1m homeowners planning extension

Almost one million homeowners in the UK are planning on adding an extension to the rear of their property in the next year, according to a new study.

Research carried out by Sainsburys Home Insurance found that in the year from May 2008, 21 per cent of people in the UK intend to carry out structural work on their homes.

Of these 5.3 million people, 950,000 are planning to add space to the back of their houses via a rear extension.

The report warned that homeowners should check there are covered for such work with their home insurance provider, as 16 per cent of those polled who were adding an extension were not aware of this.

"We want to make sure that homeowners are aware that they could be left underinsured or even invalidate their insurance entirely in the event of an incident during or after the works if they have not informed their insurer first," said Neil Laird from Sainsburys.

New regulations come into force on October 1st allowing homeowners to carry out some structural improvements on their properties without having to secure planning permission.