The BestBuilders Editorial Team
We exist to give UK homeowners the clearest, most honest picture of what home-improvement projects actually cost in 2026 — what the planning rules really say, what the trades really quote, and what the outcomes really look like six months after the work is done. No sponsored content. No exaggerated claims. No 10-year-old cost figures. Just genuine 2026 UK data, reviewed against real project quotes coming through our platform every week.
The team behind BestBuilders guides
The BestBuilders Editorial Team is the small in-house team that writes, edits, fact-checks and updates every guide on this site. We're not pretending to be a roomful of chartered surveyors — we're a focused editorial operation that has built unusually strong access to two things UK homeowners can rarely see directly:
- UK primary sources — gov.uk, Ofgem, RICS BCIS, HM Land Registry, Planning Portal, MCS, Building Control bodies and the relevant trade bodies (FMB, NFRC, CIOB) — which we cite explicitly on every guide page.
- Real quote data — our platform receives more than 1,500 itemised UK home-improvement quotes per month, and we've reviewed quote data for 14,000+ completed projects across 519 UK towns in the last 12 months. That dataset, more than any single chartered opinion, is what lets us publish realistic 2026 figures rather than rehashed 2020 numbers.
We don't accept sponsored content. We don't take payment for product placement. We don't run paid reviews. Our revenue comes from matching UK homeowners with vetted local builders at no cost to the homeowner — a model that only works long-term if our guides are genuinely useful.
How we research, write and review
Every guide on BestBuilders goes through this five-step process before it reaches the live site:
UK primary source research
Every claim starts with a UK primary source — gov.uk, Ofgem, RICS BCIS, HM Land Registry, Building Control, Planning Portal, MCS, or the relevant trade body (FMB, NFRC, CIOB, RIBA). We avoid secondary sources unless they're cited as such. Every guide ends with a Sources & References block listing every primary source the figures and rules came from.
Quote-data validation
Cost figures cited on the site are validated against our internal dataset of itemised UK home-improvement quotes. If a national source says "wraparound extension costs £75k–£140k" but our 12-month UK quote spread says £65k–£180k, we publish the actual quote spread and explain why. We'd rather be uncomfortable and accurate than tidy and out-of-date.
Editorial drafting
Drafts are written by the in-house editorial team. We use the same plain-English standard we'd use if we were explaining a project to a friend across a kitchen table — not industry jargon, not marketing speak, not artificially inflated word counts. Where AI assistance is used to organise data or draft sections, the output is reviewed line-by-line by a human editor before it appears on the site.
Founder review & sign-off
Every guide is reviewed by Tomas, Founder of BestBuilders, before it goes live — including the figures, the planning rules cited, and the sources list. As the founder, Tomas is personally accountable for the editorial accuracy of everything BestBuilders publishes. Where we get something wrong, the buck stops there. Editorial corrections go to editorial@bestbuilders.co.uk.
Independent builder verification (rolling out 2026)
We're rolling out independent verification of selected guides by named UK builders from our vetted contractor network — typically professionals with 15+ years' experience in the specific trade the guide covers. Where a guide has been independently builder-verified, the verifier is named on the guide itself with their years of experience and the town they operate in, so you can read other reviews of their work.
UK primary sources we cite across guides
Every guide on BestBuilders draws figures, rules and methodology from these UK primary sources. Specific citations appear in the Sources & References block at the foot of each guide.
- gov.uk — Building Regulations, Permitted Development, planning policy, government grant schemes
- legislation.gov.uk — primary legislation including the GPDO 2015 (and 2008/2024 amendments)
- Planning Portal — official UK planning application portal and householder guidance
- RICS / RICS BCIS — Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors construction cost benchmarks
- ONS — Office for National Statistics, Construction Output Price Index
- HM Land Registry — UK House Price Index for resale-value calculations
- Ofgem — Smart Export Guarantee (SEG) tariffs and energy market regulation
- MCS — Microgeneration Certification Scheme (mandatory for UK domestic solar)
- FMB — Federation of Master Builders trade body data
- NFRC — National Federation of Roofing Contractors
- CIOB — Chartered Institute of Building
- Historic England — listed-building consent and heritage guidance
- Gas Safe Register — mandatory registration for UK gas appliance work
- Internal: 14,000+ itemised UK home-improvement quotes received via the BestBuilders platform 2025–2026
When we get it wrong
If you spot anything on a BestBuilders guide that's factually inaccurate, out-of-date, or ambiguous in a way that could mislead a reader, we want to know about it. Email editorial@bestbuilders.co.uk and we'll respond within five working days. Where the correction is material, we update the guide with an explicit note: "Updated [date] — corrected [thing]." We don't silently rewrite published content.
We also welcome challenges to our cost figures from working UK builders, surveyors, planning officers and trade body representatives. If you can demonstrate that a figure is materially out of step with what's currently being quoted in your region, send us the evidence — anonymised if you prefer — and we'll factor it in.