying new and old together so the whole building moves as one and future cracking is designed out, not painted over.

Footings matched to the ground, not the minimum

New footings are engineered for your soil and detailed against the existing ones, because differential movement between old and new slabs is the classic extension failure, and the clay soils across Penshurst make it more likely, not less.

Furring channels for a dead flat finish

Where new ceilings and walls run through to existing rooms, furring channels give one level plane across both, so you cannot see where the house ends and the extension begins.

Waterproofing is a documented hold point

New wet areas are inspected and photographed before a single tile goes on, to AS 3740, and new roof-to-old-roof junctions get the same treatment.

Everything photographed before it is covered

You receive the record at handover, so in ten years you know exactly what is behind your walls and under your floor.

Before starting Strava Group, I spent seven years on the tools as a carpenter and five years running sites. The failures I kept seeing in extensions were always at the join: cracked cornices along the old wall line, roofs that leaked where new met old, floors that stepped as slabs settled differently. None of it was illegal. All of it was avoidable. None of this shows up in a finished-room photo. All of it shows up in year seven.

Honest numbers

What a house extension actually costs in Penshurst.

Most builders will not put numbers on a website. We will, because the alternative is wasting your time and ours across three meetings before anyone mentions a figure.

Item	Typical range
Home extension, depending on size and scope	$70k–$300k
Ground floor extension work	$2,500–$4,500 /m²
Preliminaries, on top of build cost	approx. $30,000

Preliminaries are the costs that exist before a single wall moves: design, engineering and council approvals, plus site set-up such as site fencing, temporary services, waste removal, insurances and supervision. They are real, they are unavoidable, and a quote that does not show them separately has either buried them or forgotten them.

In Penshurst the block sizes support a proper open plan rear rather than a single room, which tends to put projects in the lower and middle part of the band, with older full brick houses adding to it. How much of the existing structure has to change is usually the largest single factor, followed by wet areas and access.

Every project is quoted properly after a site inspection. These ranges are here so you can decide whether it is worth a conversation.

Good to know

Penshurst extension questions.

From our clients

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Nearby

Home extensions near Penshurst.

We build extensions across St George and the surrounding suburbs. Select a suburb for local council information and what extensions there typically cost.

St George

Home Extensions Hurstville Home Extensions Oatley Home Extensions Marrickville Home Extensions Dulwich Hill Home Extensions Ashfield

All Sydney extension areas

Looking for a different service in Penshurst? We also build second storey additions and home renovations in Penshurst.

Extend your Penshurst home properly.

Ready for more room?

Tell us about your property and what you want to add. We respond within 24 to 48 business hours with honest advice and real numbers, no cost, no obligation.

Get Your Extension Assessed Call 0450 605 080