Builders in Knowle

Knowle has two distinct halves and they behave completely differently under planning. The historic core along the High Street is a conservation area with timber-framed and Georgian buildings and the Grade I listed church of St John the Baptist. The estates that grew around it through the twentieth century are conventional suburban stock.

Work in the older centre needs conservation-area consent and often listed building consent, with Solihull MBC taking a close interest in materials and detailing. Lime plaster, traditional joinery and specialist trades are normal rather than exceptional, and lead times reflect that.

On the surrounding twentieth-century housing the constraints lift considerably. Rear and wraparound extensions, loft conversions and open-plan reconfigurations all run as standard projects, and many fall under permitted development.