Can stairs be moved in a house?

Can Stairs Be Moved in a House?

Can stairs be moved in a house? Thinking about relocating your staircase to open up a room, improve flow, or unlock space for a loft conversion? The short answer is yes—most UK homes can have their stairs moved. The longer answer: you’ll need careful design, structural checks, and Building Regulations approval to make it safe and legal. Below is a plain-English guide based on current UK rules.

Do I Need Planning Permission to Move My Stairs?

Usually, no. Internal alterations such as relocating a staircase typically do not require planning permission. However, there are important exceptions: if your property is listed, you’ll need Listed Building Consent even for internal changes that affect the building’s character. Unauthorised works on a listed building are a criminal offence.

Building Regulations You Must Meet

Even when planning permission isn’t needed, Building Regulations always apply to new or altered stairs. The key standards come from Approved Document K (Protection from falling, collision and impact), with additional links to Approved Document B (Fire safety) and structural requirements in Approved Document A.

Stair geometry and safety essentials

For domestic stairs, typical requirements include:

Rise, going and pitch: Stairs must have safe proportions and an overall pitch not steeper than 42°. Your designer will confirm the exact rise/going values to satisfy the pitch limit and comfortable use.
Handrails: The top of the handrail must be 900–1000 mm above the pitch line (or floor at landings). Wider stairs (≥1000 mm) generally require handrails on both sides.
Balustrade/guarding: Guarding should prevent a 100 mm sphere passing through openings (the “baby’s head” rule) and be difficult to climb.
Landings: Provide level landings at the top and bottom of every flight, typically at least as deep as the stair’s clear width. Doors should not swing across a landing at the top of a flight.
Headroom: Provide 2.0 m clear headroom over the stair. Some loft-conversion layouts allow carefully controlled reductions where shown in the regulations.

Fire safety and escape routes

If moving a stair changes how people escape in a fire—common with loft conversions—you must satisfy Approved Document B. Expect requirements such as a protected escape route, interlinked smoke alarms across storeys, and in some cases fire-resisting doors on habitable rooms off the stair. Your Building Control Body (BCB) will assess the whole dwelling’s means of escape, not just the stair.

Structure: cutting openings and trimming joists

Moving a staircase means creating a new opening in an upper floor and closing the old one. That affects joists and load paths, so a structural design is essential. A structural engineer will specify joist trimmers, headers, and any posts or steel needed to carry the altered loads safely.

Will I Need Party Wall Notices?

If any structural works affect a party wall or party structure—for example, trimming joists into a shared wall or adding new supports near the boundary—the Party Wall etc. Act 1996 may apply. That triggers formal notices and, if neighbours don’t consent, a party wall award via surveyors. It’s a civil law process separate from Building Control, but failing to follow it can delay your project.

The Approval Route: Full Plans vs Building Notice

Before work starts, you must notify Building Control. Homeowners typically choose one of two routes:

Full Plans application: You submit detailed drawings and (where needed) structural calculations for review. Once approved, you have high confidence your proposals comply. Many councils quote up to eight weeks for the check (often faster). This is the safer route for complex or structural projects like stair relocations.
Building Notice: A quicker, less paper-heavy route for simpler domestic jobs. You can generally start two working days after the notice is accepted, but because plans aren’t pre-checked, you take on more risk of site changes if inspectors need amendments.

You can apply through your local authority or instruct a Registered Building Control Approver (formerly Approved Inspector) to oversee compliance.

Design Tips Before You Commit

Plot the flow: A new stair position can transform circulation—often freeing up a central room, improving a hallway, or making a loft conversion feasible. Sketch furniture layouts and door swings alongside the stair to avoid clash points at landings.
Check headroom early: Loft slopes and beams catch people out. Draw the 2.0 m headroom envelope along the pitch line and confirm it through to the top landing. Where space is tight, your designer can test winder treads or a small stair re-orientation—always inside the 42° pitch limit.
Handrail and guarding details: Factor in the 900–1000 mm handrail height and the <100 mm baluster gaps while space-planning—these can slightly widen the stairwell opening and influence landing widths.
Services and structure: Relocating a stair can clash with plumbing stacks, wiring runs, or chimney breasts. A site survey plus an engineer’s mark-up avoids surprises when you open the floor. Never cut or notch joists for a stair opening without engineering design.

Typical Project Stages

Feasibility & measure-up: A measured survey and sketch options to test routes, headroom and landing compliance.
Concept design & costs: Agree the stair type (straight, L-shaped with landing, with or without winders) and finishes; get a ballpark quote from your builder or joiner.
Structural design: Engineer sizes trimmers, new supports, or steels; checks bearing onto walls (and flags any party wall notices required).
Building Control application: Submit Full Plans (recommended) or Building Notice. Include drawings, specifications and structural calculations.
On-site works & inspections: Old opening infilled; new opening formed with trimming; stair installed; handrails and guarding fitted; smoke alarms and fire doors addressed where required.
Completion certificate: Issued when the inspector is satisfied the works comply—keep it safe for future sale.

Costs and Timeframes (What to Expect)

Costs vary with design, finishes (timber, steel, glass), and structural complexity. Allow for:

The new stair itself
Plastering and decoration around the new opening
Balustrades and handrails
Possible electrical and smoke alarm upgrades
Making good the old stair void

Your designer or contractor can produce a detailed estimate once the layout is fixed and the structural scheme is known. In most domestic settings, the works can be completed in one to two weeks once approvals are in place, though lead-in times for materials and joinery can extend the schedule.

Common Pitfalls to Avoid

Under-estimating headroom in lofts—start with headroom checks before committing to the layout.
Forgetting fire strategy—relocating the stair can change your escape route obligations.
Skipping structural design—ad-hoc trimming is unsafe and non-compliant.
Overlooking party wall notices when bearing into or near shared structures.
Choosing the wrong approval route—a Full Plans submission reduces risk on anything beyond the simplest like-for-like move.