The eastern edge of Medway. Parkwood's 1960s and 70s houses, post-war streets either side of the High Street, Wigmore, and the old village around St Margaret's: plenty of houses with room to extend.
Rainham
Rainham was absorbed into Gillingham in 1929 and grew with the railway, which arrived in 1858 and was electrified in 1959. Parkwood, built mainly in the 1960s and 70s on former woodland, is more than three-quarters houses from 1965 to 1982, and the streets north of the High Street are mostly from 1945 to 1964. Houses from those decades usually have the gardens and roof space for an extension or a loft.
Under the High Street and Moor Street is Thanet Formation sand; the station and Rainham Mark are on chalk, Parkwood and Wigmore on chalk capped with clay-with-flints, and Lower Rainham on river alluvium. Berengrave nature reserve is an old chalk pit, and the British Geological Survey rates old chalk workings as a significant risk around the centre and Parkwood, so it is sensible to check the ground history before any digging.
Rainham's conservation areas are the old village around St Margaret's Church, Lower Rainham, Moor Street and Meresborough. None of them has an Article 4 direction on Medway's list, so permitted development rights mostly apply as normal.
Permissions
Medway Council
Medway Council decides planning applications, and building control is STG Building Control in Rochester. Many single-storey rear extensions on Rainham's semis and terraces fall within permitted development, and the council strongly encourages a Lawful Development Certificate to confirm it. No Rainham ward is in Medway's HMO Article 4 area. Horrid Hill and Rainham Creek are in Flood Zone 3, but the High Street, Station Road and the housing around them are not; the main water issue is surface water, with flash flooding recorded in September 2023, so plan the drainage for heavy rain.
Services in Rainham
Single-storey rear and side extensions on the Parkwood and post-war houses, often within permitted development.
→Hip-to-gable and rear dormer lofts on the semis and end terraces.
→Footings on chalk and clay-with-flints, with soakaways and drainage designed for heavy rain.
→Re-roofs on 1960s and 70s houses whose original coverings are wearing out.
→Brick matching on extensions, and boundary and garden walls.
→Staircases for loft conversions, doors and built-in storage.
→Common projects
Rainham is a short run from the rest of Medway along the A2, and its 1960s and 70s houses are among the easiest to extend. Tell us about yours and we'll pass it to builders who cover Rainham.
Questions
Get quotes
A rough idea and a postcode is enough. We'll pass it to local builders who cover Rainham, and they'll contact you directly.